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Planned Giving

By including SWE in your estate and planned giving, you play a powerful role in ensuring our resources are available for future generations of women engineers. In recognition of your commitment to include SWE in your estate plan, we will honor you as a member of our Ada Pressman Society.

Download legal information and sample verbiage to include SWE in your estate plan.

If you have already included SWE in your estate plan and would like to be recognized as a member of the Ada Pressman Society, please fill out this form and email it to funddevelopment@swe.org or mail it to the Society of Women Engineers 130 East Randolph Street, Suite 3500 Chicago, Illinois 60601-6341.

There are a variety of ways to include SWE in your estate planning, and all donors can elect to direct how their gift is utilized, whether it be for a specific program, general operating support, or to exist in perpetuity through an endowed scholarship (requires a minimum commitment of $25,000).

If you have questions or want more information, please let us know by emailing funddevelopment@swe.org or contacting us at 312.596.5223. SWE highly recommends that all donors consult with their own tax or legal advisor before making a planned gift.

The Society of Women Engineers an organization qualified under U.S. Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) and is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions in the United States. For other countries, please check with your local tax advisor regarding tax deductions of charitable contributions.

Legal Name:
Society of Women Engineers Employer Identification Number (EIN):
13-1947735


Planned Giving at SWE

The Ada Pressman Society

Generous individuals who commit to making a planned gift to SWE will be recognized in the following ways:

  • Receive a customized pin indicating their membership in the Ada Pressman Society
  • Receive an annual invitation to the Halo Reception held at SWE’s Annual Conference
  • Receive a high-level annual communication from the Executive Director & CEO
  • The name will be included in all annual report and recognition lists of the Ada Pressman Society

The Ada Pressman Society was created to honor and recognize one of SWE’s early members, Ada Pressman. Ms. Pressman was recognized as a pioneer in combustion control and burner management for supercritical power plants. With this expertise, she managed 18 design teams for over 20 power-generating plants throughout the world. One of her many notable career accomplishments was her leadership as principal engineer for the San Onofre nuclear power plant south of Los Angeles. Ada could be described as a quiet leader, but no one would doubt that she was in charge. She became Chief Control Systems Engineer. At her retirement from Bechtel, she was Engineering Manager.


Planned GivingMore about Ada Pressman: Ada was born in Sydney, Ohio, and attended secondary schools there. She received her Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University in 1950. Following graduation, she joined Bailey Meter Co as a project engineer. In 1955 she joined Bechtel as a power control systems engineer. In 1969 she received a Master’s in Business Administration from Golden Gate University in California. She became a registered Professional Engineer (PE).

SWE: Ada joined SWE in 1954 as a charter member of the Cleveland Section and became a Senior Member in 1961. Ada had an active SWE “career” with the distinction of being a “three-pin” president of SWE –the Past Presidents pin, a SWE Fellow pin, and the SWE Achievement Award pin (1976). She was SWE President 1979-80, a tumultuous period as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was fiercely debated. Ada also received the Distinguished Service Award. Ada was elected to the SWE Board of Trustees in 1983. As Treasurer, she led the Board from handwritten ledgers into the computer age.

Affiliations: Ada was also an active member of the Instrument Society of America and eventually became national President. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State and the Outstanding Engineering Merit Award from Bechtel. She was a member of ANS and NSPE. Ada was widowed early with the death of her husband, Marvin H Pressman, in 1970. She an avid golfer and was always ready with her clubs. Ada left a substantial bequest for the scholarship endowment, and the BOT was able to create 6 renewable scholarships.

If you have already included SWE in your estate plan and would like to be recognized as a member of the Ada Pressman Society, please fill out this form and email it to funddevelopment@swe.org or mail it to the Society of Women Engineers 130 East Randolph Street, Suite 3500 Chicago, Illinois 60601-6341.

SWE extends a special thanks to Carolyn Phillips for authoring and collecting the biographical information about Ada Pressman.


Members of the Ada Pressman Society

The following members of the Ada Pressman Society have committed to include SWE in their estate plan:

Anonymous (8)
Barbara W. Benko
Barbara Brockett
Betty Shanahan
Bernice E. Brody
B.J. Harrod*
Carolyn F. Phillips
Claire M. Shortall
Debra A. Kimberling
Deborah J. O’Bannon
Deborah Willems
Diane DiFrancesco
E. D. Kam Kersey
Emilie Steinhoff
Elizabeth Bierman
Elizabeth (Betty) Ann Irish
Ellen Gentry
Gail Dyer
Georgette M. Michko
Heather Doty
Heather Lynn Tedder
Hope R. Piuck
Hannah Stovall
Jeffrey Brody
Jaclyn A. Spear
Janet L. Williams
Jill S. Tietjen
Judith A. Kersey
Judith Mason
Judith Nitsch
Katherine C. Norris, P.E.
Kathleen F. Harer
Linda Freeman
Linda Marincel
Lora Dudley Lechago
Lori Lynn Kahn
Margaret J. Lyons, P.E.
Marjorie Inden
Mary Bonk Isaac
Mary Hazelton
Mary V. Jones
Michele Marie O’Shaughnessy
Natalie Noel Vanderspiegel                    
N. J. Taber
Paula Loring Simon
Paula McDonald
Phyllis S. Gaylard
Rachel Morford
Ron Horton
Rosemary L. Lafrance
Stacey M. DelVecchio
Sandy Pettit, PhD, PE
Sandy Postel
Thomas W. Benko
Virginia Counts
Yvonne Simms

*Posthumously recognized.


Will or Trust Gifts

By thoughtfully remembering SWE, you can leave a legacy for women in engineering by bequeathing all of your estates, or a portion of what remains after your obligations to others are fulfilled.

Download legal information and sample verbiage to include SWE in your estate plan.

There are different kinds of bequests to choose from depending on your financial objectives. By naming SWE in your will or living trust, you can also realize substantial tax savings while perpetuating your support of SWE into the future. Your donation will ensure that SWE continues to support the advancement of engineering as a desirable career for women.

Types of bequests:

  • Specific bequest: You can make a specific financial bequest by designate a stated dollar amount to SWE.
  • Residuary bequest: If you have multiple sources you would like an estate to go towards (such as family members, friends, other charities, debts, taxes, etc.), you can specify that you want to designate SWE to receive all or a stated percentage of the remainder of your estate.

Designating how your bequest will be used:

  • Unrestricted bequest: allows the Society of Women Engineers to direct the bequest to the areas of greatest need. Suppose you designate your bequest to support SWE’s overall mission, where your contribution will be directed to where it is needed most or to a specific program. Download unrestricted bequest verbiage.
  • A restricted bequest allows you to specify how the bequest will be used. You can elect to designate all or portions of your gift to a specific program or endowed scholarship fund—download restricted bequest verbiage.
  • Endowment scholarship bequest allows your gift will continue indefinitely. The Board of Trustees for the Society of Women Engineer’s requires a minimum $25,000 gift to establish an endowed scholarship fund. Learn more in the section below on creating an endowed scholarship.

Legal Name: Society of Women Engineers

Employer Identification Number (EIN): 13-1947735

For more information, please contact:
Honna George
312.596.5223
funddevelopment@swe.org


Life Insurance Policy Gifts

Under certain circumstances, life insurance policies can be used for charitable purposes. This is usually the case if the existing policy has outlived its original purpose. There are two ways you can make a planned gift to SWE through an existing life insurance policy:

Name as Beneficiary: If you have a policy that you no longer need for your family’s financial security, you can name SWE the primary or secondary beneficiary of the policy. In doing this, your estate may be able to claim a charitable deduction for the proceeds passing to SWE.

Transfer ownership: You can make SWE the owner of a policy that has been paid in full and is no longer needed. You may also incur a tax benefit through this gift.
Legal Name: Society of Women Engineers
Employer Identification Number (EIN): 13-1947735

For more information, please contact:
Honna George
312.596.5223
funddevelopment@swe.org


Retirement Assets Gifts

The easiest way to include SWE in your estate plan is through making a gift from your retirement assets – 401(k), 403 (b), IRA, etc. If these funds are designated to a beneficiary that is not your spouse, they will be subject to estate tax, and the recipients will have to pay income tax as they withdraw the funds. To avoid these tax implications, you can make SWE a beneficiary of your retirement plan. Since SWE is a tax-exempt organization, there will be no income tax due upon distribution.

Making SWE the beneficiary of any or all of your retirement accounts is simple. The process requires you to contact your plan administrator and request, fill out, and submit a form to change your beneficiary designations. You can make SWE a primary or a contingent beneficiary. Contingent beneficiaries will receive the funds if the primary beneficiary (most often your spouse) passes away before you.

Legal Name: Society of Women Engineers

Employer Identification Number (EIN): 13-1947735

For more information, please contact:
Honna George
312.596.5223
funddevelopment@swe.org


Endow a Scholarship

SWE – EFI (Society of Women Engineers – Endowment Fund Incorporated) operates as SWE’s Board of Trustees and manages all endowed scholarships. The minimum gift to establish an endowment is $25,000. To cover ongoing administrative and investment costs, there is a one-time fee of 10% that is requested in addition to the endowed principal of any gift (for example, for a principal gift of $25,000, the fee would be $2,500 for a total gift of $27,500).

An endowed gift is maintained in perpetuity, and spending is based on revenues generated from the investment of the original gift amount. On an initial endowment for a minimum amount of $25,000, SWE-EFI strives to distribute scholarships each year of $1,000 after the endowed funds have been invested for at least 12 months. If a gift over $25,000 is made, the amount available for distribution for single or multiple scholarships is proportionally higher.

In many cases, an individual elects to endow a scholarship in their name through a bequest, or a scholarship is endowed in honor of an individual by family members and friends. Once an endowed scholarship is established in honor of an individual, SWE-EFI includes their biographical information in an Endowed Scholarship Booklet.

Download a current edition of SWE’s Board of Trustees Endowed Scholarship Profiles.

To learn more about endowing a scholarship, our policies, FAQ, and pledging to endow a scholarship, please view the links below.

In making any endowed scholarship gift, please include the legal name of SWE-EFI and our EIN: 20-2761991. For any questions, contact SWEEFI Scholarship Liaison at bot-scholarships@swe.org.