Legacy Giving
Support with gifts in Wills
and bequests to charity
Legacy Giving
Support with gifts in Wills
and bequests to charity
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A smarter way to leave a legacy
Ways to leave a legacy
Preparing your Will and types of gifts
Stories from our community
Create a lasting legacy
Leaving a gift in your Will is a powerful way to support the causes you care about for generations to come.
At Australian Communities Foundation, we’re experts in helping people ensure their legacy lives on through giving.
Why leave a gift to charity?
Your generosity lives on
Leaving a gift to charity in your Will ensures that your spirit of giving continues long after you’re gone. Your contribution, no matter the size, can make a difference in the lives of those in need, supporting causes and organisations that align with your values and beliefs. It’s a powerful way to be remembered as someone who cared deeply about making the world a better place, and to pass down your values to the next generation.
You can influence the future
By leaving a gift to the causes you are passionate about, you can contribute to the advancement of crucial research, advocacy and vital services for a fairer and more sustainable future. Your gift becomes a force for good that ripples through time, inspiring others to follow in your footsteps.
You can help your favourite charities plan ahead
Leaving a gift to your favourite organisations helps them plan for the future with greater certainty. Reliable financial support from bequests enables charities to continue their mission, ensuring they can persistently work towards a future that reflects the values you hold dear.
Your generosity lives on
Leaving a gift to charity in your Will ensures that your spirit of giving continues long after you’re gone. Your contribution, no matter the size, can make a difference in the lives of those in need, supporting causes and organisations that align with your values and beliefs. It’s a powerful way to be remembered as someone who cared deeply about making the world a better place, and to pass on your values to the next generation.
You can influence the future
By leaving a gift to the causes you are passionate about, you can contribute to the advancement of crucial research, advocacy and vital services for a fairer and more sustainable future. Your gift becomes a force for good that ripples through time, inspiring others to follow in your footsteps.
You can help your favourite charities plan ahead
Leaving a gift to your favourite organisations helps them plan for the future with greater certainty. Reliable financial support from bequests enables charities to continue their mission, ensuring they can persistently work towards a future that reflects the values you hold dear.
A smarter way to leave a legacy
Funds and Foundations
At Australian Communities Foundation, we can help you leave a lasting legacy.
One of the key decisions to make is whether you will leave a one-off gift or one that can last forever through a structure like a Named Fund or Private Foundation.
| Your charitable gift… | One-off gift | Fund or Foundation |
| can make a difference | ✓ | ✓ |
| can be allocated for specific uses in line with your wishes | ✓ | ✓ |
| is invested and can last forever | ✓ | |
| can support the causes you care about in perpetuity | ✓ | |
| is untied from benefiting one organisation | ✓ |
Funds and Foundations enable a more strategic way to leave a bequest. Your gift is invested and can grow into an ongoing source of funding for the causes you care about. This approach allows your legacy to grow over time, supporting multiple causes, adapting to emerging needs, and inspiring future generations to continue your giving journey.
Ways to leave a legacy through us
A gift to establish a Fund
Your gift can be used to establish a new Fund or Foundation with specific areas of interest or organisations identified for future granting.
A gift to the ACF Impact Fund
Looking for a simpler but powerful way to leave a legacy? Leave a bequest to the Impact Fund and your gift will be invested in supporting the country’s leading changemakers working for a fairer and more sustainable Australia.
A gift to another existing Fund
Your gift can be placed in an existing Named Fund, either your own or another whose areas of interest you would like to support. Explore Funds
“Australian Communities Foundation has a clear sense of my priorities which makes me feel confident that they can ensure the money goes to the right organisations.“
“The reason I chose to leave a bequest to Australian Communities Foundation rather than one specific charity is that I believe if you want to leave money for the causes you care about, you have to be very careful in terms of the organisations you name. The charity that might seem terrific today might not even be around in the future, or perhaps the aims of the organisation will have changed dramatically.”
– Dennis Altman has left a bequest to his Named Fund at Australian Communities Foundation
Preparing your Will
While there are many ways to leave a gift to charity, every contribution makes a difference. Australian Communities Foundation can accept all types of bequests.
When you prepare a Will, you give yourself the best chance of making sure your assets go where you want them to. Without a Will, your estate may end up going to people you never intended to benefit.
In Australia, you can either engage a professional to write your Will or prepare it yourself. However, for a Will that covers everything you need it to without ambiguity, it’s best to engage the services of a professional Will writer or lawyer. When writing your Will, there are different types of bequests, or gifts, you can make to family, friends and other beneficiaries, including charities.
Types of gifts in Wills
Residual bequest
One of the most common ways to leave a charitable gift, a residual gift is the remainder of your estate after first leaving gifts to loved ones.
Pecuniary or specific bequest
A gift of a specific sum of money or particular assets.
Percentage/fractional bequest
A gift of a percentage of your overall estate, or you may choose to make a whole estate bequest.
Reversionary bequest
For all types of bequests, it is possible to add further conditions. One of the more common ways of doing this is to leave a contingent or reversionary bequest, which allows a surviving loved one to benefit from your estate during their lifetime and then for the balance to be gifted to another beneficiary.
Suggested wording
A gift to establish a Fund
I give (type of gift) to Australian Communities Foundation Limited, as Trustee of Australian Communities Foundation Extension Fund (ABN 57 485 460 977) to be held on trust in the Australian Communities Foundation Extension Fund and request, without obligation, the Trustee of the Fund hold the gift in the [insert name of fund] and to apply the funds as the Trustee decides/in favour of specific purposes [insert your areas of interest for grantmaking] and to acknowledge grants from [insert name of fund], wherever practical at the Trustee’s discretion. The executor may accept a receipt from the secretary of the trustee of the Fund as sufficient discharge for this gift.
A gift to the ACF Impact Fund
I give (type of gift) to Australian Communities Foundation Limited, as Trustee of Australian Communities Foundation Extension Fund (ABN 57 485 460 977) to be held on trust in the Australian Communities Foundation Extension Fund and to apply the funds as the Trustee may decide in line with Strategic Fund priorities [and to acknowledge grants from my bequest, wherever practical at the Trustee’s discretion]. The executor may accept a receipt from the secretary of the Trustee of the Fund as sufficient discharge for this gift.
A gift to an existing tax-deductible Fund
I give (type of gift) to Australian Communities Foundation Limited, as Trustee of Australian Communities Foundation Fund (ABN 57 967 620 066) to be held on trust in the Australian Communities Foundation Fund and request, without obligation, the Trustee of the Fund hold the bequest in the [insert name of your existing sub fund] and to apply the funds as the Trustee decides/in favour of [insert your areas of interest for grantmaking] purposes and to acknowledge grants from the [insert name of your existing sub fund], wherever practical in the Trustee’s discretion. The executor may accept a receipt from the secretary of the Trustee of the Fund as sufficient discharge for this gift.
Please contact our office for the appropriate wording if the existing fund is a non-tax deductible or scholarship fund.
Acknowledging your gift
We like to honour the legacy of donors by acknowledging gifts left by individuals and/or funds on our Bequest Honour Roll and in printed materials. Sharing the source of these gifts with grant recipients helps them appreciate the impact of your support. At the same time, we respect your privacy and will always seek your permission before making any public acknowledgements.
Contact us for a conversation
Talk with a giving expert about your legacy plans
If you’re considering leaving a bequest to Australian Communities Foundation, we’d love to hear from you or your solicitor. This gives us the chance to chat with you about how your generous gift can make a lasting impact. We’ll also share a simple Statement of Wishes form to guide the process.
Give us a call on 03 9412 0412 or register below to book in your free consult.
Stories from our giving community
Related pages
Impact Fund
Join a growing collective of funders giving together to tackle Australia’s biggest issues.