Legacy Society

Our Legacy Society recognizes a circle of generous friends who support Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s future through planned gifts.

Planned Giving

By establishing a planned gift, you can help ensure that CCAE grows and thrives, and continues its 150+-year-old legacy of providing affordable classes in a community committed to experiential learning.

Qualified Charitable Distributions from Retirement Accounts

A gift from a retirement account is a powerful tool for donating. Recent federal legislation enables you to use your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to make a gift to the CCAE. Individuals age 72 and older can now instruct their IRA administrators to make a distribution directly to CCAE and to exclude the amount from their gross income for federal tax purposes. Total charitable gifts cannot exceed $100,000 per taxpayer each year.

View information on Making an IRA Gift.

Bequests and Beneficiary Designation

Both bequests and beneficiary designations can be established to support CCAE without impacting your current assets. By giving in this way, you may find that you can provide a greater gift than would otherwise be possible.

A bequest in your will or trust may be given as a percentage of your estate, a specific dollar amount, or as a gift of property. Even if you have an existing will, you can add an amendment, or codicil, at any time. You can easily name CCAE as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy completing a beneficiary designation form with your administrator.

Charitable Trusts

With a charitable trust, you can make a significant gift to CCAE while receiving income for life for you and your named beneficiaries. You will also gain a charitable income tax deduction and benefit from gift and estate tax savings.

Retained Life Estate Gifts

A gift of real estate can also be made in the form of a retained life estate. This enables you to live in a donated residence for the rest of your life, while immediately qualifying for a federal income tax deduction for a portion of the value of your home. You are responsible for maintenance and taxes on the residence, and upon your death, CCAE would assume full control of the property.

Additional Information:

  • Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s federal tax ID is 04-2144159.

  • It is important that you clearly designate your gift is for Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone: 617-547-6789, ext. 130.

  • Providing an unrestricted gift gives CCAE the greatest flexibility to address our top priorities. You can also choose to support a program or series that has personal significance or establish an endowed fund to support scholarships, faculty, programs, or a series.

  • It is important that you speak with your tax attorney or financial advisor to discuss the details of your planned gift.

  • An interactive planned giving calculator that will help you evaluate various planned gift options can be found at www.pggne.org.

  • Contact CCAE’s Development Office to discuss which assets you would like to use, especially if your gift involves property or has a specific designation request. This ensures that your wishes will be carried out. We have a representative in our organization who is experienced in answering questions about planned giving options, and who will be able to discuss how a planned gift might work for you.


    To discuss your giving options in confidence and for more information, please contact our Development Manager Jessie Strauss at jessie.strauss@ccae.org.