Planned Giving & Major Gifts

What is planned giving?

Thank you for your interest in planned giving. You may have heard the term “planned giving” but aren’t sure what it really means. Simply, planned giving is planning to make a difference both for yourself and a cause you believe in, through a charitable gift.  Planned giving is often described as “leaving a legacy” because many gifts are created to make an impact for future generations.

Why give a planned gift?

Many individuals have found planned gifts to be an excellent vehicle for benefiting their favorite charitable organizations. In addition to personal satisfaction, such gifts offer major planning opportunities to minimize federal and state taxes, increasing the possibilities for effective distribution of assets. The wide degree of flexibility permitted in arranging a planned gift while still obtaining favorable tax benefits has contributed significantly to making such gifts a popular and potent estate-planning tool.

What does your planned gift mean to Hospice of Huntington?

Whether you give a gift for Hospice of Huntington’s immediate needs to fund patient care or for future needs, your gift ensures that people with a life-limiting illness receive the care they need regardless of their ability to pay for services. Most patients do have some insurance coverage for hospice services through Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. The coverage often does not cover the total cost of care. Your donations make it possible for Hospice of Huntington to continue to serve our community.

How to give a planned gift?

Making a planned gift usually requires the assistance of an advisor such as an attorney, financial planner, or CPA to help structure the gift. Hospice of Huntington professionals will work with you and/or your advisors to create a giving opportunity that meets your unique situation.

Ways to give?

There are many ways to give including both outright gifts and deferred gifts. Below are some of the most popular planned giving options. You should consult with your own tax and legal advisors for a full discussion of the tax implications of particular gift plans.

Outright Gifts:

  • Cash
  • Securities and Real Estate

Deferred Gifts

  • Wills or Living Trusts
  • Beneficiary Designations
  • Life Insurance
  • Gift Annuities
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts
  • Charitable Lead Trusts

Cash

Cash is the simplest, most direct, and most popular type of charitable gift. A gift of cash is considered made on the date it is hand-delivered or mailed and, because of the charitable deduction, your net cost can be much less than the actual amount of the gift.

Beneficiary Designations

You may add Hospice of Huntington, Inc. as a revocable beneficiary of your qualified IRA, pension plan, bank account or insurance policy.

Securities and Real Estate

Gifts of appreciated property, such as securities and real estate, are popular alternatives to cash. Such a gift generates a double tax benefit. In addition to receiving a charitable income-tax deduction for the full fair-market value of the property, you escape any potential tax on the capital-gain element in the property.

Wills or Living Trusts

Each year, thousands of individuals designate a portion of their assets via a bequest in their wills or direction in their living trusts to benefit philanthropy. Such gifts have become an important part of the philanthropic tradition because they enable individuals to make significant gifts that they may not have been able to make during life.

Life Insurance

While most people own some form of life insurance because of its unique ability to meet a variety of needs for financial protection, its role in charitable giving is frequently overlooked. Donors may use life insurance as the direct funding medium of a gift, permitting them to make a substantial gift for a relatively modest annual outlay. A donor may use insurance to replace the value of an asset they give to Hospice of Huntington.

Gift Annuities

The charitable gift annuity is among the oldest, simplest, and most popular of the charitable life-income plans. In exchange for a transfer of cash, marketable securities or, in some circumstances, real estate, the charity contractually guarantees to make specified annuity payments to the donor and/or another beneficiary for life. The payout rate depends on the age and number of beneficiaries.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Introduced by the Tax Reform Act of 1969, the charitable remainder trust has grown substantially in popularity over the years because of the significant financial and estate planning flexibility it offers. This trust is similar to other types of trusts, except that a charitable beneficiary receives the remainder interest (i.e., what’s left in the trust after it terminates).

How it works: You transfer property under a trust agreement that specifies how and when trust income and principal are to be distributed. You may create the trust to become effective during life (intervivos) or at death (testamentary).

Charitable Lead Trusts

Charitable lead trusts may appeal to individuals who wish to make a gift but retain the property in their family. There are two types of charitable lead trusts:

  • Grantor Lead Trust
    A grantor lead trust provides you with a charitable tax deduction for the present value of the payments the charity is to receive from the trust for a specified period of time. The donor continues to be taxed on the income earned by the trust each year – including the amount distributed to the charity.
  • Non-Grantor Lead Trust
    If a donor creates a non-grantor lead trust during life, it does not provide them with a charitable income-tax deduction, but neither are they taxed on any of the income earned by the trust. Note: At the end of the specified trust term, the assets remaining in a trust are distributed, usually to children or grandchildren.

304.529.4217 | 800.788.5480
P.O. Box 464, Huntington, WV 25709
1101 Sixth Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701