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LEGACY Giving with the Catskill Center

Address: P.O. Box 504 Arkville, NY 12406

EIN: 23-7058142

Phone: 845-586-2611

Legacy giving is a great way to support the mission of the Catskill Center while considering your own personal, financial, estate-planning, and philanthropic goals. Methods of legacy giving include bequests, gifts of stock, bonds or securities, gifts of real estate, and gifts of life insurance or retirement plans. By including the Catskill Center in your will, you can leave your own legacy in the Catskills by helping to protect the region for generations to come.

There are many ways to make a charitable contribution with a legacy gift; it can be as easy as adding the Catskill Center as a beneficiary or adding a few sentences to your will (please see sample language below under “For Your Financial Advisor”). Legacy giving is flexible and non-binding. If your priorities change, you can simply change your will. Be sure to ask your financial advisor about the many tax benefits of planned gifts when you consult with them on leaving a bequest.

When you put the Catskill Center in your will, you become a member of the Sherret Spaulding Chase Legacy Circle. By becoming a member of the Legacy Circle, you make a bold statement of your sincere and enduring concern for and love of the Catskill Park and Catskill region. The Legacy Circle is an opportunity to be an everlasting steward of the Catskills, and an inspiration to others to support the Catskills for generations to come.

For Your Financial Advisor

To make a bequest, consult your financial advisor or attorney to add the proposed language below to your will.

General Bequest: “I bequeath the sum of ____ to the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. PO Box 504, Arkville, NY 12406 , to be used as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

Residuary Bequest: “I bequeath all or ____% of the remainder of my estate to the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. PO Box 504, Arkville, NY 12406, to be used as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

Contingent Bequest: "​​In the event any of my beneficiaries predeceases me or disclaims any interest in _________ (describe asset or portion of estate) I give such property to the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. PO Box 504, Arkville, NY 12406, to be used as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

Retirement Plan or Life Insurance Policy: You can also designate the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. as a beneficiary on your retirement plan and life insurance policy.  In that instance the beneficiary should be named as “Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc.,” the IRS EIN number is 23-7058142, the address is PO Box 504, Arkville, NY 12406 and the phone number is 845-586-2611.

Catskill Center staff can answer any questions you may have on the Legacy Giving Program. We will work with you to determine how you wish your gift to the Catskill Center will be put to use and how you would like to be recognized. Please contact Danielle Tucker, Development Director, for more information.

The Sherret Spaulding Chase Legacy CIRCLE

Sherret Spaulding Chase was the Founding President of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development after he and a group of Catskills enthusiasts with a passion for ensuring the bright future of the region founded the Catskill Center in 1969. 

After spending his childhood summers and holidays in the Catskills, Chase and his family finally moved to Olive (from Wayne, Pennsylvania) in 1933. Later, Chase studied botany and forestry at Yale, Cornell, and Harvard and went on to produce ground-breaking work in “doubled haploids'' which revolutionized corn breeding. His life’s work was continuously inspired by his home, the Catskills. Chase’s deep love and appreciation for the Catskills not only shaped his career but also the land itself.

Today, the Catskill Center works to protect both the environmental and economic well being of the Catskill region. This mission began with Chase when he determined the two were not contradictory goals; rather, they could work together by prioritizing conservation to foster beneficial development. This revelation is the foundation of Chase’s deeply-rooted Catskills legacy. Read more of Sherret Spaulding Chase’s important history with the Catskill Center, as well as his 1967 essay titled, “The Catskills of New York: Past, Present, Potential,” here.

Our hope in creating the Sherret Spaulding Chase Legacy Circle is to allow you the same opportunity to leave your own philanthropic impact on the land you love.  

Legacy Circle members are supporters who have included a gift to the Catskill Center through their estate plans. We urge anyone who has included the Catskill Center in their plans to let us know, so we can give you the opportunity to be honored by the Catskill Center and included in the Sherret Spaulding Chase Legacy Circle’s membership. If you wish for your gift to remain anonymous, please indicate in your estate plan how you would like to be recognized for your generosity.