Gifts Through Your Will

Strengthen your impact: make a charitable bequest.
Remember SCI in your will or living trust.

A bequest is one of the simplest ways to ensure that the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) continues critical work for future generations. Have you made a bequest for the future of mariners SCI serves every day? Please let us know your plans so we can thank you and welcome you to the Janet Lord Roper Society.

Janet Lord Roper Society

When you include SCI in your will or estate plan or make a life-income gift, you become a member of the Janet Lord Roper Society. Created in 2004, the Society honors people from all walks of life who remember SCI in their will. Knitters, mariners, families and friends of mariners—all kinds of people who know the value of our ministry—comprise this group of dedicated individuals who want to ensure a strong financial future for SCI.

Janet Lord Roper embodied the mission and ministry of the Institute for 28 years; she was known as “Mother Roper” to generations of seafarers.

Others appreciated her as well. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt heard of Mother Roper’s death in 1943, he wrote to her daughter:

“Men of the sea from all over the world brought their problems to her in full confidence of sympathetic understanding and practical helpfulness.”

As an Institute Trustee from 1908 to 1945, President Roosevelt knew that a strong SCI made a difference to the spiritual and professional lives of mariners, as well as protecting their rights.

To join the Janet Lord Roper Society or to discuss your options, email Associate Director of Development for Major & Planned Gifts, Laura Amerman or call 973-589-5828, ext. 206.

Become part of Mother Roper’s legacy of “sympathetic understanding and practical helpfulness” to mariners here in the United States and around the world.

Keep in Mind

Your assets remain in your control during your lifetime. You can modify your bequest if your circumstances change.There is no upper limit on the estate tax deductions that can be taken for charitable bequests. Consult your financial or tax advisor for details.

Legal Information

If you wish to name the Seamen’s Church Institute in your will or estate plan, we should be named as:

The Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the state of New York, with principal business address of 241 Water Street, New York, NY 10038.

Our tax identification number is: 13-5562356

Incorporation Date: April 1844 (Founded 1834)

The Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

At the Seamen’s Church Institute, all unrestricted charitable gifts are used strategically to support top priorities. If you have a more specific purpose in mind, please contact us at 973-589-5828, ext. 206 to ensure we can meet your wishes. Whether you choose to restrict a gift or not, your support will help future generations of those working on the water.

If you have included the Seamen’s Church Institute in your estate plans, let us know. We would like to thank you for you generous commitment to the future and welcome you to the Janet Lord Roper Society.