Planned gifts provide an opportunity for donors to contribute to the Center without having to draw on financial resources immediately.
Please contact dstrand@doveradultlearning.org or call 603-742-1030 to express your interest and discuss these options.
In 2009 the Board of Directors adopted Gift Acceptance Policies and Guidelines and Investment and Spending Polices.
The simplest options are outlined below. Donors will want to consult with their financial/tax advisers to determine eligibility and which options best fit the donors’ needs and circumstances.
Life Insurance
Policies no longer needed for family or business purposes may be transferred to the Center. Transferring ownership enables the donor to claim a charitable deduction equal to the surrender value.
- It allows the Center to acknowledge and recognize the donor now
- It allows the donor to make a larger gift than would normally be possible from current income
- It puts to good use assets that are becoming less important to the donor
To make this gift deductible, it must be irrevocable. The Center may be named the owner of the policy or a beneficiary in a specified amount. If the gift is of a paid-up (there are no additional premiums to be paid) life insurance policy, the donor receives an immediate income tax deduction generally equal to the sum of premiums paid. If the donor is still paying premiums, deductions will still be very advantageous.
Another important use of life insurance is wealth replacement. When a donor makes a substantial gift to the Center, s/he is often reducing the amount of assets that will go to heirs. Increasingly, donors are using some of their tax savings (from their charitable tax deduction) to purchase insurance policies on their own lives and make their heirs the owners and beneficiaries of that policy. This wealth replacement strategy can permit both a larger gift and a larger legacy to heirs. Life insurance proceeds are non-taxable to heirs.
Gifts of Stock
Stocks that have increased in value and would therefore be subject to capital gains taxes if they were sold also provide an excellent gift opportunity. The donor receives a tax credit for the donation and the Center is able to sell the stock at current value without a tax liability.
Retirement Plans
Retirement Funds seem to be the best kept secret in gift planning. Gifts from these assets often make better financial sense to the donor than gifts of cash, securities or property. In the years since IRAs and 401(k)s and other personal retirement plans were established, many people have deposited significant funds which have grown rapidly as the financial markets have set records. Your retirement funds may well be a very significant part of your estate now. In your estate, those funds will be taxed more heavily than others, and it may make good sense to commit those to the Center instead of other assets. In some estates, retirement funds can face taxes as high as 80%, leaving little for heirs.
Here are some ways you can contribute:
Designated at Death
The Center may be named to receive all or a portion of a company pension plan, an IRA, a 401(k), or a Keogh Plan. Because retirement plan assets are often subject to extremely high estate taxes and the income is fully taxable when received by an individual beneficiary, retirement plans make excellent charitable gifts and may be a better use of these assets.
By naming the Center as the beneficiary of a retirement plan the donor maintains control over the assets, but at death the plan passes to the Center free of both estate and income taxes for the use you have specified at the Center. When creating your estate plan you may wish to consider leaving heirs other assets, such as cash and securities that are not as highly taxed and naming the Center as the beneficiary of your plan.
Charitable Bequests (donations included in your will)
Bequests allow a donor to make a gift in three different ways: specific bequest, percentage bequest or residuary bequest. The gift may be unrestricted, restricted, in honor/memory of, or as an endowed gift.
A bequest to the Center may be expressed in these words in a will:
Sample Wording