Planned Giving

Indelible Ink

Ensuring literature will be celebrated and defended for years to come.

Support PEN America with a Planned Gift.

Many of our supporters have included PEN America in their estate plans to ensure that we remain vigilant in service to free expression and committed to promoting essential voices of literature. Your personal story with literature and freedom of expression can continue in perpetuity when you include PEN America as a beneficiary of your will or trust, or by beneficiary designation. Creating a PEN America legacy is easy to do. Simply designate PEN America for one of the following gifts:

A bequest in your will or living trustBequests are a time-honored way of ensuring your support continues for generations to come. You can leave PEN America a percentage of your estate, a certain dollar amount, or specific assets.

Charitable Remainder Trust: Provide for a beneficiary’s lifetime and then later to PEN America.

Consider naming PEN America a beneficiary/successor of your assets:

Gifts of Intellectual Property, Royalties, and Residuals: Income from your literary works can help PEN America for years to come.

CDs and other Bank Accounts: One of the simplest ways you can help ensure our future is by making PEN America the “transfer on death” beneficiary of a certificate of deposit (or any bank or brokerage account).

Gift of Retirement Plan Assets: When left to family members/friends, retirement plan assets can be seriously depleted by taxes. However, when left to a tax-exempt charity like PEN America, your entire retirement plan gift will be available to protect freedom of expression well into the future.

Gift of a Life Insurance Policy: Life insurance policies that have long since served their purpose make wonderful gifts. Please consider making PEN America a full, partial, or contingent beneficiary. Additionally, you can sign over a fully paid policy.

Remainder of Donor Advised Funds: Final distribution of contributions remaining in a donor advised fund is governed by the contract you completed when you created your fund.

Legal Name, Address, Tax Identification #:

PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
Tax ID# 13-3447888

Suggested Bequest Language:

“I hereby give the sum of $            (or percentage of my residuary estate or asset) to PEN American Center, Tax ID: 13-3447888, now or formerly located at 588 Broadway, Suite 303, New York, New York 10012 for its general purposes.”

Please make any of these gifts designations with three simple steps:

  1. Decide which asset you wish to donate to PEN America and in what percentage.                                                                 
  2. Request a “change of beneficiary” form and add PEN America as a beneficiary.                                                               
  3. Fill in our legal name and tax identification number.

Benefits of Legacy gifts:           

  • Costs you nothing now.
  • Allows you to change your beneficiaries at any time.                                                                                                                                        
  • Enables you to provide for family/friends and PEN America.                                                                                                                                  
  • Requires no minimum contribution. Every gift makes a difference!

For more information, please contact:

Deborah K. Wilson, Chief Development Officer
646-779-4812 | [email protected]

Charity Navigator logo          

BBB Accredited Charity Seal