Photo: Barn Swallows, Alan Peterson/Audubon Photography Awards
Geraldine Shannon
Many people review and plan their charitable giving at this time of year. Making a donation typically may involve writing a check or using a credit card, but there are other options for planned giving, some of which can provide tax advantages for the donor. The options allow you to make a one-time gift or a recurring gift during your lifetime, or have the gift become effective after your death. Of course, any donation provides benefits to ASNV and its conservation mission!
Tax-Advantaged Donations
If you receive Required Minimum Distribution payments from your traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you can make a donation directly from your IRA to ASNV. The donation (known as a Qualified Charitable Distribution), is excluded from federal income tax. The option is available whether or not you can claim a deduction for a charitable contribution.
Another form of donation that can have tax advantages, if you are eligible to deduct charitable contributions from your taxable income, is a donor advised fund (DAF). A DAF allows you to make a charitable contribution to the fund and then recommend grants from the fund to charitable organizations over time. A donor establishes a DAF by transferring cash or other assets to a sponsoring organization like a community foundation or financial services firm. You can contribute to the fund as frequently as you want and then schedule grants whenever you prefer. The donation is tax deductible when you transfer money to the fund, and not when you make a grant to a specific charity.
Bequests
Bequests are another form of planned giving. You can make a gift to ASNV in your will or revocable trust, making ASNV a beneficiary of a specific amount from your estate, as a recipient of a residual gift, or as a contingent beneficiary. You also can make ASNV a beneficiary of any funds you will receive in the future by designating ASNV as a beneficiary on any beneficiary designation form, such as for life insurance, IRA or 401k. This form of gift is easy to arrange, does not change your current lifestyle, and can be modified at any time to address any changing needs.
There is more information on planned giving on our website. Of course, before making any decisions on planned giving, consult your investment fund, financial advisor, retirement plan administrator, or estate lawyer. This article should not be considered legal or financial advice. Nevertheless, we hope that you will keep ASNV in mind as you consider your options. Bequests in the last five years of more than $70,000 from two generous donors have allowed ASNV to launch our Stretch Our Parks initiative and make other changes to increase our ability to conserve and protect habitat and wildlife in northern Virginia.