PLANNED GIVING 

Opera Stars

The Opera Stars program was established in 1992 to honor generous and forward-thinking individuals who have made planned gifts to San Diego Opera, as well as patrons who have made a commitment to the future success of the Opera by contributing to our endowment. In addition to the financial and tax benefits often associated with planned gifts, Opera Stars receive special listing in San Diego Opera season programs. An event is held once a year to acknowledge and thank all Opera Stars for their outstanding generosity. San Diego Opera also provides patrons with current planned giving information and educational opportunities to enhance their understanding of estate planning issues.

Planned Gifts

San Diego Opera staff and advisors are prepared to help philanthropic individuals make the following planned gifts:

• Bequests
• Gifts of retirement assets
• Charitable remainder trusts
• Pooled income fund gifts
• Charitable lead trusts
• Retained life estate gifts
• Gifts of appreciated property: stocks, bonds, real estate, tangible personal property

If you have already provided for San Diego Opera in your estate plans and would like to be recognized as an Opera Star, please contact Chris LaZich by e-mail or call her at (619) 232-7636, so that we may properly acknowledge your generosity.

Let's talk about... PLANNED GIVING

There are so many ways to make a current or planned gift to the Opera and other charities – cash, stocks, trusts, charitable gift annuities, etc. – how do you find out which one is most advantageous for you? Many of us have financial advisors that can help but we don’t always want to take the time and expense of consulting them when we just have basic questions about how the various giving vehicles work.

That is why I am delighted that San Diego Opera offers comprehensive giving information on this website. The on-line section on planned giving includes descriptions of charitable gifts, articles on how they have been used to meet donors’ needs and even a gift calculator that allows you to create your own examples without any obligation. CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE PLANNED GIVING.

The on-line articles change monthly and the information is constantly updated to reflect the latest tax laws and regulations. Of course, the information offered is not meant to be tax or legal advice but it is a good starting place for anyone who is wondering how they can meet their philanthropic and financial goals.

I hope you and all patrons will take advantage of the website because I think every charity would benefit from the education of the generous individuals who support them. For those who are not web-savvy, we are happy to help get you the articles and examples you would like. For information, please contact Chris LaZich by e-mail or call her at (619) 232-7636 and she will send you materials and answer your questions.

Let’s all be smart about our charitable giving.