The Garden honors those who have made arrangements for CalBG in their estate plans with membership in the Susanna Bixby Bryant Council. This philanthropic community, named for CalBG’s visionary founder,  celebrates the wonderful legacy of philanthropy that helps the Garden sustain and grow its impact and maintain the values of conservation, appreciation, and education it has upheld for the last 100 years. Membership in the Susanna Bixby Bryant Council is an open invitation for our community of philanthropists to publicly commit to naming CalBG in their estate plans. The Council provides opportunities throughout the year to gather and learn from Garden experts and from one another how to best leverage your philanthropic spirit and resources for the benefit of the Garden. We welcome and encourage you to let us know if you have made plans in your estate plans for CalBG so we can ensure you are honored in the Susanna Bixby Bryant Council. 

Donor Story: Linda Prendergast, Past President of the Volunteer Organization

"When I retired from my career as a plant buyer for a major national chain store, I was given an intriguing gift: a membership to California Botanic Garden. Can you believe that I had lived for over 12 years within five miles of the Garden and never visited?Fast forward fifteen years to today, when not a week goes by that I haven't spent many satisfying hours at the Garden. Whether making flower arrangements for the Garden's entrepreneurial Native Designs floral business, volunteering at the Great Grapevine Harvest, pulling weeds, or serving on the Board of Overseers, I am in my element at California Botanic Garden.So when the time came to make my estate plans and name beneficiaries in my will, California Botanic Garden was at the top of my philanthropic list.I am not a wealthy person, but making a bequest to the Garden in my will allowed me to leave a legacy to the place that has given me so much…to help ensure the Garden's future for others to enjoy. By letting the Garden know that it is included in my will, I am now a member of the Susanna Bixby Bryant Council, a legacy society for people who have made provisions for the Garden in their estate plans. What's fun is that the Garden honors these members today with an invitation to a beautiful recognition dinner in the fall and other kindnesses along the way. There are many ways to make a charitable gift to the Garden today and in the future that are tax-wise and express your support for the Garden's conservation, research, and education mission. And if you have already named the Garden in your estate plans, consider letting them know so that you can be recognized and join this convivial group. See you around the Garden!"