Our Donors' Stories - Charlie Soderquist at The Nature Conservancy

Charlie's gift distributions helped increase access to his two favorite Conservancy preserves.

Donor Advised Fund

Designed for conservation-minded individuals, The Nature Conservancy's Donor Advised Fund gives you and your family the flexibility of recommending distributions to Conservancy programs as well as other charities. Learn more.

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E-mail: legacy@tnc.org
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A Lasting Legacy

Charlie Soderquist, a California-based author, entrepreneur and academic, made an outright gift to The Nature Conservancy's Donor Advised Fund in 2000. His gift allowed him to protect the lands and waters he cared about, as well as avoid potentially significant capital gains taxes. Sadly, Charlie passed away in March 2004, but through his gift, his legacy still lives on today.

Because Charlie gave through a Donor Advised Fund, he was able to recommend how the money would be used over a period of years for Conservancy projects, or even with other charitable organizations if he had chosen. This gift provided him the added benefit of considerably reducing his
tax liability.

During his life, Charlie chose to distribute funds to two Conservancy preserves, the Sacramento and Cosumnes Rivers, where Charlie liked to fly-fish and "step into the lush riparian environment" that had inspired many of his stories.

These distributions, made in the name of his grandson Scotty, helped to increase access to the preserves by providing for drift boats and a bridge. After his death, half of the remainder of the money in his Donor Advised Fund was distributed to support the Conservancy's priority projects and the other half was distributed to California, to protect the natural areas of his beloved home state.

Learn more about our Donor Advised Fund.

Image credits (left to right): © Tom Klare (Valley Oak at Cosumnes River Preserve, California); Image courtesy of the Estate of Charlie Soderquist (Charlie Soderquist).