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TOOLS FOR GIVING: GIVING NOW

Setting up a fund is as easy a 1-2-3…4-5-6-7
When partnering with the Community Foundation, donors discover that the philanthropic experience begins even before papers are signed and has the ability to extend as far as their charitable vision takes them.

How do I set up a fund?
All of the forms/gift instruments for creating a fund can be downloaded on this site, but please contact YCCF staff if you'd like assistance.

Setting up a fund is easy. Here are the seven simple steps in starting a fund:

1. Determine your charitable purpose or intent
2. Select the type of fund that is best suited for your purpose
3. Choose a name for your fund
4. Designate fund advisors
5. Complete a straightforward governing document
6. Make an establishing gift
7. Begin your philanthropic journey

TOOLS FOR GIVING: GIVING LATER
Tools for Giving Later: Future gifts...which one is best for your client

Your clients can take advantage of several estate planning strategies designed to help them make charitable gifts while enjoying tax benefits and preserving economic security for themselves and their loved ones.

Let Foundation staff work with you and your clients to choose from several types of deferred giving arrangements to take effect either immediately or through their wills. Some choices can be structured to provide a life income for your or your clients' loved ones.

Some examples are:

Bequests which enable clients to reduce their estate taxes while supporting their community.

Bequests: Naming the Foundation in your will or living trust is a popular way to support the community. A charitable bequest can be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or what remains after other bequests-including those to family members-are made. Or, your will can specify that your heirs receive lifetime income from your estate, with the remainder going to the Foundation for charitable purposes. If you choose, the bequest can flow into a donor-advised fund for your children to carry on your family's philanthropy. Charitable Remainder Trusts, which enable them to increase their income (or provide income for another person) with the knowledge that the funds remaining when the trust terminates will be used to support their charitable interests. Charitable Lead Trusts, which enable clients to make significant charitable gifts in the near term while transferring substantial assets to beneficiaries and potentially benefiting from significantly lowered gift and estate taxes. Retained Life Estates, which are vehicles that ensure that as a donor, a client has lifetime security in a home he or she has given to the Foundation as a charitable contribution.

Life Insurance which can be used as a charitable asset, thereby enabling someone to be eligible for a charitable tax deduction based on the current value of a paid-up policy. For those whose need for life insurance has decreased, making a gift of an unneeded policy can be a convenient and effective way of meeting charitable goals.

When you transfer ownership of a cash value policy to the Community Foundation, you become eligible for a charitable tax deduction based on its current value. A gift of life insurance can also be a part of your estate planning. There are two good and easy ways your clients can use life insurance to fund their giving. If they have a paid-up (or cash value) life insurance policy that they no longer need for its intended purpose (e.g., children are grown, their spouse is pre-deceased, or tax laws have changed), they can give the policy to a fund at the Community Foundation. The policy will be cashed in, and they can use the proceeds to make grants to charities they recommend immediately. Or, they can make life insurance part of their estate plan by naming the Foundation as a partial and/or contingent beneficiary of any insurance policy's death benefit. If one or more of their primary beneficiaries predecease them, their share can go directly into a fund they establish at the Foundation.

Highlights: When your clients make an immediate gift of an insurance policy, they may claim an income tax deduction based on the policy's current value. The Community Foundation can cash in the policy and have proceeds go directly into the fund they establish. Or, they can convert the assets of the policy into a charitable remainder trust. Your client reduces estate taxes, since the value of the policy is removed from their estate. Naming the Foundation as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of their life insurance enables them to protect their loved ones while providing for the causes they care about if the policy's beneficiaries predecease them. They remove an unneeded asset from their estate-without affecting their income. For more information on gifts of life insurance, contact us by email: info@yccf.org or call 717.848.3733.

Retirement Fund Plans, which can be used to support charitable interests while achieving significant tax advantages for one's heirs. The recently signed legislation (HR4) that focuses on pension fund issues also includes a number of items related to charitable giving.

The Foundation has been tracking this law very closely for months, and we are waiting for clarifications and specific regulations related to this law that will be forthcoming over the coming weeks and even months.

For now, we want to highlight one provision of this law that provides a unique opportunity to use retirement plan assets to make a significant gift to an organization or cause.

Specifically, the new law permits people who have reached age 70½ to exclude up to $100,000 in 2006 and $100,000 in 2007 from income if the gift is made to a qualified charity.