If you are like most (if not all) Santa Barbara residents, you recognize our county’s unique beauty and quality of life. Take a moment to reflect upon why you are fond of Santa Barbara and how it is so different than other coastal communities like Los Angeles, San Diego or Honolulu. Santa Barbara is constantly at risk of becoming a very different place.

The founders of the Citizens Planning Association (CPA) understood, back in 1960, as do those who support us today, that without proper planning, education and involvement, Santa Barbara simply cannot remain the place its residents so love and appreciate. There is a perpetual need for sound land use planning and environmental protection in our county.

Are you like the multitude of others in our community who care about where you live, work and play? Do you count yourself as lucky to live in such a beautiful place? Please, help us to protect Santa Barbara County’s environment and to preserve its unrivaled quality of life! Join CPA today. Your membership will help fund our efforts to work for projects that improve our communities and to object to ones that threaten them.

CPA works to keep our Santa Barbara area beautiful and livable. We defend key protective ordinances approved by the citizens; analyze technical reports; go before government bodies; even go to court when necessary to protect the community from the ravages of over-development.

We need your support now more than ever. The pressure for growth is unrelenting. It requires constant vigilance to be informed and effective. CPA has been our best bulwark for over 40 years, because not everyone has the time to act individually.

Each paid member makes us more formidable to meet these challenges. Wonít you help? It is easy to say we love Santa Barbara. Without your support, however, what we cherish here will disappear.

Join CPA click here

You can now join or renew your membership online via PayPal!  Click on the link above and where it asks for the amount, simply key in the amount of your desired membership level, and under “message to seller” please indicate “membership”:

      $1000+   Benefactor
      $100   Century Club/Business
      $60   Contributing/Family
      $40   Regular/Individual
     
For students and those on a fixed income, we accept a sliding scale for membership contributions and ask that you pay what you are comfortably able. 

You may also join CPA or renew your membership by mailing a check payable to Citizens Planning Association to the following address:

Citizens Planning Association
916 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

THANK YOU! We greatly appreciate your support!

If you have any questions about joining CPA please contact us at: 805-966-3979 or info@citizensplanning.org

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Leave a Legacy!

Make a lasting difference – leave a legacy in our community through CPA or CPF! 

As non-profit, community-based organizations, CPA and CPF play an important role in our lives and in our community.  Yet the reality is that we need long term financial support so we can carry out our good work far into the future. 

Santa Barbara County is a special place.  Perhaps you are a member of CPA or CPF, volunteer, and/or donate funds regularly to support our efforts because you care about Santa Barbara County and its future.  You can also continue to support CPA or CPF’s work well into the future through a bequest or planned gift.  Through your will or trust, you can arrange the gift just as you would while living. And it can be as simple as listing CPA or CPF in your will or trust!

How can I include CPA and/or CPF in my estate plan or will?

To be certain that CPA and/or CPF is/are included, list one or both by name and address with the specific amount or percentage or your estate you want them to receive.  It’s that easy!

Are there different ways to leave a gift to CPA and/or CPF?

You can arrange for a gift several ways, most commonly through a paragraph in your will or living trust.  It is also possible to bequeath items of value (such as jewelry or art), stocks or bonds, assets, your home or other real estate, any of which may also lower the estate taxes which might be levied.

Who can help me arrange a bequest or planned gift to CPA and/or CPF?

If you have a professional financial advisor, lawyer, accountant or other trusted advisor, please talk to them about this opportunity.  Otherwise, the Santa Barbara/Ventura Leave a Legacy program* can provide a list of local professional estate planners, attorneys, or CPAs, from which you can choose; call the Leave a Legacy Hotline at (805) 568-0979.

* Leave a Legacy is a joint initiative of the Planned Giving Roundtable of Santa Barbara and the Planning Giving Council of Ventura County to promote interest in planned charitable giving through a will or an estate plan.  Leave a Legacy works hand in hand with professional advisors and nonprofit groups to encourage planned giving.

Ten Things You Can Do Now to Leave a Legacy*

1.  Make a will!  Almost half the people in the U.S, die without one, thus missing one of the best and easiest ways to Leave a Legacy.  If you die with no will, state law determines how your assets are distributed and your favorite charities will receive nothing from you.

2.  Having written your will (with appropriate legal advice), be sure to include a paragraph which describes each bequest (a specific gift) to a family member or friend or to your favorite charity.

3.  As an addition to having a will, you may set up a living trust (with a lawyer’s help and advice) in which you can list specific gifts from your estate to the charitable organizations you wish to benefit.

4.  Your estate consists of all your property and possessions at the time of your death.  You may leave any possession to a charity such as securities, jewelry, art, a vehicle, boat, home or real estate.

5.  You can donate an existing (or new) life insurance policy by making the charity you select the policy’s owner or beneficiary.

6.  You can Leave a Legacy by establishing a permanent endowment fund with a charity.  Its future income will go to meet a specific need or provide for the programs you have designated in advance.

7.  You can donate funds now to pay for a building, improvement or other major capital need to serve the charity far into the future.

8.  You can establish a “planned gift” with a charity which gives you (and another person if you wish) lifetime income, an immediate tax deduction and the gift will benefit the charity when you (both) die.

9.  You may name a charity as beneficiary of your IRA or other pension account and receive a number of favorable tax benefits.

10.  You can Leave a Legacy by encouraging family and friends to make their own wills and include bequests to their favorite charities.

* This list compiled by Leave a Legacy Santa Barbara/Ventura