Planned Giving
Leaving a Legacy
A bequest is a gift made through your will or trust that creates a lasting impact. It is one of the most flexible ways you can support the Gardens. Bequests also help reduce estate taxes for your family and enable you to control how your assets are used beyond your lifetime.
Won’t you consider becoming part of MCBG’s Flowerland Society? It’s as easy as a brief conversation with your attorney; or you can contact estate planning attorney and friend of the Gardens Mary Margaret O’Rourke, (707) 937-4212, for guidance if you don’t know where to start.
If you have already named the Gardens to receive a gift from your estate, please let us know so that we can acknowledge you. Contact Molly Barker, Executive Director at director@gardenbythesea.org or (707) 964-4352 ext. 110. If you prefer to make your gift anonymous, please rest assured we can always honor those wishes.
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization — tax ID 94-2800886 — IRS Form 990. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by the law. View our non-profit profiles on Charity Navigator and Candid (formerly GuideStar).
Legacy Stories
The Alice Drive Bequest
In early 2024, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (MGBG) received a generous gift in the form of a bequest — a family home on Alice Drive in Fort Bragg. The property was gifted to MCBG through the estate of a husband and wife* who were members of the Gardens earlier in the 2000s and who had purchased a memorial bench there in the past. Consistent with the donors’ intent, MCBG sold the home in the spring of 2024 for more than $800,000 — the largest single gift ever received by the Gardens to date.
In naming Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in their estate, this couple became the latest members of the Flowerland Society (Flowerland Society refers to the Gardens’ original sign and tagline, “47-acre Flowerland to the Sea”). Flowerland Society members are donors, friends, and lovers of the Gardens who have chosen to leave us a share of their estate upon their passing. Gifts can be large, like the Alice Drive house, or smaller portions of a donor’s estate plan.
The Gardens' annual operating budget is just about $2.2 million – and that’s just to cover staffing and cultivate our spectacular gardens. Every year, we have major planned and unplanned maintenance projects – building construction, electrical systems, wells, bridges, and other repairs above and beyond the basic operating budget. Last year alone, we needed another $100,000 for building and ground repairs and maintenance. We anticipate longer-term capital infrastructure needs in the next several years to exceed $1 million. It is expensive to continually maintain our Gardens perched on the edge of the Pacific!
You, too, can help the Gardens grow with a planned gift from your estate. Eleven other individuals, couples, and families have named MCBG to receive all or part of their estates. By naming the Gardens as a beneficiary in your will or trust, you become an enduring partner, ensuring that the beauty and joy of the Gardens will live on to enthrall generations to come.
*The family’s name is not published here out of respect for their privacy