Seattle Chinese Garden, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a privately-funded park open to the public.
The extraordinary volunteers and docents as well as the Board of Directors give tirelessly and generously of their time and invite you to join them in supporting this wonderful place.
Just as the garden needs care, soil, and water, it needs three kinds of funding.
BUILD the Garden
The Garden’s full Master Plan calls for the five-acre site to include a six-story Floating Clouds tower that will echo the Space Needle and be visible on final approach to SeaTac; a Gathering Together hall to host civic, corporate, and family celebrations as well as conferences focused on mutual cooperation and friendship. Water features, a tea house, scholars’ studio, and other pavilions will complete the magnificent hillside Garden overlooking the city.
While the full plan is our objective, the Tea House and its Lotus Pond are the next phase of construction.
MAINTAIN the Garden and its programs
Annual support is essential to the care and maintenance of the Seattle Chinese Garden, heroically achieved by its tiny staff (1.25 FTE) and dedicated volunteers. This is what pays for the soil and water too, as well as office costs, utilities, and certain shared services from South Seattle College.
The fruits of this care are more than the grounds, plantings, and water features. As Seattle’s living bridge to Chinese arts and culture, the Garden hosts many programs, from exhibits and fashion shows to the annual Lantern, Peony, Bamboo, and Kite Festivals.
Gifts to the Garden and its Programs in any amount are welcomed and appreciated. Major annual donors of $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, $10,000 and up are honored as members of the Bamboo Circle, which hosts its annual celebration on the first Thursday in August in the Knowing the Spring courtyard as well as throughout the Garden.
To learn more about this year’s Bamboo Circle celebration, visit our Events page.
SUSTAIN the Garden for future generations
Equally important to the growth and completion of the Garden is the nurturing of funds for the future. Many who care deeply about the Seattle Chinese Garden are able to do more in their estates than they can right now.
A commitment today to fund a building in the future can be recognized permanently. Thoughtful additions to the endowment assure the long-term maintenance of the delicate building structures, like the latticed windows, that are works of art in themselves.
Gifts planned as part of an estate may provide significant tax advantages for the donor and estate, and may provide more secure and spendable lifetime income for donors and heirs. Endowment gifts and bequests are professionally managed.
The Board of Directors of the Seattle Chinese Garden has created an honor society for gifts that preserve the Garden in the future.
傳 承 The Chuan Cheng Society
"All the ancient good things we carry onward…”
DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD
How giving to the Seattle Chinese Garden can benefit you and your heirs.
If you have Appreciated Securities (stock) and donate it in the correct way, you can avoid what would have been the tax on the capital gain. For example, if stock you originally purchased at $500 is now worth $1,000, you can still get a $1,000 deduction and avoid the capital gains tax you would have incurred in an eventual sale. If the stock is something you've made money on and feel it will go higher, you might still want to donate it...and then use your cash to repurchase it at the new, higher basis so that there will be less tax when you eventually sell it.
If your stock is in an IRA and you get to the age where you must take a Required Minimum Distribution, taxable as ordinary income, the stock in the IRA can be gifted—again, in the correct way—directly, bypassing you so that you avoid that tax. There's no additional deduction for the stock, as you received the deduction for putting the assets in the IRA in the first place.
Those who have included the Seattle Chinese Garden in their estate plans can benefit from establishing what is called a Life Income Gift, essentially setting aside the intended bequest into an irrevocable trust, continuing to receive the same income (or more) from those assets. Why do this? First, you get a tax deduction when you set up the gift, something you don't get with a gift by Will. The deduction is not for the full amount but, rather, the IRS factors in the value of the lifetime income. But it's still a tax savings, and the net effect can be a greater annual return to the donor(s) or their heirs.
There are many other examples, and donors are advised to consult their estate and tax planners.