CROW welcomes the opportunity to acknowledge
our donors or their departed loved ones
by offering naming
opportunities for gifts we
receive. We are happy to speak with you
about the various recognition possibilities
reflective of your interests and generosity.
Click
here to see some of the naming
opportunities available at CROW
Please
remember to inform CROW of any of
your planned or deferred giving intentions
so we may ensure your gift is used as
you intended. This also allows CROW
to properly acknowledge and thank you
for your support and include you in the
Legacy Society.
The
Legacy Society at CROW is
the most prestigious giving society. It
was established to recognize those friends
who have chosen to honor CROW with
a planned or deferred gift.
Consultation
with Legal & Accounting Professionals
CROW recommends that you consult with
estate planning, legal and accounting
professionals to determine the proper
gift vehicle that best fits your tax and
financial interests. For additional information
about planned and deferred giving or to
receive a brochure describing the types
of giving in more detail, please contact
CROW’s Director of Development
by calling 239.472.3644.
Bequest
A carefully prepared will or estate plan
is the best way to ensure that your loved
ones are provided for after your death,
and that your preferred charities are
supported as you intend.
Just
as charitable deductions during your lifetime
can produce sizable savings in income
taxes, donations made at the time of your
death can materially reduce estate taxes.
Charitable bequests are deducted in full
from the value of your estate in the calculation
of estate taxes. In addition to an outright
bequest, you may wish to consider a qualified
terminable interest trust. This is used
when you wish to make a gift and at the
same time provide for your spouse. The
trust is set up in your will. Upon your
death, the income goes to your spouse
for life; after your spouse’s death,
the remainder belongs to CROW The
arrangement allows the property to be
completely free of estate taxes.
Bequests
can take a variety of forms and the following
are a few examples:
Real
Estate
Real estate can be a significant contribution
to CROW, and the donor can receive
a substantial tax deduction, avoid capital
gains taxes and cease paying real estate
taxes on the property donated to CROW
If you were to make such a gift, what
would it be? Your home? Commercial property?
Farm land or unimproved land? There are
many possibilities.
In
the case of a personal residence, you
can structure a gift to allow you to remain
in your home for the remainder of your
life. This retained interest as a part
of your gift is called a “retained
life estate.” A real estate gift
need not be of environmentally or ecologically
beneficial land, and may be sold by CROW
after it is donated with the proceeds
to be applied as directed by the donor.
Securities
The gift of appreciated securities offers
two donor tax benefits: a charitable deduction
for the full fair market value of the
securities at the time the gift is made,
and the avoidance of capital gains taxes
on the increase in value since their original
purchase by the donor. Gifts can include
publicly traded stock, closely held stock
and restricted stock. Gifts of closely
held and restricted stock receive the
same tax benefits as publicly traded stock.
Charitable Remainder Trust
With a charitable remainder trust, you can make a substantial
gift to CROW while achieving the following benefits
for yourself:
To
accomplish this gift and tax benefit,
the donor must transfer the asset to the
trust irrevocably and specify how trust
income and principal are to be distributed.
Upon the death of the last surviving income
beneficiary, or at the end of a fixed
term, CROW will then receive the principal.
Charitable
remainder trusts can provide you a fixed
or variable income. You can choose to
receive a fixed dollar amount each year
through an arrangement known as a “charitable
remainder annuity trust.” If the
trust earns more than is distributed,
the excess is accumulated for the eventual
benefit CROW Or you can elect to receive
your income as a fixed percentage of the
assets held in trust and valued annually.
This is called a “charitable remainder
unitrust.”
Charitable
Gift Annuity
A Charitable Gift Annuity is a simple
contractual arrangement offering the donor
a fixed income and a significant tax deduction.
It obliges CROW to pay you a fixed
lifetime income in return for your gift.
Specific income payments vary with age.
In general, the federal income tax deduction
is higher with a charitable gift annuity
than with a gift through a charitable
remainder trust. And, depending on the
amount of capital gain you may have experienced,
you will receive a portion of your annual
income tax-free.
Charitable
Lead Trust
A Charitable Lead Trust is similar to
lending assets to CROW This is a gift
vehicle that lets you give an important
gift to CROW while reserving the principal
for your heirs. Under this plan, income-producing
assets are placed into a trust, the income
from which passes to CROW for a fixed
number of years. At the end of that period
(10 years or more), the assets are distributed
to the designated heirs. They will have
no tax liability for any appreciated value
that may have occurred over the life of
the trust.
Retirement
Assets
Every
year, Americans transfer millions of dollars
into IRAs, 401(k)s, and other traditional
qualified retirement plans. The funds
in these plans enjoy tax deferral on both
contributions and earnings during the
participant's lifetime, enabling these
funds to grow much more rapidly than savings
or investments that are taxed currently.
Unfortunately,
many people don’t realize there
is a tax trap in such an arrangement.
The IRS considers the balance left in
your retirement account to be untaxed
income. The income tax is in addition
to estate tax on the retirement account
balance. Because of this double taxation,
up to 75 percent of the value of the retirement
plan can be consumed in taxes before your
child, relative or friend receives it.
To
escape both income and estate tax, you
can designate CROW as a beneficiary
to receive all or a stated percentage
of your retirement account upon your death.
Your estate will receive a charitable
deduction for the value of the assets
distributed to CROW, and since CROW
is a tax-exempt charity, it will pay no
income tax on the distribution.
It
is important to remember that you cannot
simply name CROW as a beneficiary
of retirement fund assets in a will or
trust. CROW must be designated as
a beneficiary of the retirement plan.
Traditional
retirement plans are one of the best assets
to leave to charity because they can escape
income and estate tax. If possible, leave
other assets to family or loved ones
Life
Insurance Gifts
Life
insurance has played an important role
in charitable giving. Whether you donate
an older policy that you no longer need,
or start a new policy to fund a major
charitable project, life insurance offers
a unique way to make a sizable charitable
gift to CROW
By making an irrevocable assignment of
an insurance policy to CROW, you can
receive an immediate income tax deduction
equal to the cash surrender value of the
policy, or the total premiums paid, whichever
is less. If the policy is not fully paid,
you may continue to pay the premiums and
receive tax deductions in the amount of
the premiums. A sophisticated use of a
life insurance policy in planned giving
is to replace the value of a donated asset.
The donor may be able to use the tax savings
produced by the charitable deduction to
pay the premiums of a life insurance policy
whose proceeds would be the equivalent
in value to the donated asset, ensuring
that the donor’s estate is not adversely
affected by the gift.
Consultation with Legal & Accounting Professionals
CROW recommends that you consult with estate planning,
legal and accounting professionals to determine the proper
gift vehicle that best fits your tax and financial interests.
For
additional information about planned and
deferred giving or to receive a brochure
describing the types of giving in more
detail, please contact CROW’s
Director of Development by calling 239.472.3644.
