Options for the Donor

Gift Size
With a minimum of $10,000 for a donor advised fund, scholarship fund, or any of the other types of funds, your clients can establish a named permanent fund. Your clients have the option of creating a fund for specific purposes in their name, or in that of a family, friend, or organization. Funds can be tailored to your clients' specific charitable interests. Additional contributions of any amount may be made to an established fund. For donors interested in establishing a Charitable Remainder Trust with the Community Foundation serving as trustee, the minimum amount is $100,000. The minimum amount required to establish a gift annuity is $25,000.

Ways to Contribute
There are two ways to give to the Community Foundation - outright or deferred gifts - and there are several methods by which to contribute these gifts. Each of these choices offers various financial and tax benefits.

Cash and almost any personal asset with value can be used to make a contribution. The most common types of outright assets given to the Community Foundation are:

• Cash
• Real Estate
• Personal Property
• Interests in Limited Partnerships
• Publicly and Privately Held Securities

Gifts of Cash
A cash gift is the easiest way to create a named fund or add to an existing fund at the Community Foundation. Cash gifts are fully deductible up to 50 percent of the donor's adjusted gross income in any one year. Deduction amounts exceeding this limit may be carried forward for up to five additional years. Cash gifts can be made with a check, wire transfer or a national credit card, including VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

Real Estate
Real estate gifts are an ideal way to attain a level of giving you might not have previously considered possible. By donating real estate, you receive the maximum tax deduction allowed by law and avoid capital gains tax. If you are interested in giving this type of gift, please contact the Community Foundation BEFORE you have an offer to purchase the real estate.

Securities
Gifts of appreciated securities (bonds, mutual funds, and stock, including stock in closely held companies) also may be used to establish a fund or add to an existing fund. These gifts often provide tax advantages. Their full fair market value is deductible as a charitable contribution up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income. As with gifts of cash, deduction amounts exceeding this limit may be carried forward for up to five additional years.

Donors who give appreciated securities avoid the capital gains tax on the appreciated portion of the gift. Gifts of closely held stock have the same tax benefits as publicly traded stock.

Deferred Gifts
Charitable Remainder Trusts
This type of trust allows you to receive an income from the trust for a set number of years or until their death, at which time the balance of the trust is transferred to a fund within the Community Foundation that fulfills your philanthropic goals. You receive a charitable deduction the year the trust is established, may avoid capital gains tax and could increase your annual income. An annuity trust and a unitrust are the most common types of Charitable Remainder Trusts, differing only in how income is distributed to you, the donor.

Charitable Lead Trusts
This type of trust allows you to establish a trust that pays an income to a fund at the Community Foundation established by the donor with a specific purpose. When the trust matures, the balance of the trust is transferred to your named beneficiary - children, grandchildren, relatives or others.

Insurance and Life Estates
Life insurance policies also can be used as charitable gifts. If the Community Foundation is named as the owner and beneficiary of an existing or new life insurance policy, you receive an immediate tax deduction, which usually approximates the cash surrender value of the policy. All premium payments made by you thereafter will be deductible as a charitable contribution.

With a life estate, you receive a charitable deduction for the present value of your estate (home or property of the donor), while allowing you the continued use of the property until death. The Community Foundation will ensure that the donation from an insurance policy or life estate is distributed according to your wishes.

Beneficiary or Retirement Plans
Because in recent times people work later in life and because many people have saved more than enough in retirement benefits, they choose to name the Community Foundation as the beneficiary of individual retirement accounts, 401(k)s and other retirement programs. Creating a fund with the Community Foundation to receive a retirement plan distribution will ensure that your charitable objectives are realized.

Bequests
Bequests are gifts left to the Community Foundation in a donor's estate. Many donors who may be concerned about their future finances choose a bequest as a way to positively influence the future after their death.

If you have any questions contact J. Larry Snipes, Director of Development, at 803.254.5601 x. 322 or larry@yourfoundation.org.