What is Planned Giving?
Planned giving encompasses a variety of ways by which anyone concerned with the wise use of his or her personal resources makes a considered choice about their ultimate disposition. Planned giving establishes a way for you to provide for family members while also remembering the church and other organizations.
Planned gift options range from simple and not requiring significant funds to more complicated arrangements with minimum gift amounts and where professional advice is advised. Some options may enable you to provide more for your heirs, reduce taxes and to make larger gifts to organizations.
Planned giving is one expression of the wise use of the personal resources God has entrusted to us.
For more information, click here to read ECF’s Planned Giving brochure.
Planning is for Everyone!
All of us plan for the future in one way or another. All of us have families and interests, causes, and organizations that are important to us. And these are all important to God too!
And yet we are reminded that the resources we have accumulated were provided to us by God, to be used for His purposes. How we allocate those God-given resources is a personal, individual decision. One that deserves repeated, prayerful consideration over time.
Our goal here is to stimulate thought and provide helpful information.
Everyone Should Have a Will
Making a will is a loving and responsible act for the sake of your family. If you die without a will, the state will divide your assets among your spouse and children (regardless of their age); appoint an administrator that will charge the estate fees; and appoint guardians, who may or may not have been your choice, for your dependents. The state makes no charitable contributions and will not seek to minimize taxes.
By making a will, you appoint your own administrator; you name the guardian of your dependents; you control applicable taxes; and you can share your resources with your family, church, and other institutions as you choose.
For more information, click here to read The Church Foundation’s “End-of-Life Planning” booklet.
Life Income Gifts
You have prayerfully given annually to support the church and other organizations and you have made your will and provided for your family, the church and other organizations.
Perhaps you would like to give more now or have heard that there may be advantages to giving away assets before you die. But you need the income from those assets in your retirement.
Life Income Gifts may be an option for you. For example, ECF offers accounts that have initial contributions as low as $2,500 and where additional contributions can be made in increments as small as $1,000.
There are different types, but in general they work like this:
- you give assets (often appreciated securities) to a trustee to manage for the interests of both you and your beneficiary and the church or other organization (the ultimate beneficiary).
- the trustee invests the assets and produces income, which is paid to you and/or your spouse, or another person if desired. The income is paid for the duration of their lives.
- In certain types, the income amount is contractually fixed regardless of interest rates, investment results or economic trends.
- by creating the life income gift, you may be eligible for a tax deduction; if you fund the account with appreciated securities, you may get capital gains tax benefits.
- the church or other organization receives the remaining assets after you and your beneficiary pass away.
View the ECF’s Pooled Income Fund brochure
View the ECF’s Charitable Gift Annuity brochure
If you are interested in learning more about Life Income Gifts, please contact the Parish Office.
Bequests in a Will or Trust
Making a bequest to your church and other organizations is an act of love and a clear expression of your beliefs and values to your family and those you love.
A bequest can take the form of:
- a set amount of money
- a percentage of an estate
- a percentage of an estate after other bequests have been fulfilled.
- a specific asset, or
- naming the church or other organization as a contingent beneficiary (i.e., they would receive assets if there were no other surviving beneficiaries).
Sample language for including the church in your estate plans might be: “I give, devise, and bequeath (state amount, asset, or percentage of the estate) to (name and address of the church or other organization) to be used (describe use) or as the vestry or governing board deems appropriate.”