Transformational Vision: Planned Giving & Endowment

In 1955, Guide Dogs of Hawaii (GDH) was founded to enable Hawaii’s blind and visually impaired (BVI) residents to obtain guide dogs when the state’s quarantine regulations made it difficult. We have been lowering barriers for BVI independence ever since.

Everyone is entitled to a life of opportunity, happiness, and connection. This is why GDH serves as a community where people with vision loss can build confidence, meet friends, and learn skills to create fulfilling lives. GDH provides its clients, on all six main Hawaii islands, meaningful experiences that help them thrive in spite of, or in some cases because of, their visual impairments.

As the premiere BVI support organization in the state, our services transform lives. Children who used to hide behind their parents, gain the confidence to give speeches to Rotary Clubs. Adults who were unsure about leaving the house on their own, learn advanced Microsoft Office skills to prepare them for their first job. Seniors who thought they lost everything with their sight, learn to cook for themselves, maintain their health and enjoy vibrant social lives.

• Guide Dog Services include funding for canine wellness services, support for applying to a training center, and Orientation & Mobility training with the dog.
• Get Ahead with Technology (GAP) levels the education playing field for BVI students in DOE schools.
• Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Training teaches BVI how to use a white cane, guide dog training, public transportation, and smartphone apps to navigate routes.
• Camp Get Ahead is a fun two-week camp for BVI youth to develop life skills and friendships
• Giants of Technology, Youth Achievers (GOT YA!) provides advanced technology skills to BVI students.
• Keeping It Together during Covid (Covid KIT) supports BVI in adapting to the new ways of communicating, navigating, shopping, and socializing in the pandemic.
• Individuals Striving for Equal Employment (iSEE) helps BVI qualify for and find fulfilling employment or higher education.
• Seniors Harnessing Independence & Empowerment (SHINE) supports seniors with skills, technology, and socialization for independent living.
• Connect the Dots offers the chance for BVI youth to create their own podcasts and enhance technological skills, public speaking, and teamwork. 
• Peer Groups provide support and socialization around BVI topic areas such as Guide Dogs 808, Young at Heart Women’s Group, and Visionaries.

For over 65 years, our services have been funded by the generous contributions from individuals, corporations, private foundations and other institutions. This makes it possible for us to   support our BVI clients’ goal to achieve and maintain self-reliance. Always conscious of our resources, we find ways to make each dollar count by successfully completing our programs on time and on or under budget while never charging our clients or their families for our quality services. GDH has been managing its endowment for decades with a stellar record.

GDH cannot exist without the support of the broader community. Financial investments like yours will allow us to continue to implement our state-of-the-art programs that ensure BVI people can excel in school, find meaningful employment, and age with dignity. GDH has already had a phenomenally successful journey, and we need your support in ensuring it continues for many decades to come.

The following endowment vehicles empower you to become a partner in granting independence for generations of GDH clients. These instruments magnify your impact over the long term and could provide you with significant financial benefits in the short term. Please review the options below to see the ways that your gift today can drive our transformational vision far into the future.

• Endowment Funds – gifted for GDH ‘s unrestricted use, usually in perpetuity and customarily named in honor or memory of the donors. Although these gifts can be developed through gifts during a contributor’s lifetime, they are generally received through bequests in wills.Advised Funds – permits donors to contribute a large sum into a named fund and retain the privilege to recommend the distribution of income and principal from time to time for the rest of the donor’s and spouse’s respective lifetimes.
• Advised Funds – permits donors to contribute a large sum into a named fund and retain the privilege to recommend the distribution of income and principal from time to time for the rest of the donor’s and spouse’s respective lifetimes.
• Charitable Remainder Trusts – allows a donor to retain fixed and assured income for life (or lives) with the remainder of assets at the end of the life (or lives) becoming the irrevocable property of GDH; donors increase income from low-productive, appreciated assets contributed to a charitable remainder trust while avoiding any tax on capital gains otherwise applicable to donated assets.
• Conversion of Retirement Plans – takes advantage of the high tax cost to transfer wealth in IRA, Keogh, 401(k), and other qualified retirement plans, a donor can transfer this asset to a charitable remainder trust, or directly to GDH, and achieve significant economic advantages.
• Charitable Gift Annuities – for certain qualified older individuals who are seeking to maximize a fixed rate of retirement income, a Charitable Gift Annuity may prove to be advantageous; for younger individuals seeking additional alternatives in building retirement plans, a Deferred Gift Annuity has substantial planning benefits.
• Bequests in Wills and Trusts – generates major unrestricted gifts through estate planning techniques at the death of the donor.