A Gift in Your Will

A popular and enduring planned gift is a simple gift in your will. This is a powerful opportunity to leave a lasting legacy. When you make a gift in your will, you retain full use of your property during life, so there is no disruption of your lifestyle and no immediate out-of-pocket cost.

In either a new or existing will, simply designate that part of your estate passes directly to The Gaylord Memorial Library. You have remarkable flexibility in how you make this designation. For example, you can leave:

• a specific asset
• a specific sum of money
• a percentage of your estate
• what remains of your estate after you have provided for all of your other beneficiaries.
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You can also state exactly how you want your gift to be put to use. Or, you can provide an unrestricted gift that can be used whenever and wherever it’s needed most. Most importantly, you can change your gift whenever you choose—you remain in complete control of the planning process.

Contact us for more information about making a gift in your will.

Gifts of Retirement Account Assets

Many donors use qualified retirement account assets in their charitable gift planning. It is easy to name us as the sole or partial beneficiary of an IRA or qualified retirement account and this gift has distinct planning advantages.

Retirement account assets left to loved ones may be subject to higher taxation than other types of assets. By using retirement account assets to make a gift (and selecting alternative assets to leave to family members), you may be able to reduce taxes that otherwise would be imposed on those assets and leave more to your intended beneficiaries.

Contact us for more information about gifts of retirement account assets.

Make a Gift, Receive Payments for Life

A gift annuity is an agreement between you and us. When a charitable gift annuity is in place, we agree to pay you fixed payments for your life (and/or the life of your chosen beneficiary). The amount of the annuity is based on the gift amount and age of the annuitant(s) at the time of the gift.

A gift annuity can be established with a contribution and provides a number of very attractive benefits. You can:

• Fund it with cash or marketable securities ($25,000 minimum value in cash or securities to establish your charitable gift annuity)
• Qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the gift (subject to limitations), and
• Potentially spread out any capital gains tax liability.

What’s more, part of your annuity payment may be federal income tax-free for a certain number of years. As a donor, you can select the payment intervals (usually quarterly or annually) and name one or two people as the annuitants.

Those who frequently max out their annual retirement plan contributions may want to consider a deferred gift annuity strategy. Deferred gift annuities start payments at least one year after creation and offer three important benefits:

1. They can be used to supplement qualified retirement plan savings.
2. You qualify for a current income tax deduction now during your high-income years.
3. You can postpone the start of annuity payments until later—usually after retirement begins.

Now is a great time to consider this giving option as gift annuity rates are the highest they’ve been in years.

One method of making a gift that creates an income stream is a charitable remainder trust. Benefits include:

• An income for you and/or your beneficiaries for life or a period of up to 20 years
• An immediate and substantial income tax charitable deduction (subject to limitations) for itemizers
• Potential to bypass current capital gains taxes when the trust is funded with long-term appreciated property
• Reduction of your assets to minimize or avoid estate taxes
• Substantial reduction of probate costs, taxes, and other estate transfer expenses. 

Make an irrevocable gift to a fund maintained by a charitable organization and enjoy an income tax charitable deduction for the full amount of the gift (subject to limitations). You can recommend grants to qualified charities, but you may not place material restrictions on the fund.

Gifts of Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds

Gifts of long-term, highly appreciated securities are the most common type of outright property gift. Donors typically give individual stocks, but bonds or mutual fund shares are also attractive gift options. Outright gifts of securities can be made quickly, and these gifts let you have a bigger impact thanks to the tax advantages.

A charitable gift of appreciated securities held longer than one year is not considered a sale and does not generate any capital gains tax, no matter the amount of the gain. To encourage gifts of appreciated property, Congress provides a valuable tax incentive—a charitable income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the securities (including the gain) for itemizers, subject to limitations.

For example, if you give shares of stock worth $10,000, you can deduct the full amount on your income tax return (subject to limitations) even if you bought the stock for $1,000. In addition, when we sell the stock, we keep every penny of the proceeds since we are a tax-exempt organization.

Note: Be sure to transfer the stock directly to us. Do not sell the stock, or you will lose this important tax advantage.

Contact us for more information about gifts of securities.

Gifts of Life Insurance

Life insurance is also an excellent tool for accomplishing philanthropic goals while realizing other important financial objectives. Life insurance may even allow you to make charitable gifts you would never have dreamed possible.

Making a gift of life insurance is quite simple. If you are the insured policy owner, you simply transfer physical possession of your paid-up policy to us and file an absolute assignment or transfer of ownership form with your insurance company. Your company will then send a letter to us showing that we are the sole owner of the policy.

Gifts of Real Estate

A donor who gives us appreciated real estate owes no capital gains tax on the appreciation and qualifies for a charitable income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the property (subject to limitations).

Gift of a Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence or Other Types of Real Estate

A special provision of the tax law allows an immediate income tax charitable deduction for a gift of a remainder interest in your home or farm. With a remainder interest gift, you retain an absolute right to occupy the home or farm for your life (or the life of a family member). The property passes to us only after termination of the life estate(s).

The charitable deduction allowable for this future gift is the present value of our right to receive the property at some later date. The age of the life tenant is the primary factor in determining the present value of our deferred interest and the charitable deduction. The gift is deductible in the year of the transfer (subject to  limitations and assuming the donor itemizes).

Additional types of Gifts:

Revocable Living Trust

Create a trust that can be revoked or changed during your lifetime that directs the disposition of your assets, including charitable gifts. Used alone or in conjunction with a will, a revocable living trust can minimize the cost and delays associated with probate, facilitate asset transfer, provide privacy and, unlike a will, ensure asset management continuity in the event of disability.

Retained Life Estate

Donate a home and retain the right to live in the property for the rest of your life. Qualify for a current income tax charitable deduction for the value of our remainder interest in the home (subject to limitations).

Charitable Lead Trust

Create a charitable lead trust that benefits us for a number of years, returns assets to your beneficiaries, and minimizes taxes.

Closely Held Stock

Donate closely held stock. You enjoy a charitable deduction equal to the appraised value of the stock (subject to limitations) with no capital gains tax due.

Tangible Personal Property

Donate gift property that can be used for our exempt purposes, and qualify for an income tax deduction for the full fair market value (subject to limitations).