Ways to Give

The desire to give reveals the best in each of us – our greatest motives as members of a community and our finest values as individuals. For 25 years, thousands of people just like you have provided for the future of Hancock County by making gifts to The Community Foundation. Guided by our fiscally responsible fund management, visionary community leadership and knowledge of the art and science of giving, you are well on your way toward making a difference in the lives of others.

Giving During Your Lifetime

Cash

Cash gifts are one of the simplest ways to establish a fund or add to an existing fund at the Community Foundation. If you wish to make a gift of cash to the Community Foundation, you may do so online, through personal check, certified check or wire transfer.

IRA Charitable Rollover or Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)

You may be eligible to make a gift during your lifetime from your IRA. This gift is referred to as an IRA Charitable Rollover or Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). In order to make a QCD:

1. The individual must be age 72 or above.
2. The maximum allowed QCD is $100,000 per individual annually.
3. The QCD must come from an IRA. An individual may roll over an amount from a different kind of plan to his or her IRA and then make the QCD.
4. The QCD must be made directly to a public charity. It cannot be made to a donor advised fund or a supporting organization.
5. The QCD counts toward the individual's required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year in which the QCD is made. If the RMD was already taken, the QCD cannot retroactively be made.
6. Although an individual may not claim a charitable deduction for a QCD, he or she does not have to report the QCD as income as part of his or her adjusted gross income (AGI).

Appreciated Stock

By giving stock through the Community Foundation, you can avoid capital gains taxes that would be due as a result of its sale and establish a charitable fund that benefits the local causes and organizations you care about most. With gifts of appreciated stock, your stock market earnings translate into community impact, so you get a more rewarding return on your portfolio. Your gains are put to good use. Your gift of stock is reinvested in your community, and it qualifies for an immediate tax deduction based on the full fair market value.

Planned Giving

Bequests by Will

Making a bequest to your community foundation is an easy way to transfer assets to charity. Through your will, you can choose to give a stated dollar amount, a specific property, a percentage of your estate, the remainder after distributions to other beneficiaries, or you can make your gift contingent on certain events. And, you can decide to do it at any age by adding to an existing will or drafting a new one. In doing so you leave a legacy to your community, while enjoying the assets you need to maintain your current lifestyle. Plus, you are able to distribute some or all of your assets, tax free.

Charitable Gift Annuity

Charitable gift annuities offer you a way to make a gift that will allow you to experience the joy of giving now, while you can enjoy it. Plus, in today’s tough economic circumstances, gift annuities offer three distinct advantages: Lifetime income, tax benefits and a lasting legacy.

Charitable Remainder Trust

Giving through a Charitable Remainder Trust allows you to receive income for the rest of your life, knowing that whatever remains will benefit your community. You can use it to supplement your own lifestyle or that of someone other than yourself: a sibling, a dependent parent, a friend, or a former employee. A portion of the income may be a tax-free return of principal, while some is taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. The amount of income received depends on the payout rate selected by the donor. The tax deduction allowed depends on the age of the recipient, the payout rate, and the discount rate (as determined by the Internal Revenue Service).

Charitable Lead Trust

A Charitable Lead Trust helps you build a charitable fund with your community foundation during the trust’s term. During its term, the trust can be managed expertly by experienced trust professionals, which may help your trust investments grow over time. When the trust terminates, the remaining assets are transferred to you or your heirs. Any growth in the trust passes to recipients, often with significant transfer-tax savings. It shelters investment earnings from tax and offers gift, estate, and generation-skipping tax benefits.

Retirement Plan Assets

One of the most tax-efficient ways to give back to your community is by designating the Community Foundation as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, whether it is a 401(k), 403(b), IRA (individual retirement account), or other qualified retirement program. These assets could be taxed at rates as high as 70 percent upon your death. Estate taxes may be due in addition to the taxes your heirs may pay on the income in respect of the decedent (IRD). For these reasons, many advisors recommend retirement plan assets as the first to be designated for charitable purposes.

Life Insurance

Giving life insurance through the Community Foundation is one of the simplest ways to make a significant contribution to your community and establish your legacy of giving.

You can make a gift when life insurance is no longer needed for personal financial wealth replacement. You may receive a number of tax benefits, including reduced income taxes and estate taxes. And, if you choose to continue paying premiums through the Community Foundation, you will be entitled to a charitable contribution deduction of up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income.

You can replace the dollar value of an asset transferred to the Community Foundation with a life insurance policy. Or you can use regular payments from a Charitable Gift Annuity or Charitable Remainder Trust to establish an irrevocable life insurance trust. The trust can purchase insurance on your life to benefit your heirs. This way, you can make a gift to your community foundation and replace the value of this gift within your estate with life insurance proceeds.

Real Estate

A gift of real estate releases potential that has been tied up for years, enables you to make a bigger charitable difference than you may have thought possible, helps you avoid estate taxes, and minimizes or eliminates burden placed on your heirs. Charitable gifts of real estate range from personal residences and vacation homes to rental properties, farmland and commercially developed land. You may choose to give real estate outright and receive an immediate tax deduction or retain the use of the property during your lifetime and make a planned gift to the Community Foundation.