Leave a Legacy Aligned with Your Values & Intentions
Planned Giving
What is planned giving?
In short, it’s a major gift you plan to fulfill in time. What we love about planned giving is—whether you’re an accountant or teacher, nurse or lawyer, engineer or chef, whatever your profession—you can give a significant gift, allowing you to leave a legacy that grows the Kingdom of God.
Now let’s dig into it deeper.
With planned giving, you can give a gift greater than what you can typically give from your usual income
While you may budget your discretionary income to give monthly, quarterly, or annual gifts (a wonderful way to give!), planned giving allows you to give an appreciated gift.
What are the 3 types of planned gifts?
Current Gifts
Current gifts are given and received right away. These can be cash, checks, stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, retirement plans, real estate, or personal property.
Deferred Gifts
Deferred gifts are given in the moment but received later, for example, at the end of your lifetime. These are often called legacy gifts because they’re given as a legacy of the life you have lived. They are commonly given as bequest gifts as specified in your will.
Split Interest Gifts
Split interest gifts are given in the moment and received later with the caveat that the interest from the gift may continue to be paid to you throughout your lifetime. If you’re younger or still working, you can even defer the interest payments until you retire.
What are the benefits of planned giving?
You ensure the future of the Heart of the City Foundation
You can secure significant tax benefits for you and your heirs
You can define how your gift is poured into your church, city, & world
what Planned Giving Looks like with your Various assets
Bequests
Make a gift in your will to support causes that has been important in your life. To do so, all you have to do is allocate a portion of your estate to the Heart of the City Foundation in your legal will, and when the time comes, we will receive your gift. Bequest gifts are exempt from estate tax, and therefore an attractive way to give. Click here for sample bequest language.
CAsh & Checks
Make a gift by mailing or personally delivering cash and/or checks to the Heart of the City Foundation. This is easy and immediate. You can also give a cash gift by debit or credit card through our safe and secure online portal on our website!
Life Insurance Policies
To gift a life insurance policy, you can transfer the policy to the Heart of the City Foundation as owner and beneficiary. When the time comes, we will receive the full cash payout as a gift.
Retirement Plans
If you’re an individual retirement arrangement (IRA) owner over the age of 70 ½, you are eligible to give up to $100,000 to a charity tax-free each year, according to the IRS. This is called a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). And if you’re at least 73 years old, this gift will also count towards your required minimum distribution. You can open an IRA with a bank or brokerage firm.
Stocks & Bonds
This is one of the most “tax-savvy” ways to give because you avoid capital gains tax and can claim a tax deduction. If you would like to make a gift of stock, you can simply choose which of your shares you would like to gift, reach out to us for our account information, and fill out your brokerage’s stock donation forms. We’ll let you know when we’ve received your gift! If you would like to make a gift of a bond, you can leave it to the Heart of the City Foundation in your will or through your charitable remainder trust.
Pro Tip: If there’s a share you love, you can gift it to us, then buy more shares of the same stock!
Real Estate & Personal Property
When you gift your real estate, you can deduct the fair market value of the property from your taxes and avoid capital gains taxes on the appreciated value of the property. To gift your real estate, you’ll first want to let us know so that we can plan appropriately. You’ll then want to get an appraisal, pay off your mortgage, and move forward with the property transfer.
If you have personal property you’re interested in gifting, let us know and we can evaluate if it’s a good fit for us to receive.