| Make
a Major, Long Term Gift Your gifts to support our work in the life-changing-and,
too often, life-damaging-world of the uprooted are deductible for computing
income and estate taxes. That's
because LIRS is a voluntary, tax-exempt, not-for-profit agency under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Your
options for making a substantial gift are numerous. We offer brief descriptions here and welcome your questions.
Make a gift to a local
LIRS affiliate This guide is provided only as a source of general
information and to describe the agency's need for charitable support.
LIRS does not provide legal or tax advisory services.
For such assistance or advice when considering a gift such as
those described in this booklet, we recommend that you seek the counsel
of an attorney, accountant or other professional advisor. They can provide you with current information about state and federal
laws that may impact your gift decisions. Gifts
of appreciated stock don't affect your current cash situation, and provide
valuable tax benefits. Electronic
delivery of stock is the easiest and most secure way to make a gift
of stock. Please contact our
Resource Development staff for more information. Please
consider giving a life insurance policy that is no longer needed to
ensure support for your spouse or children.
You will receive a charitable deduction for the policy's approximate
cash surrender value, and the proceeds will not be included in your
estate. You
may also establish a life insurance policy specifically naming LIRS,
in whole or in part, as a beneficiary.
You may own the policy and make the premium payments.
Or, you may establish LIRS as the owner. In this case, you would make contributions to LIRS equal to the
premiums and receive the tax benefits for those gifts. LIRS will then make the premium payments.
If you're interested in this type of policy, we would like to
discuss the arrangements with you in advance. Perhaps
you have a residence, vacation home, or other property that you may
wish to consider donating to LIRS.
Or, you may want to consider donating a residence and continue
living in it for the remainder of your life or until you make other
plans. We will be pleased to talk with you about options and benefits.
Some
employers will match a portion or all of an employee's contribution,
which may double your gift! We
strongly encourage you to check with your employer and to use this benefit
if it is available to you. List of employers offering gifts If your employer has a matching gifts program, but is not on the list, please let us know by contacting us at giving@lirs.org or 410/230-2786. Planned
gifts help to assure the future of LIRS services to refugees and other
new Americans. These may also
help to fulfill your own personal and financial goals, and may offer
the possibility for you to make a larger gift than is possible from
your current resources. Be a Good Neighbor! If you name LIRS
as a beneficiary in your will or other planned gift, we would appreciate
knowing this so that we may honor you with membership in our Good
Neighbor Society. This will
also help us to keep you informed about the agency and allow us to learn
more about your concerns and interests.
Just call 410/230-2786 or e-mail giving@lirs.org.
Because tax laws change occasionally, we recommend that you consult with a qualified financial advisor regarding the potential tax benefits of a planned gift. A
former refugee wrote to say: "LIRS
helped me 45 years ago when I had to flee from Hungary. I came with
nothing but the clothes on my back. LIRS gave me transportation, a place
to live, and helped me find a job. I've been very successful and I feel
it's time to give back by naming LIRS in my will." If
you, too, name LIRS in your will, you provide us with long-term support
and receive an unlimited estate tax charitable deduction. Ways you can make a bequest include: Specific Bequest-Designate a specific dollar amount, a specific property
(such as a residence or land), or a percentage of your estate to LIRS. Contingent Bequest-Indicate that LIRS receive all or a portion of your
estate only under certain circumstances such as there being no surviving
spouse or children. Residual Bequest-After your estate pays all debts, taxes, specific
bequests, and expenses, the remaining amount (or a portion of it) would
be given to LIRS. Life
income gifts make it possible for individuals or couples to have the
satisfaction of making a meaningful lifetime gift without sacrificing
their immediate needs for personal income during their lifetimes. This is particularly appealing to donors in
their retirement years. A
life income gift consists of making an irrevocable transfer of some
asset to LIRS and, in return, receiving income for life.
In addition to the satisfaction of knowing that your gift is
helping to support a cause that you care about, you may receive tax
benefits, depending upon your personal circumstances. There
are a variety of life income plans: Charitable
gift annuities—In response to your gift of cash or marketable securities, LIRS will
pay you (and possibly a survivor or other beneficiary) a fixed lifetime
income. This plan, part gift
and part annuity, may begin now or at a future date. LIRS
uses the charitable gift annuity rates recommended by the American Council
on Gift Annuities. Contact us,
without obligation, for examples of annuities or a personal proposal.
Charitable
remainder trusts—When you transfer an asset to a trust, we pay you a lifetime income
(and another beneficiary, if you wish).
At the end of the trust period, remaining assets will go to LIRS. A trusted advisor, bank, or other financial
institution may serve as your trustee.
Please contact us for further information - again, with no obligation. This
is also a way to make a gift of a retirement plan through your
will. If you have a qualified
retirement plan such as an IRA, 401 (k), 403 (b), or Keogh plan, the
assets may have increased tax-free for a period of years.
When you receive payments from such plans, the income is taxable.
However,
if these assets are placed into a charitable remainder trust, there
will be no tax on that amount. It's
also possible to provide life income for a beneficiary with an eventual
gift to LIRS. There are also estate tax benefits. Charitable
lead trusts—If
you're fortunate to have significant financial resources, you may want
to consider using a charitable lead trust to make a gift to LIRS. You may transfer assets to a trust that will provide payments to
LIRS for a specific period and then pass the principal on to your children
or grandchildren - with little or no tax penalty. You
should be aware that there is a generation skipping tax (GST) imposed
on large transfers to grandchildren or others who are more than one
generation younger than the donor. Your gifts of any size are welcome. For example, a gift of just $25 per month turns into $300 of service and advocacy on behalf of refugees and other migrants. There are two monthly giving options:
To
make a gift to a local LIRS Affiliate LIRS
affiliates welcome financial and material support, such as household
goods and other items to help refugees get started.
If you wish to make a contribution to a local affiliated refugee
service agency, please contact the LIRS Office of Resource Development
or contact the affiliate in your
area directly. We
also encourage you to get involved by becoming a volunteer,
helping to provide local refugee sponsorships or contributing your other
gifts of time and talents to bring new hope and new life for new Americans. If
you have further questions about contributing to the work of LIRS,
please contact our Office of Resource Development at 410/230-2786
or giving@lirs.org. |
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