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Carr Takes Advantage of the Many Ways to Give and Touches Many Lives

Elsie Raye Rigney CarrElsie Raye Rigney Carr's family has been associated with this university for nearly a century. Mrs. Carr's parents both graduated from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1911. After a brief stint as the county agricultural agent in Chavez County, her father was offered a position as a professor in the horticulture department at New Mexico A&M, so the family returned to Las Cruces.

Mrs. Carr was the oldest of four children, and it was just understood that they would go to college before they did anything else. She enjoyed her college days very much. She was a member of Zeta Alpha sorority and the International Relations Club, and she had a part in the senior play. When the Aggie football team, coached by her Uncle Jerry Hines, won the Border Conference and was selected to play in the first Sun Bowl game in El Paso, Mrs. Carr was elected to represent the college as a Sun Bowl princess.

Mrs. Carr graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1936 with a degree in English. She taught school in Las Cruces for a year before securing a job with the Soil Conservation Service, first in Albuquerque and then in Amarillo, Texas. There she met and married a young doctor. With the start of World War II, he became a flight surgeon with the Navy, causing the family to move several times.

When he shipped out, she got a job with her former Amarillo employer who was moving to Washington, D.C., to take a position with a new international relief agency. Mrs. Carr's first marriage ended shortly after the war. She and her son Michael stayed in Washington until 1954 when she accepted a position with the Ford Foundation and moved to Djakarta, Indonesia. There she met Dr. Jesse Carr who had come with a team from the University of California, San Francisco to help the Indonesians modernize their medical school. After their two-year appointments ended, they returned to the United States, married and settled in San Rafael, Calif.

With many members of her family living in the Mesilla Valley, Mrs. Carr returned often to visit and maintained her connections with NMSU. Our campus has many reminders of her personal generosity. In 1973 she made a gift in honor of her mother to erect the sundial that stands at the east end of the Horseshoe.

In 1992, she created a four-year full scholarship for a female student selected through the President's Associates scholarship program. To date, four women have earned their degrees with this award. Her next investment came in 1998 during the campaign to renovate the old YMCA building and create a permanent home for the Honors program. The commons room in that building is named for the Rigney-Hines family.

The NMSU Foundation awarded her its Branding Iron in 2004 in recognition of her many gifts and her service to the university as a member of the NMSU Foundation board.

A charitable bequest is one or two sentences in your will or living trust that leave to the New Mexico State University Foundation a specific item, an amount of money, a gift contingent upon certain events or a percentage of your estate.

an individual or organization designated to receive benefits or funds under a will or other contract, such as an insurance policy, trust or retirement plan

"I give to the New Mexico State University Foundation, a nonprofit corporation currently located at P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces, NM 88003, or its successor thereto, ______________ [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted use and purpose."

able to be changed or cancelled

A revocable living trust is set up during your lifetime and can be revoked at any time before death. They allow assets held in the trust to pass directly to beneficiaries without probate court proceedings and can also reduce federal estate taxes.

cannot be changed or cancelled

tax on gifts generally paid by the person making the gift rather than the recipient

the original value of an asset, such as stock, before its appreciation or depreciation

the growth in value of an asset like stock or real estate since the original purchase

the price a willing buyer and willing seller can agree on

The person receiving the gift annuity payments.

the part of an estate left after debts, taxes and specific bequests have been paid

a written and properly witnessed legal change to a will

the person named in a will to manage the estate, collect the property, pay any debt, and distribute property according to the will

A donor advised fund is an account that you set up but which is managed by a nonprofit organization. You contribute to the account, which grows tax-free. You can recommend how much (and how often) you want to distribute money from that fund to the NMSU Foundation or other charities. You cannot direct the gifts.

An endowed gift can create a new endowment or add to an existing endowment. The principal of the endowment is invested and a portion of the principal’s earnings are used each year to support NMSU's mission.

Tax on the growth in value of an asset—such as real estate or stock—since its original purchase.

Securities, real estate or any other property having a fair market value greater than its original purchase price.

Real estate can be a personal residence, vacation home, timeshare property, farm, commercial property or undeveloped land.

A charitable remainder trust provides you or other named individuals income each year for life or a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to the trust you create.

You give assets to a trust that pays our organization set payments for a number of years, which you choose. The longer the length of time, the better the potential tax savings to you. When the term is up, the remaining trust assets go to you, your family or other beneficiaries you select. This is an excellent way to transfer property to family members at a minimal cost.

You fund this type of trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. You can also make additional gifts; each one also qualifies for a tax deduction. The trust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to the NMSU Foundation as a lump sum.

You fund this trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. Each year the trust pays you or another named individual the same dollar amount you choose at the start. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to the NMSU Foundation as a lump sum.

A beneficiary designation clearly identifies how specific assets will be distributed after your death.

A charitable gift annuity involves a simple contract between you and the NMSU Foundation where you agree to make a gift to the NMSU Foundation and we, in return, agree to pay you (and someone else, if you choose) a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life.
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