Stradivarius Legacy Circle

Plan Your Legacy Gift to Make a Difference


Let music be your legacy!

You may enjoy coming to concerts or find stimulation in music lessons.

You may already donate annually or monthly to the VSO or the VSO School of Music.

Planning a legacy gift may be an ideal way for you to support the power of music and make a difference for generations to come. Please consider giving the gift of music to future generations – at no cost to yourself right now – through planning a legacy gift in your Will or by other means.

Tell us about your planned legacy gift now to enjoy the benefits of joining the Stradivarius Legacy Circle community of donors for many years before actually giving us your legacy gift. Please contact us to learn more about these donor benefits.

VSO on the Orpheum Stage

Planned legacy gifts generally come from one’s estate. People’s estates include things of value that they control: a home, investments, and other valuable items. Once gathered in by an estate, the total value may be subject to taxes. Giving legacy gifts to registered charities like the VSO, first, helps our community, and second, may improve the tax position of an estate and its beneficiaries, who often include family members.

Planned legacy gifts can support the music-making and educational activities of the VSO or the VSO School of Music, both of which are registered charities. Another option is to leave a legacy gift to the Vancouver Symphony Foundation (VSF), also a registered charity.

The VSF endowment provides:

  • financial support for the VSO’s musicians, music education, and community projects, as well as
  • financial support for the VSO School of Music’s wide-ranging community education programs.

Legacy gifts given to the VSF alsomay qualify for matching funds from the Canadian government’s Endowment Incentives program.

Your planned legacy gift to the VSF will:

  • Help the VSO and VSO School of Music attract and retain the highest quality musicians and music teachers in our community.
  • Provide long-term stable funding to the VSO and VSO School of Music, making possible longer-term planning and new initiatives.
  • Support inspiring music education and community engagement programs, ensuring accessibility to live music performance and music education for all.
VSO School of Music lessons

Ways to Plan Your Legacy Gift

1. Plan a legacy gift in your Will

Writing a Will, whether simple or complex, helps ensure that your loved ones follow your financial wishes when dealing with your estate.

When preparing your Will (on your own or with help from professionals), should you want to plan a legacy gift to any of the three VSO charities, please use one or more of the prepared simple legacy gift clauses linked below. You can insert one of these clauses easily into your Will with very minor adjustments. Please click below to see template legacy gift clauses for each of the VSO charities.

VSS Legacy Gift Clauses
VSO School of Music Soc Legacy Gift Clauses
VSF Legacy Gift Clauses

2. Donate a life insurance policy

Plan a generous legacy gift by naming a charity as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Life insurance policies are not subject to taxes or probate costs and can make a substantial impact through relatively small monthly or annual payments. Additionally, if your life insurance policy names a charity as the beneficiary, the Canada Revenue Agency treats all premium payments on that policy as charitable donations, eligible for a charitable tax receipt.

Three Ways to donate a life insurance policy to the VSO as a legacy gift:

  1. Take out a new life insurance policy and name one of the VSO charities as beneficiary.
  2. Name one of the three VSO charities as the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy.
  3. Transfer ownership of an existing life insurance policy to one of the three VSO charities.

3. Donate an investment fund as a legacy gift

Making a legacy gift of a set number of stocks and shares, securities and equities, parts of your TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, or Pension, and naming one of the three VSO charities as the beneficiary, benefits our community and may reduce the amount of tax that your estate (and therefore other beneficiaries) must pay on these assets. Please discuss this option with your financial advisor and/or lawyer to figure out if this is the right tax-reduction and philanthropic gift solution for you.

If you wish to tell us about a planned legacy gift or if you have legacy gift questions, please contact:

Paris Simons
Senior Officer, Planned Giving
VSO, VSO School of Music, VSF
(604) 684 9100 ext. 265
paris@vancouversymphony.ca

Vancouver Symphony Foundation
500-833 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC  V6B 0G4
Charitable Registration Number 85410 7554 RR0001