1923 Legacy Society
The 1923 Legacy Society honors and recognizes individuals who ensure the future of McMurry University through planned gifts. These donors, by including McMurry in their estate plans, help continue the vision set forth in 1923, securing a lasting legacy for future generations of students.
Qualifications for Membership
Anyone who has an estate gift planned for McMurry University or who has completed a life income gift, retained life estate gift or other charitable trust plan for McMurry is eligible for membership in the 1923 Legacy Society. For example, the McMurry University can be made the beneficiary of donors' estates through specific bequests written in a donor's will or by being named the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. Donors who establish life income plans, retained life estates or other charitable trusts that benefit the university, whether McMurry manages the plan or not, also qualify.
Gift plans that confer membership eligibility include the following:
Simple bequests
- Life income gifts, including immediate or deferred-payment charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder annuity trusts or unitrusts
- Retained life estate gifts
- Charitable lead trusts that pay income to the university
- Designation of McMurry as beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan
- Most plans that make donors eligible for membership can be funded with either a lifetime gift or a testamentary gift made through the donor's will. If you have questions about a gift plan you believe might qualify, please contact the Division of Institutional Advancement.
Why Become a Member?
Many planned gifts arrive at McMurry University unannounced. In these cases, the university has no advance knowledge about the bequest plans until the gift is actually received. Such gifts are welcomed, of course, but the university deeply regrets the missed opportunity they represent. It is incredibly important to properly thank all those who remember McMurry with estate gifts.
Those who create bequests for McMurry serve as inspiring role models. While the university keeps the value and details of each planned gift strictly confidential, every member of The 1923 Legacy Society provides an example for others in the McMurry community who have not yet made similar plans.
Additionally, when McMurry is aware of planned gifts, the university can work with donors to ensure that their intentions and wishes are clearly understood and followed.
Finally, while the receipt of any individual planned gift may be unpredictable, knowing about a sufficient number of these plans allows the university to make more informed estimates about future contributions. This helps McMurry develop financial plans and projections with greater confidence and accuracy.
Membership Benefits
1923 Legacy Society members who give their consent are listed in the McMurry University Annual Report and, from time to time, in other university publications. A certificate, signed by the president, confirms membership. 1923 Legacy Society members are invited to university donor-recognition events. Finally, 1923 Legacy Society members enjoy the informed thanks of a grateful university.
How to Join
Anyone interested in joining the 1923 Legacy Society may become a member by completing a planned gift for McMurry and confirming the plan, in writing, on the confirmation of intent form, or in a separate letter.
Those who qualify by virtue of having completed a life income or other trust gift will automatically be invited to join if the gift plan is administered by McMurry University. Those whose gift plans are managed by outside trustees or fiduciaries should simply confirm the plan's existence by completing the enclosed enrollment form or by sending a separate letter. When registering, new members should indicate whether their names should be kept anonymous or whether they may be listed as 1923 Legacy Society members in the university's publications.
For More Information
For more information, we encourage you to contact the university's charitable gift and estate planning staff or your own attorney and advisors. McMurry University will gladly provide sample documents your advisors can review and adapt, which will illustrate the potential income, gift and estate tax results of any gift you contemplate. Assistance from the planned giving staff is offered in total confidence at no cost.
McMurry University does not provide legal, tax or financial advice. Consequently, we urge you to seek the advice of your own legal, tax, or financial professionals in connection with gift and planning matters. This communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax-related penalties.
