Legacy Society
Members of Starlight’s Legacy Society all have one thing in common—they love the Starlight experience and appreciate what Starlight means to the community. Whether it’s that feeling of being outside under the stars with your loved ones or proudly showing off this unique community landmark to friends visiting from out of town, our Legacy Society members all have deep Starlight memories and an invested interest in keeping the Starlight tradition alive for generations to come.
Legacy Society members understand that their generosity today can greatly impact Starlight for years down the road.
Want to leave a lasting impact on Starlight? There are a variety of ways to leave your Starlight legacy, and we invite you to learn more about them below as you consider how you want to help shape Starlight’s future.
Simple Ways to Give
While there are many different ways to make a legacy gift, it doesn’t need to be complicated. Explore some of the most popular and simple giving options below.
Designate Starlight in your will or trust.
Adding Starlight as a beneficiary to an existing will or trust is easy. Your bequest can be used to gift a dollar amount or a percentage of your estate to Starlight.
Sample bequest language you can send to your estate planning attorneys is below:
"I give to Starlight Theatre, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization currently located at 4600 Starlight Road Kansas City, MO 64132, or its successor thereto, ______________ [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted use and purpose."
Make Starlight a full or partial beneficiary in your retirement plan.
It only takes a few minutes to include Starlight in your IRA. Simply designate a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your retirement savings to Starlight.
Oftentimes, naming charities as beneficiaries of your IRA or 401(k) can be a simple process where you don’t even have to pay for an attorney.
Most people like this option because it ensures that the entirety of your gift can go to the charity of your choice, since charities do not pay income tax, as well as your children, grandchildren or a loved one.
Otherwise, if your loved ones inherit your tax-deferred IRA or 401(k), they would be required to pay income taxes on the distribution of the assets.
Gift all or part of your life insurance policy to Starlight.
Life insurance can be a convenient and easy asset to give. Name Starlight as a full or partial beneficiary of your life insurance policy. You may also be able to give Starlight your life insurance policy outright and claim a deduction now.
Beneficiary designations can often be edited without additional legal fees and are easy to set up.
Designate Starlight as a beneficiary of your donor-advised fund.
Work with a financial institution or community foundation to invest your funds so they grow over time and go to charities that you care about.
Donor Advised Funds (DAF) have become an increasing popular giving vehicle over the past few years, and are easy to get established. Here is what you need to know:
- It takes as little as $5,000 to create your DAF.
- Common gifts like cash, stock and real estate are tax-deductible when contributed to your Donor Advised Fund.
- You can give individuals like your children, grandchildren or another loved the opportunity to continue using your DAF, thus ensuring that charitable giving will continue long after you’re gone.
More Ways to Give
There are several legacy gift options available that can help you and your family. Discover more about which option might be most beneficial for you using the information below!
Receive reliable payments from sizeable estates.
A charitable remainder trust provides you or another individual that you name with income each year during your lifetime or for a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to your trust. Tax benefits and the option for income may be offered through this type of gift.
Protect Your Assets.
Support Starlight without giving up the assets that you'd like your family to receive in the future with a charitable lead trust donation. Payments can be made through a charitable lead annuity trust (a fixed amount is paid to Starlight each year) or a charitable lead unitrust (a variable amount is paid to Starlight each year).
Give Your Real Estate to Starlight.
Gifts of real estate not only helps Starlight continue our work for years down the road, it also helps you. Appreciated property held longer than one year grants you a federal income tax charitable deduction. In addition, you no longer need to maintain the property or deal with property tax and insurance.
Gifts of real estate can be given in the following ways:
- Outright gift
- Donor advised fund
- Retained life estate
- Will or living trust
- Memorial or endowment gift
- Charitable remainder unitrust
- Charitable lead trust
- Deferred charitable gift annuity
- Bargain sale
Legacy Society
Starlight wholeheartedly thanks the individuals listed below for making a planned gift to ensure we are equipped or future success and can continue a beloved Kansas City tradition for generations to come.
Leave your legacy in a way that is most meaningful to you.
1. Make your gift unrestricted and let Starlight decide how to best use it.
2. Designate your gift to benefit general community engagement efforts, or choose a specific community engagement program to support.
3. Contribute toward an existing endowment fund.
Legacy Society members receive exclusive invitations to special donor events, including an invitation to the annual Legacy Society reception and acknowledgment in Starlight’s Legacy Garden. In addition, members will be recognized in various Starlight materials each season. Legacy gifts may also lead to potential tax savings for you and your family.
Pending your gift amount, special recognition at the Starlight campus may be available.
Aviva Ajmera and Wayne Strickland*
Bill and Mary Ann Allen*
Denise and Bill Bade*
Bob Baker*
Rich and Peggy Baker*
Matt and Kate Beem*
Angela M. Bennett*
Jacquelyn Biellier*
Wendy and Troy Burgess*
Jerry and Meghan Carpenter*
Jon Gray and Valerie Chow*
Chris Clifford and Lindsey Rood-Clifford*
Kevin Clark*
Howard and Debra Cohen*
Marc Enyart and Joe Comer*
Don and Pat Dagenais*
Katie and Matt Fitzgerald*
Sherry and Gary Forsee*
Mark and Sarah Fortino*
Caroline and Danny Gibel*
Anita Gorman*
Amy Guerich*
Jacques’ Hassen*
Shirley Bush Helzberg*
Rebecca Hierholzer*
August L. Huber III and Laura L. Huber*
Howard & Ro Jacobson*
Cindy Jeffries*
Keith A. Jorgensen*
Brian and Susan Kaufman*
Tony and Teresa Kempf*
Andrew and Katherine Lang*
John and Tammy Marasco*
Clare McEwen
Keith Meyer*
Ann Miller*
Jan and Lee Morevitska*
Sara Hicks and Michael O'Connell*
Terry and Barbie O’Toole*
James H. Pendleton and Carol D. Pendleton Family*
Becky Blades and Cary Phillips*
Andy Pierce*
Todd Randol*
Greg and Rebecca Reid*
Ora Reynolds*
Victoria Reisler*
William Reisler*
Bob and Lisa Rohlf*
Doug Jones and John Sanger*
Robert and Wendy Sawyer*
Donna Thomason*
R. Gordon Tompkins*
Chris and Bess Wallerstein Huff*
Carolyn Watley*
Bill and Keeley Waugh*
Russ and Debbie Welsh*
Doug Ballou and Nancy Whitworth*
Matt and Sabrina Wiewel*
Rob and Amy Wolf*
Mandi and Kevin Wright*
Cynthia Wymore*
* Denotes inaugural 70 for 70 campaign donor
If you also love Starlight, we invite you to join many other dedicated community leaders and consider becoming a Legacy Society member today.
Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City, Inc. is a registered charity with an up-to-date online profile at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. Click here for Starlight's donor policies and information.