Planned Giving & Outright Gifts
Whether you are thinking of making a gift of $1,000, $10,000 or even more, there are four main ways you can make a gift to United Way of the Midlands.
1. An outright gift. This is a gift that is transferred directly from you to United Way and provides immediate help for priority focus areas.
2. A life-income gift is a gift that provides you or a loved one with a stream of income helping you meet current financial needs.
3. A bequest is a gift made through your will of revocable trust.
4. A gift of life insurance naming the United Way of the Midlands as a beneficiary, secondary beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of a policy.
Outright Gifts — Along with providing resources for critical human service needs in the Midlands, your outright gift usually provides a charitable deduction and also removes assets from your taxable estate.
• Gifts of cash are simple, provide help immediately, provide for an income tax deduction and can be of any amount.
• Gifts of stock or mutual funds also provide an income tax deduction, avoid tax on capital gains, go to work almost immediately and can be of any amount.
United Way of the Midlands has accounts at several brokerage firms. Please contact Mary Balbach at 803-758-6992 to discuss transferring stock or mutual funds to United Way.
• Gifts of real estate can be an outright gift or subject to a retained life estate, provide an income tax deduction, avoid tax on capital gain, and eliminate the inconvenience of selling the property. There is a minimum property value of $50,000.
Life-Income Gifts — A life-income gift allows you to not only make a lasting gift to United Way but to receive income and take advantage of some favorable tax laws.
• Charitable Gift Annuity or a Deferred Gift Annuity. This life income gift provides you with the security of a fixed payment amount, partial tax exempt income and an income tax deduction, and you may also be able to avoid or defer tax on a capital gain. The minimum amount to fund a Charitable Gift Annuity is $10,000. You may use cash or securities to fund an annuity. United Way of the Midlands offers Charitable Gift Annuities through United Way of America.
• Charitable Trusts — Charitable Remainder Trusts provide income to you for life or for a fixed number of years, provide an income tax deduction, and may help you avoid or defer tax on capital gains. Trusts are an ideal way to make large gifts with appreciated assets including securities or real estate.
Bequests — Through your will or retirement plan, you may specify the assets you would like to leave the United Way by creating a bequest. Then after your lifetime, your estate can take a charitable deduction for the full amount of your bequest which can result in a tax savings depending on the circumstances.
Bequests are created through your will or revocable trust. You may use your assets continually during your lifetime. You have the satisfaction of completing your estate plan knowing that you will support the organizations that mean the most to you. At United Way, you will be recognized as a member of our Legacy Club if you so desire.
You may also name United Way as a full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) or other retirement plan. You can avoid significant tax penalties to heirs by naming a charity as a beneficiary and save federal estate taxes. You have the flexibility to increase or decrease the amount or percentage at any time, and there is no minimum amount.
Gift of Insurance — Naming United Way of the Midlands as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is a simple way for donors to accomplish their philanthropic purposes. The donor exercises all the privileges of policy ownership during his or her lifetime. There is no tax advantage during the donor's lifetime, but at the donor's death, the proceeds payable to the United Way of the Midlands are deducted from the value of the estate for estate tax purposes.
There are other giving options, but these are the primary ways most people give to our mission. The information provided here is not intended to be legal or tax advice. When making estate plans or financial decisions, you should consult with your professional advisors.
If you have any questions, we will be happy to assist you. Please contact Mary Balbach at mbalbach@uway.org or803-758-6992.
