A gift in memory or in honor of a teacher, student, relative, friend, or yourself is a generous and thoughtful way to recognize a person’s life and accomplishments.
When you make an honorary or memorial gift to PrairieViewA&MUniversity, we notify the honoree or next of kin, and the gift is used as you specified. To make an honorary or memorial gift, send your gift with a note specifying the honoree’s name and the address of the honoree or next of kin.
Income Creating Gifts
There are many ways in which your gift can continue to provide you and/or another beneficiary with annual income. Such gifts are called Life Income Arrangements. These gifts also help reduce potential capital gains taxes, estate taxes and income taxes. Please remember to seek the opinion of your professional tax adviser or legal counsel when making a financial decision.
Gifts of Charitable Gift Annuities
Gifts of cash, securities or other assets can be transferred to PrairieViewA&MUniversity in return for annual income. This type of life income arrangement is simply a contract between PrairieViewA&MUniversity and the donor. The University receives a gift from the donor and agrees to pay a specified annuity throughout the lifetime of the donor. Once established, the annuity payment does not change. The minimum donation needed to establish a charitable gift annuity is $10,000. These gifts also provide income tax savings, avoid estate and inheritance taxes and save donors' administrative expenses. The amount of charitable deduction from this gift depends upon income beneficiary's age, size of annuity payment and the discount rate in effect at the time of the gift. Also, a portion of the payment can be tax-free if cash is used to create the annuity. Donors have two forms of gift annuities to choose from; deferred annuity and immediate annuity. Deferred annuities do not make payments to the beneficiary until one year has passed from the time of donation. Immediate annuities begin making payments within one year of the time of donation. Please note that deferred annuities can be deferred for whatever period the donor wishes.
Both gift annuities offer significant benefits. Transferring assets such as low-yielding, highly appreciated stocks or CD's into an immediate annuity is a great way to increase spendable income. Deferred annuities, on the other hand, can be included in retirement planning packages because contributions to gift annuities do not affect contributions to qualified plans. The donor receives a significant charitable income tax deduction in the year of the gift, and if payments are postponed until retirement and the donor is in a lower income bracket, the annuity can serve as an excellent supplement to retirement income. Please contact our office for further details.
Gifts of Charitable Remainder Trusts
Placing low-yielding but highly appreciated assets, such as a block of stocks, into a charitable remainder trust is an excellent way to convert these assets into a higher yielding, income increasing gift. Because the sale of charitable trust assets does not have to pay capital gains taxes, more capital remains in the trust to generate income for the income beneficiaries. Charitable remainder trusts are flexible, allowing donors to build retirement accounts, generate higher income from currently owned assets, or shift income to other family members. The donor chooses the trustee and the percentage of return.
There are two different kinds of charitable remainder trusts: the charitable remainder annuity trust and the charitable remainder unitrust.
If you wish to make a substantial capital donation to PrairieViewA&MUniversity but feel you cannot afford to give up the annual income generated by your assets then a charitable remainder annuity trust is an excellent option to consider when making your gift decisions. With charitable remainder trusts the amount paid to the income beneficiaries does not change with market fluctuations in the value of the trust's assets. To establish a charitable remainder annuity trust donors simply have to contact the Development Office and arrange for the irrevocable transfer of assets into a trust. The income generated by the trust can be drawn on for life and the remaining principal at the end of the trust becomes the property of PrairieViewA&MUniversity.
A charitable remainder unitrust works slightly different than a charitable remainder trust in that the amount paid each year to the beneficiaries is based upon an annual re-evaluation of the assets in the trust. If the principal in the trust grows, so does the beneficiary income. Charitable deductions on this type of trust are determined by the payout selected and the age of the beneficiary.
Each trust generally runs for as long as two lives and will generally pay income to the two individuals, or to a class of people, during that time. PrairieViewA&MUniversity retains the assets, or principal, at the termination of the trust period. And if preferred, donors may also select to run these trusts for a set period of years, not to exceed twenty years. Please Contact the Development Office if you would like to know more about these types of gifts.
Gift of Charitable Lead Trusts
Because the charitable lead trust pays annual income from trust assets to the charity rather than the donor this type of trust is often viewed as the opposite of the charitable remainder trust. Donors may place assets in a charitable lead trust as way a of giving to PrairieViewA&MUniversity. The trust then invests the assets, and during the term of the trust gives the income to PrairieViewA&MUniversity. The assets can revert to the donor or can also be given to the heirs of the donor at the end of the trust’s life. The value of the charitable interest is tax deductible and is often used as means to reducing potential estate taxes while passing control and ownership of the assets to family members. This type of trust is an excellent planning tool but requires considerable care in construction. Please Contact the Development Office if you would like more information on this type of gift.
Gifts from Your Will
A very popular method of donating gifts from one's estates is to use bequests. Gifts from your will are perhaps the easiest way to leave a legacy. Virtually anyone can make a legacy gift through the vehicle of a simple will. If you would like to support PrairieViewA&MUniversity through a gift from your will, feel free to contact the Development office. We will be happy to answer any questions and can assist you with the appropriate language for your attorney to include in your will. Please remember to seek the opinion of your professional tax adviser or legal counsel when making a financial decision.
Estate Planning - How We Can Help
PrairieViewA&MUniversity can work with you and your advisor to determine potential tax liabilities of your estate. Together we can review and discuss the potential tax implications of different gift options and help you make the best choice for your gift.
Gifts of Retirement Assets
Taxation laws make it extremely difficult to transfer qualified retirement plan assets to family members other than spouses. However, charitable gifts funded with assets from qualified retirement plans can often reduce this heavy taxation burden and allow transfer of other assets, at a lower tax rate, to family members. Contact he our Development Office for more information about this type of gift.
Gifts of Tangible Personal Property
If you possess valuable collections, antiques, rare books or works of art, you should remember that these items will be subject to estate taxes. By accelerating contributions of such items so that they occur during your lifetime you not only reduce your taxable estate but also reduce your taxable income in the year of the gift. These gifts are allowed market-value deductions for income tax purposes when used by PrairieViewA&MUniversity for charitable, tax-exempt purposes. Otherwise the deduction value is limited to the gift's original cost. Because the Tax Act of 1997 did not extend the decrease in capital gains taxes from 28% to 20% for tangible personal property assets, such gifts may generate much higher capital gains tax savings than you can get with other long-term capital gain assets. Contact the Development Office at PrairieViewA&MUniversity for further information on how you can maximize your tax benefits from these gifts.
Gifts of Life Insurance
Life insurance policies that are no longer necessary for family protection can be used to make substantial gifts to PrairieViewA&MUniversity. For example, you may possess a policy intended to provide for your child’s education but which remains in effect after the child has become an adult. In order to use an existing policy as a gift to PrairieViewA&MUniversity you simply have to change the owner of the policy. Life insurance policies used as gifts can be used as tax deductions up to the current value of the policy, or the net cost of the policy if that is lower. Premiums paid by the donor after transfer of ownership are also tax deductible.
Special Planning Tools
PrairieViewA&MUniversity can also provide information about the tax implications of several additional forms of estate planning. Some of the following planning methods are just a few of the wide variety of choices available to donors:
Retirement planning annuities
Retirement planning trusts
College funding trusts and annuities
Business transfer trusts
Insurance trusts
Wealth replacement trusts
Please do not hesitate to contact the Development Office if you would like to know more about any of these special tools.
