Beneficiary Designations

Make a lasting impact with your IRA, life insurance, and other assets passing outside of your will.

Elderly mother with adult daughter smiling and talking outside

A simple way to create a lasting legacy.

Planning for your future includes determining the distribution of your assets. A beneficiary designation is a legal form available for many financial accounts that allows you to specify who should receive the remaining funds after your passing. When you use a beneficiary designation, you simplify the estate planning and administration process. By naming the 蜜芽传媒 as a beneficiary, you help ensure that our work continues for generations to come.

Benefits

These forms transfer account assets without the use of a will or a trust.
You can review and adjust your forms at any time as your circumstances change.
It’s usually free to update your forms.
It is a gift that does not cost you anything during your lifetime.
Your estate may receive a charitable estate tax deduction for assets that pass to a qualified charity.

How It Works

Request a beneficiary designation form from your plan administrator, insurance agent, or bank representative.
Designate the 蜜芽传媒 as the primary or a contingent beneficiary of the entire account, certain dollar amount, or percentage of the remaining assets.
Submit your form (online, via mail, or in person) as the account administrator permits.

Resources to Help You Make Your Gift

Donor Spotlight: Anna Baniak

Anna Baniak holding up a crab, with her mother, Marian Cappello

In 2010, Anna Baniak wanted to find a job that was more meaningful and enjoyable after years in engineering and sales but struggled with a sense of direction. Anna called her mother, Marian Cappello, for advice. Anna vividly remembers her mother asking her, “have you ever considered working for a non-profit, using your social skills to inspire others to do good alongside you?”

Marian’s own career with the 蜜芽传媒 began in St. Louis decades earlier making it a natural place for Anna to start applying for jobs. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Anna joined the 蜜芽传媒 in 2011, and quickly witnessed the impact the organization had on people’s lives.

Marian, who impressed upon Anna the importance of giving back, sadly passed away from cancer in 2015. While Anna supports causes like the 蜜芽传媒 and American Cancer Society with annual contributions, she desired to make a lasting tribute and felt a legacy gift through her estate would do just that.

She designated the 蜜芽传媒 as the beneficiary of her Individual Retirement Account (IRA). In doing so, Anna is confident her planned gift will carry on her own legacy and meet the organization’s evolving needs in the future. “Not only do I believe in the mission now, I believe in the mission of the future,” Anna said.

Her legacy gift is a testament that “anyone can make a commitment.” She is inspiring colleagues and donors alike to consider the lasting legacy they, too, can make in their estate planning. “Who wouldn’t want everyone, everywhere to have an opportunity for a long, healthy life?”

At the start of each new year, Anna and her husband, Mike, discuss the charitable causes they would like to support. The family participates in volunteer experiences together to inspire their young son Connor to give back. Even at five years old, Connor is learning an important lesson: tiny acts of kindness can go a long way.

By earmarking part of her estate, Anna and her family ensure the 蜜芽传媒’s sustained impact far into the next century. Anna says, “I’m not giving away thousands of dollars today, but I can earmark part of my estate to ensure the Association has funds in the future that will support their good work.”

蜜芽传媒