Planned Giving
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The Heritage Society recognizes those who have included Ursuline Academy in their long-term philanthropic planning. Planned gifts enable you to leave a lasting legacy while supporting the school’s mission and accommodating your personal, financial, estate planning, and philanthropic goals. We truly appreciate your foresight and thoughtful preparation on how you would like to support Ursuline beyond your lifetime.
Planned gifts of all sizes help Ursuline meet our current needs while planning and growing for the future. There are many planned gift strategies that you can utilize to reflect your philanthropic goals and maximize your impact while reducing or eliminating estate taxes and creating a charitable tax deduction. It’s important to consult your financial or legal advisors to determine the best approach for you.
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Types of Planned Giving
Gifts of Cash
A gift of cash can be one of the most convenient ways to make a planned gift. Generally, federal tax law allows you to deduct the full value of a cash gift, up to 60% of your adjusted gross income in one year and carry any excess donation forward for up to five years.
Wills and Trusts
You can designate Ursuline Academy to receive a specific amount, percentage of your estate, or specific asset through your will or revocable living trust. Your estate would then be entitled to an estate tax charitable deduction for the value of the gift, and capital gains taxes are avoided on the gift donated.
Beneficiary Designations
Ursuline Academy can be listed as the beneficiary on your retirement accounts, life insurance, bank account, or other financial investments. This type of donation will be transferred directly to the school upon your passing, will not be subject to income and estate taxes, and passes outside of probate.
Appreciated Assets
If you have long-term, held for one year or more, appreciated assets, such as securities or real estate, you can gift your asset directly to Ursuline Academy and receive a deduction for the gift’s fair market value. Your donation would have no reportable capital gains since the school would sell the asset tax-free, and you receive a deduction limit up to 30% of your adjusted gross income with five year carryover for excess donations.
Charitable Gift Annuities or Deferred Gift Annuity
You can set up a gift annuity by making a gift in exchange for fixed payments for life or the life of a designated beneficiary. For a deferred gift annuity, the payments would begin at some point in the future, often when earned income is lower or supplemental income is needed, e.g. retirement. The payout percentage is based on the recipient’s age when the annuity is established, and the annuity must begin after the recipient is 60 years old. Ursuline Academy would receive the remaining assets when the annuity ends. With a gift annuity, you would receive an immediate tax deduction for a portion of your gift and a portion of your payments from the annuity may be tax-free. If appreciated securities are used to fund the annuity, immediate capital gains tax can be avoided.
Charitable Remainder Trust
You can set up a Charitable Remainder Trust to generate fixed or variable income for you or your designated beneficiary for your lifetime or a term of years, with the remainder of the trust going to Ursuline Academy. There are two main types of Charitable Remainder Trusts: Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (distributes a fixed annuity amount each year and additional contributions are not allowed) and Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (distributes a fixed percentage based on the balance of the trust assets that is revalued annually and additional contributions can be made). Through these types of planned gifts, you would receive an immediate tax deduction for a portion of your gift and estate tax benefits occur at the end of the trust period. If appreciated securities are used to fund the trust, immediate capital gains tax can be avoided.
Donor-Advised Funds
You can create a donor-advised fund and make charitable contributions to receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants to Ursuline Academy from the fund over your lifetime. As part of your estate, you can name a beneficiary as the successor advisor or direct any remaining assets or a portion of your assets to be distributed to Ursuline Academy upon your passing.
For more information or to discuss how you can make a long-term impact at Ursuline Academy, please contact Allison Oberkirsch, Director of Advancement, at 314-984-2814 or aoberkirsch@ursulinestl.org.
Ursuline Academy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all donations are tax-deductible.
For reference, Ursuline Academy's Federal ID is 43-1653427.