Planned Giving

Why Consider a Planned Gift to the Friends of the Mead/McMillan Association, Inc.?

Planned gifts provide creative and flexible strategies as you pursue your charitable and financial goals. There are many ways you can leave a legacy to the Friends, while at the same time providing yourself and your family (or other beneficiaries) with significant tax benefits. In addition to outright, tax-deductible cash gifts, there are other creative ways to give, including:

  • Gifts of stock or other assets
  • A bequest in your Will
  • A beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy, 401(k) plan or IRA
  • Life Income Gifts
  • Charitable Lead Trusts

Planned gifts can offer many advantages to help you to meet your overall financial goals, and help the Friends in its long-term financial planning. They can also provide special opportunities that enable the organization to strengthen and improve its programs. However, the greatest benefit of a planned gift to the Friends lies in knowing that you are supporting a wildlife area that is important to you, your community, and future generations.

Gifts That Pay You Income:

With careful planning, you can receive an immediate income tax deduction and provide yourself or another with an annual income while supporting the Friends in a way that is meaningful to you. Your age, assets, and income objectives will help you to determine the best type of life income gift.

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT): A CRAT allows you to secure a steady stream of income and reduce your taxes while helping to support the Friends. To create a CRAT, you place assets into an irrevocable trust and name a trustee. The trustee invests the assets (which can grow tax-free) and pays a fixed dollar amount to the trust beneficiaries (yourself, your spouse, your children, or whomever you designate) for life or for a set term of years. When the last income beneficiary dies or the trust’s term ends, the trust dissolves, and the remaining assets are distributed to the charitable beneficiary.

Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT): A CRUT works the same way as the CRAT, with this main distinction: the income distributed is not a fixed amount. Instead, with a CRUT, you or your family receive a lifetime or term income that is a percentage (by law, a minimum 5 percent) of your trust’s assets valued annually. Income payments increase or decrease with the changing value of the trust. The unitrust provides a potential hedge against inflation as income payments may raise over time. In addition, the unitrust can be structured to defer income and maximize growth (for retirement planning, for example) or to handle specific types of assets.

Gifts That Can Be Used by The Friends Today:

There are many planned gift options that can be put into action immediately. These gifts offer you tax benefits while providing you the opportunity to support current programs, establish or add to an endowment, or provide funding for capital improvements.

Outright. An outright gift may include a gift of real estate, stock, mutual funds or other assets. Gifts of long-term appreciated assets offer an easy and tax-efficient way to make a lasting contribution to the Friends. Your gift will help to sustain the Mead Wildlife Area while avoiding capital gain tax and reducing federal income tax. In addition, the Friends occasionally accepts gifts of personal property. Please contact us for more information.

Charitable Lead Trust. A charitable lead trust pays the Friends an income for a designated period of time. After that time, the trust principal reverts to you or other beneficiaries. With a lead trust, your gift makes a difference now while potentially reducing the cost of transferring assets to your family or another beneficiary.

Gifts That Take Effect at Death:

These deferred gifts establish your legacy today and ensure that future generations will benefit from your generosity.

Bequests. One of the simplest ways to provide an enduring gift of support for the Friends is through your Will or Revocable Living Trust. Upon your death, the asset(s) you specify will pass to the Friends, and your estate can take a charitable deduction for the amount of your bequest.

Beneficiary Designation for Life Insurance. You can name the Friends as Retirement Assets the beneficiary of a portion or all of a life insurance policy, retirement plan, or IRA. The Friends accept gifts of life insurance as the beneficiary of your policy. We also may be named as the beneficiary (primary or contingent) on your retirement accounts. In addition to providing you with the tax advantages described below, beneficiary designations are a quick, hassle-free way to make a gift.

If interested, please fill out the Planned Giving Brochure   and mail the form and your contribution to the address on the brochure.