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Laura Heintzelman
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Give Give Now - Lifetime Gifts
Give Now - Lifetime Gifts
Gift Options
There are a variety of ways to make gifts to the Manistee County Community Foundation.You may contribute any of the asset classeslisted below to establish a fund or to add to one of the Foundation's funds. We encourage you to contact a member of the Foundation's development staff if you have any questions about these giving options or other possibilities.
Cash
A cash gift usually is the easiest to give, and it is deductible up to 50% of the adjusted gross income you report on your federal income tax. If the amount of your gift exceeds the 50% limit, you may carry over the remainder for up to five years. Cash gifts must be made in U.S. dollars and delivered by check, credit cardor through our online donation system.
Securities
A gift of securities (stock, bonds, and most mutual funds) also provides tax advantages. If you have held the securities for one year or longer, the current value of the securities generally is tax-deductible up to 30% of your adjusted gross income, with a five-year carryover if the gift amount is more than the 30% limit. Also, if your securities have appreciated, you can avoid capital gains tax by giving them directlyto the Foundation rather than sell them and contribute the proceeds to the Foundation.When making gifts of stock to the Foundation through your broker, it is important to notify the Foundation staff to insure that your gift is deposited and accounted for correctly and in a timely manner.
Closely Held Stock
Owners of closely held or family businesses are often very involved in the community. Many think about creating a family foundationbut discover that there are restrictions applying to private foundations and closely held business interests. A partnership with the Manistee CountyCommunity Foundationis a cost-effective way to maximize and target charitable involvement while minimizing tax liability. The Community Foundation can be helpful in the following instances:
- Helping to pass ownership of the company to children or key employees while not straining available assets and liquidity.
- Selling the company and planning to minimize estate and capital gain taxes.
- Getting equity out of the company to provide income for you.
- Creating a family philanthropic program using the assets of your business.
Tangible Personal Property
A Fund at the Manistee County Community Foundation can be established by contributing tangible personal property such as works of art, jewelry, silver, antiques, and coin or stamp collections. This type of gift can be very attractive, as these items are often costly to insure and often times difficult or unprofitable to sell. There are special rules that govern the giving and acceptance of gifts of tangible property.
Real Estate
Gifts of real estate can include a home, apartment building, farm, vacation home, commercial buildings and income-producing and non-income-producing land. A donor can make an outright gift of all or a portion of real property now or through the estateor use it to fund a charitable remainder trust that provides income to the donor or the donor's children. Gifts of real estate typically require certain procedural steps, including a site visit to the property, a qualified appraisal, a preliminary title report and an environmental assessment.
Life Estates
Donors can benefit today from the future gift of a home, be it a primary residence or vacation home. The donor can deed the property to the Foundation, continue to live in the home for life and take an immediate income tax deduction. The Manistee County Community Foundation will ultimately sell the property and use the proceeds to support the charitable organizations or purposes identified by the donor.
Life Insurance Policies
Many people find that the protection offered by life insurance policies is no longer needed later in life. A life insurance policy can become an ideal tool for charitable giving. The procedure is simpleyou start by irrevocably assigning your insurance policy to the Manistee County Community Foundation. The Community Foundation is also named beneficiary of the policy.You can make annual tax-deductible contributions to cover the policy's annual premium. Or, if the policy is paid up, you will receive an immediate tax deduction in an amount equal to the policy's cash surrender value. Any type of fund can be established with a gift of life insurance. This creative strategy can enable a donor to make a much larger gift than he/she might have thought possible.
IRA or Retirement Plan Assets
You have been putting away money for years in an IRA or other qualified retirement plan. If you are like a growing number of Americans, that IRA may be your largest single asseta nest egg to leave behind for the children's future. But you may not realize the massive tax bite the plan is subject to once it is passed on to the beneficiaries. That legacy intended for your children could amount to just 20 cents on the dollar as a result of combined estate tax and income taxes on the IRA.
Using an IRA for a direct charitable bequest can pay real dividends in the community.
If you already have created a sound estate plan that achieves all objectives and takes care of the family, one lingering challenge remains: What should you do with an IRA or qualified retirement plan? Leaving the children the IRA could result in a combined tax of up to 80%and you have already provided well for both spouse and children through an existing estate plan (and thus may not see the need for a Charitable Family IRA). However, you may want to provide an incentive for the children to be involved in the community and participate in philanthropy. A good solution could be to create a Named Fund by naming the Manistee County Community Foundation as the beneficiary of the IRA or qualified retirement plan.
Using an IRA for a direct charitable bequest can pay real dividends in the community. If you have already created a sound estate plan that achieves all objectives and takes care of the family, generally a challenge remains: What should you do with an IRA or qualified retirement plan? By making a charitable bequest of an IRA plan, you will avoid the double tax bite of estate and income taxes and create a permanent charitable legacy.
For example, donors who create a Donor Advised Fund for their children can help them learn philanthropy and carry on their families' tradition of generosity. And the children can take advantage of our philanthropic and grantmaking services to learn more about the charities serving our community. Alternatively, you could create a Field of Interest Fund, Scholarship Fund, or choose any other type of Fund in the Manistee County Community Foundation.