Membership & Planned Giving
Members Make it Happen!
Members make it happen, and we need your help to save lives!
Annually, about 90% of our annual expenses are focused on food, medical assistance, and building maintenance to provide the safest environment for the animals in our care.
80% of the revenue generated to provide this care comes from individual donors and fundraising efforts.
It’s true: your financial support is what WCHS needs the most. Through the generous gifts of our members and patrons, we are able to save the lives of over 1,000 abused, abandoned, and neglected animals each year. That’s right: Your gift today can save a life tomorrow!
Interested parties can now choose from sustaining and annual memberships.
Sustaining memberships begin at $5 per month and can be made in any denomination at or above that level. They are an on-going (i.e., monthly) financial investment in WCHS and are our most reliable source of revenue each year. To enroll in a sustaining membership, click here.
Our annual members can choose from a variety of options, including:
Youth (for those under 18 years of age): $15/annually
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Senior (for those 65+ years of age)/Student: $30/annually
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Individual: $40/annually
Family: $75/annually
All current members (with the exception of youth members) enjoy the following benefits: an invitation to our monthly Board meetings at which we discuss and plan for the future of WCHS; voting rights at our Annual Meeting with respect to Board nominees and other WCHS-related business; ability to buy tickets to any of our ticketed events before they go on sale to the public; exclusive membership pricing for select ticketed events; including in our quarterly mailer campaigns; and recognition as a member on our website and in shelter.
Youth members receive a personal membership card, an invitation to participate in exclusive Youth Club activities, recognition on our website and in shelter, and a $5 discount of volunteer orientation dues if she/he/they goes/go on to volunteer during his/her/their membership period.
All potential WCHS members must complete and return a copy of our Membership form, which can be found here. (Please return the form to us either via email at or via USPS at 801 Van Camp Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402). Membership dues can be paid via a credit card online by clicking here or via a check (made out to Wood County Humane Society) which should be mailed to the above address.
Planned Giving
Making a planned gift is a meaningful way to carry forward your compassion and concern for pets. Planned or deferred gifts can be used to improve your current financial and tax situation, often right away. You can also earn a lifetime income from the investment of the assets that you donate.
Cash
An example of this type of gift is when a donor writes a check directly to an organization. This benefits the donor because of the simplicity of the gift and the entire gift is tax deductible. (click here to make an online donation). If you would like to mail in your donation download and print the form here.
Outright Gift of Appreciated Property
The transfer of a stock or bond that has gained value since purchase is an example of an outright gift of appreciated property. If the donor gave the WCHS stocks worth $1,000 that had been purchased for $200, the donor would receive a tax deduction for the current value of the donated stock.
Charitable Remainder Trust
The donor would set up a trust and transfer assets to the trust in this case. If the donor transfers $10,000 into a trust, the donor can collect five percent per year as an income stream for the life of the donor. Upon the death of the donor, WCHS would be the benefactor of the trust as well as any other charities or family members designated by the donor. The benefits of this charitable giving method are that the donor receives an income stream for the remainder of their life and the donor avoids capital gains taxes on the assets of the trust. Another option for a Charitable Remainder Trust is for the donor to simply write a provision into the will, directing that a certain amount of money goes into a trust for WCHS upon his or her death. The trust will then make payments to the surviving spouse, if any, until the spouse passes away. At that point, the WCHS will receive the remainder of the trust.
Bequest
This is the easiest way to make a deferred gift to us. All a donor does is include the Wood County Humane Society into his or her will for a certain percentage of the donor's assets or the total proceeds from the estate to be donated. The benefit of this method of planned giving is that the donor can take an estate tax deduction for the full amount of the bequest.
Bargain Sale
If a donor sold land valued at $200,000 to the WCHS for $10,000 it would be considered a bargain sale. The difference between the purchase price and the value of the land ($190,000) would be tax deductible for the donor.
Life Insurance
There are two options to consider when thinking about life insurance as a charitable gift. One method is to make the WCHS the benefactor of the policy. Upon the donor's passing, the WCHS will receive the designated settlement from the policy. The advantages to this method include the ability to change benefactors at any time and the availability to the donor of the cash value of the policy. The other option is to make the WCHS the owner of the policy. The donor must make payments to the WCHS annually to cover the policy premium. The donor in turn will receive a credit on their income taxes equal to the lesser of the policy's value of the net premium paid.