Ways to give
Planned giving
A legacy gift costs nothing today and keeps the vans running long after all of us have stopped worrying about budgets.
Options
Six ways to leave a legacy
Your attorney will know which fits. We are happy to talk it through with them.
A bequest in your will
The simplest legacy gift. A fixed sum, a percentage of your estate or whatever remains after loved ones are provided for. Costs nothing during your lifetime and can be changed at any time.
Beneficiary designation
Name Senior Services as a beneficiary of a retirement account, life insurance policy or bank account. Usually a one-page form, and retirement assets left to charity avoid income tax.
Charitable gift annuity
Make a gift now and receive fixed payments for life, with part of the income tax-free. What remains supports meals and rides after your lifetime.
Charitable remainder trust
For larger gifts, a trust can provide income to you or a family member for a term of years or for life, with the remainder coming to the agency.
Real estate
A home or land may be given outright, or given while retaining the right to live there for life. Call before making arrangements so we can assess suitability.
Donor-advised fund succession
Name Senior Services as a successor advisor or remainder beneficiary of your donor-advised fund, so grants continue after your lifetime.
How to arrange it
Four straightforward steps
Decide what you want the gift to do
Some donors fund a meal route in perpetuity, others leave the choice to the board. Both are genuinely useful — unrestricted gifts let us respond to whatever the year brings.
Talk to your attorney or advisor
We cannot give legal or tax advice. Your advisor will confirm the right vehicle and wording for your circumstances and your family.
Use our legal wording
Sample language: “I give and bequeath ____ to Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation located at 2551 Eltham Avenue, Suite Q, Norfolk, Virginia 23513, for its general purposes.”
Let us know, if you are comfortable
Telling us means we can thank you, honour any wishes about how the gift is used, and welcome you into our legacy circle. Anonymity is always respected.
Talk to development
A confidential conversation, with no obligation and no follow-up unless you ask for it.
See what your gift funds
63,725 meals, 21,025 hours of companionship and 20,697 rides in 2025 alone.
Our 2025 impactHe never told us he had put us in his will. The first we knew, it paid for a year of Tuesday routes in Suffolk.
Good to know
Questions about legacy gifts
No. Most bequests we receive are modest, and a percentage of an estate works just as well as a dollar figure. A gift of one percent changes nothing for your family and funds hundreds of meals here.
Not sure what you need?
Call and describe an ordinary day. A resource specialist will work out the rest — including services that belong to other agencies.