Legacy Giving

Designate the Writers Guild Foundation as the beneficiary of your residuals. The WGA identifies the beneficiary of a deceased member’s residuals based on the language of their estate documents (i.e., will, trust, court order, etc.). If you’d like the funds earned from your work to benefit the next generation of writers, just name the Writers Guild Foundation as your residuals’ beneficiary in your Will or Trust.

Some sample language to discuss with your attorney:

“I hereby leave all right, title and interest in and/or to any and all payments due on various Writers Guild of America, West, Inc. agreements which accrue to me and which are payable after my death to the Writers Guild Foundation, Tax ID #23-7024900, 7000 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA  90048-4321.”

For more information about donating your residuals to the Foundation, contact the WGA’s Estates Department at (323) 782-4612 or by email here.

Make a bequest or other planned gift to the WGF. A bequest is money or property which you legally leave to the Writers Guild Foundation in your will or trust. Donors retain complete control over their assets during their lifetime while earning a full charitable deduction on estate taxes. This type of gift can be a specific dollar amount, a percentage or all of your estate, or what remains after other bequests are made.

Some sample bequest language to discuss with your attorney:

“I give to the Writers Guild Foundation (EIN 23-7024900), currently located at 7000 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048, the sum of $_____ (or _____% of my estate) to be used for general operating support.”

If you are a screenwriter, the family of a writer, or a collector who would like to donate scripts and other archival ephemera, please get in touch at library@wgfoundation.org or call the Archivist at 323-782-4680. Please include a brief description of the contents and a rough estimate of the amount (e.g. number of boxes or scripts). Digital files can be donated as well.

We welcome new additions to the collections and do all we can to preserve the craft and voices of screen storytelling. Through your generous donations, we are able to build our holdings and preserve and make available writers’ stories and contributions for future generations. Collections typically consist of script drafts for produced and unproduced projects, outlines, memos, correspondence, production ephemera, and photographs. The Society of American Archivists has a brief guide to what it means to donate to an archival repository and explains the expectations of the donor and recipient.