Your Opera Legacy: a quarterly newsletter about legacy giving | View in browser

A Quarterly Newsletter About Legacy Giving

I love opera. I love the beauty, the passion, the gorgeous music and the stunning drama. Opera opens our hearts and minds to the breadth of human experience.

If you share my love of opera and you aren’t already a member, I invite you to join me in the Esther J. Burnham Opera Stars, our legacy giving group that ensures the future of San Diego Opera.

All you need to do is let us know if you’ve included the Opera in your estate plans – and we’re happy to recommend some advisors who can assist you.

By making a legacy gift, you ensure the future of San Diego Opera, and as an added bonus, you can structure your gift in ways that offer significant tax advantages to you and your heirs.

Continue reading below to learn about a couple whose dedication to San Diego Opera inspired them to make a legacy gift and some easy tips on estate planning.

With gratitude for your support of San Diego Opera,

Joan Henkelmann, Chair, Esther J. Burnham Opera Stars

Member of the Board of Directors, San Diego Opera

Profile: Doug and Lynne Bekkedahl

San Diego Opera is grateful to all our Opera Stars, those visionary Doug Bekkedahl patrons who ensure that world-class opera and compelling learning and engagement programs will be available to future generations of San Diegans. Today, we profile Doug and Lynne Bekkedahl, longtime patrons who shared their love for this art form and took action to make sure it continues to bring joy to generations to come.

Doug and Lynne Bekkedahl moved to San Diego in 1968 and attended their first San Diego Opera production in 1970 – La traviata, featuring the renowned Mexican soprano Gilda Cruz-Romo as Violetta. During a European opera tour in 1974, they built close friendships with members of San Diego Opera’s Board of Directors and Doug was invited to join the Board, where he spent the next seven years running membership and audience development programs and chairing the Nominating Committee.

Doug had grown up listening to opera, but Lynne was less familiar with the art form until Doug introduced her to it. Over time, she grew to enjoy it as much as he did. Her dedication to San Diego Opera was made clear in 2014 when, enroute to an emergency meeting to help keep the company alive, she slipped and broke her wrist but insisted on attending the meeting so that she and Doug could pledge their support before heading to the hospital.

During his time on the Board, Doug got to know Esther Burnham, the founder of the Opera Stars program, whose passion for sustaining opera in our community convinced Doug and Lynne to join the Opera Stars and ensure the future of world-class opera in San Diego for generations to come. Lynne passed away in 2019, but her spirit lives on in Doug’s enduring love of opera and their shared legacy as Opera Stars.

Doug believes that “everyone who cares about the future of opera in San Diego should consider becoming an Opera Star,” and hopes that others join him and Lynne in leaving a legacy gift to San Diego Opera.

Legacy Giving Tip

Summertime is the perfect season to create or update your estate plan.

If you don’t already have an estate plan, here are a few tips to get you started:

What is an estate plan?

An estate plan outlines how you want your assets distributed after you pass or in the event that you become incapacitated.

Why is it important to have one?

You’ve worked hard to accumulate assets during your lifetime. An estate plan ensures that your remaining assets will be of maximum benefit to your loved ones and the causes you care about most.

How should I document my plan?

An estate plan typically includes several documents. Some, like forms designating beneficiaries of retirement plans or life insurance policies, are quite easy to execute. Others, like wills and trusts, can be more complex but become less daunting when broken down into steps.

Steps towards making a will include deciding how you will write your will (with free online software or with the help of a professional adviser, for example), listing your assets, choosing your beneficiaries, naming your executor, signing your will in front of witnesses, and notifying your executor and beneficiaries. It’s not such an ordeal, especially considering its importance!

ALREADY HAVE A PLAN? SUMMER IS A GREAT TIME TO REVIEW IT!

Why is it important to keep my estate plan up to date?

An outdated estate plan can create unnecessary headaches for you, your loved ones, and the charities you care about. Most advisers recommend reviewing estate plans at least every three to five years and after changes in your life or those of your beneficiaries. Other factors to consider include changes in tax laws and whether your designated executor is still the most appropriate person to manage your estate.

While you’re reviewing your trust or will, don’t forget to review the beneficiaries of your IRAs and other retirement plans, and keep in mind that leaving a retirement account to a charity (San Diego Opera, for example!) is tax efficient in the short term and can help with estate tax, too.

HOW TO BECOME AN OPERA STAR

Regardless of how you structure your gift, by letting us know that you have included San Diego Opera in your estate plan, you will become a member of The Esther J. Burnham Opera Stars. You will enjoy special benefits and inspire others to follow your example. Even if you prefer to remain anonymous, we so appreciate knowing about your plans.

It's easy to tell us! Just contact Peter Shavitz, Senior Philanthropy Officer, at Peter.Shavitz@sdopera.org; (619) 533-7047; or San Diego Opera, 233 A Street, Suite 500, San Diego, CA 92101.

For more information about legacy and planned giving to benefit San Diego Opera, please click here.

Contact Peter Here

Make your voice heard.

Give generously by June 30 in honor of our 60th anniversary season. Your support ensures that opera will continue to inspire, uplift, and transform lives for generations to come.

Thank you for your support.