Many advisors recommend that their clients make charitable gifts through revocable living trusts instead of, or in addition to, their will. Assets are often transferred to a living trust during one's lifetime, and one's will generally provides that assets not already in the living trust at the time of death be transferred to it. You receive an estate tax deduction for the full value of your charitable gift. Environmental Defense recognizes that your gift intentions are a personal matter and you may wish to keep them confidential. However, if you are willing to inform us that you have remembered Environmental Defense in your will, trust, retirement plan, insurance policy or other plan, we would like to acknowledge your intentions by welcoming you to the Osprey Society , our way of showing our appreciation and keeping you informed about our work.
Participation can also be anonymous.
Osprey Society members provide Environmental Defense with much-needed resources to address the unforeseen challenges that lie ahead. Membership in the Osprey Society can be a lasting expression of your deep respect for nature, and concern that all of our children and grandchildren have the opportunity to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and live among the earth's rich and diverse ecosystems. The Osprey Society takes its name from the spectacular bird of prey that became a catalyst in the late 1960s for the creation of Environmental Defense and the birth of the modern environmental movement. Known to have populated the northern hemisphere for over ten million years, Osprey populations plunged in the 1960's. Puleston, along with fellow Environmental Defense founders Charles Wurster, Arthur Cooley and Robert Smolker, combined their scientific evidence with legal action to win a temporary injunction against the use of DDT near their homes in Long Island.