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Photograph of the Shakespeare sculpture at the Festival Theatre

LEGACY GIVING

CASE FOR SUPPORT

By choosing to make us a part of your legacy, you can help secure our artistic independence and enable future generations to experience the transformative magic of theatre.

The Prospero Society

You become a member of our Prospero Society by leaving us a gift in your will or estate planning. You also receive priority booking privileges, invitations to exclusive events, and name recognition in our house and souvenir programs and on our website.

How to Donate

Leaving us a legacy gift is simple, and there are many ways to do so, whether you live in Canada or the United States. Options include remembering us directly in your will, trust or through an insurance policy.  Alternately, you can establish beneficiary provisions for the Stratford Festival in your registered retirement savings plans, IRAs, company pension plans or tax-free savings accounts. 

Bequests

You can include us in your will with:

  • A percentage of your estate or a fixed or specific dollar amount
  • A residual bequest whereby the Stratford Festival receives all or a portion of the remainder of your estate after debts, taxes and bequests to friends, family or dependents have been paid out  
  • A contingent bequest that provides first for family or friends, and comes into effect only when the primary beneficiary(ies) of your estate have predeceased you

Life Insurance and Tax Free Savings

A modest premium is an affordable way to share a legacy gift with us. If established properly, your insurance policy will pass outside your estate and will not be subject to probate or estate taxes.This can be achieved by:

  • Purchasing and donating a new policy
  • Donating an existing policy
  • Or simply naming the Stratford Festival as a beneficiary of your new or existing policy

Registered Retirement Savings Plans

If you name us as a direct full or partial beneficiary of your RRSP, IRA Roth or company pension plan, your estate will receive tax relief, and your gift may not have to pass through probate or through your estate.

Simply contact us or your pension sponsor (your company, bank, investment, trust or insurance company) for details on how to do so. 

One of our staff will be pleased to work with you or your lawyer, on a confidential basis to develop a plan that best suits your needs. Please email Dawn Marie Schlegel, Director, Legacy Giving at dmschlegel@stratfordfestival.ca or call her at 519.271.4040 ex. 3330.

Legal Names

For charitable purposes, the legal name of the Festival is the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada. Legacy giving and endowment donors may designate their gifts to the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Endowment Foundation should they prefer. Amercian friends may designate their bequests and planned gifts to the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of America, a Section 501(c)(3) organization that exists in the United States.

Have You Included a Provision for the Festival in Your Estate Plans?

Yes, I (We) have already included the Festival in my (our) will, or estate planning and would like to let the Festival know by a Confidential Letter of Intent Form.

Confidentiality

No information will be given out regarding the details of any planned gift, and only those donors who have so agreed will be acknowledged in our donor listings.

If you would like to receive an accessible version of one or more of our PDF documents, please send us an email request and an accessible version will be emailed to you as quickly as possible. Please be sure to tell us which document(s) you need.

If you would like to receive an electronic copy of our brochure on gifts by will and other types of legacy giving, please send us an email request and we will forward you a copy.