Ways of Giving
Establish a Fund Now…
CFOS makes it easy. There are no start-up costs, we handle all the paperwork, and we accept contributions of kinds. We also allow you to be as involved as you wish in selecting how your gifts are used, and to choose whether to give anonymously or with recognition. No matter what form your gift takes, you receive maximum tax savings.
You may establish a permanent fund with CFOS – named in honor of memory of anyone you choose – by contributing the following:
- Cash
- Securities traded on major exchanges
- Closely held stock
- Life insurance
- Real estate
- Interests in limited partnerships
- Excess pension benefits, IRAs and other planned gifts
- Any combination of the above.
OR… Make a Planned Gift.
A planned gift to the CFOS is one of the easiest, most effective ways to create a legacy of giving. And because the CFOS is a public charity, the following gifts can offer substantial tax benefits:
Bequest: You can include CFOS in your will through a bequest of cash, securities or real property. Your bequest can be used to establish a fund or add to an existing fund.
Life Insurance: Establish a fund with a gift of life insurance. The cash surrender value of the policy, or the cost of a replacement policy, is deductible as a charitable contribution. If you continue to pay premiums after your gift, those are deductible as well.
Charitable Remainder Trust: Assets are placed in a trust and you receive income, for yourself and a spouse, for life, or a specified number of years. Eventually, the assets pass to your fund at CFOS.
Charitable Lead Trust: This type of trust pays income to CFOS for a specified number of years. When the term is up, the principal can pass to your heirs with reduced, or even eliminated, estate and gift taxes.
Life Estate: You can give your home or farm to CFOS, but retain the right to live in it for life. You receive an immediate tax deduction and the property is removed from your estate.
_______ More details:
Gifts of Cash
When you give to a charity—like the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan—you first think of giving cash.
You simply write out a check for your donation. The Donation becomes part of the assets of the Community Foundation’s General Endowment Fund and the income from the assets is used to make charitable grants in the community.
 Or, you establish YOUR NAME FUND with the Community Foundation and write out a check. The fund grows. During some years you may wish to contribute more—in some years, less. You receive a full income tax deduction for your contribution in the year you make it. You may ask that only the income generated by the money you contribute to the fund be distributed. Or you may ask that we pay out the principal periodically. Such a fund has great flexibility and gives you immediate and maximum tax deductibility.
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Gifts of Securities
With appreciated securities—stocks or bonds that are now worth more than they were when you bought them or were given them—you may discover how you can give more at a lower cost than giving cash. To distribute shares of these securities as gifts to a number of charitable organizations can be cumbersome.
You may, however, choose to direct them to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan’s General Endowment Fund or to YOUR NAME FUND in the Foundation. In addition to receiving an income tax deduction, you also avoid paying capital gains tax on the appreciated value of the securities.
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Gifts of an Interest in A Residence, Farm or Other Real Estate
Your home, farm or other real estate has appreciated greatly in value and you want to use it to provide a benefit to the Orange County community.
You may make a gift of the remainder value of your home, farm or other real estate, but retain the right to use it for your lifetime. For this gift, you receive a charitable income tax deduction in the year the transfer is made equal to the value of the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan’s interest in the property. At the time of your death, there will be no estate taxes on the gifted portion. When the property is eventually sold, the proceeds will be used to establish a permanent fund in the Community Foundation.
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Gifts of Life Insurance
You have been paying premiums on life insurance for years, and now the protection it offered earlier is really no longer needed. The policies have some value and you would like the benefit to go to charity.
You donate the policies to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, either to the General Endowment Fund or to YOUR NAME FUND. You receive an immediate tax deduction—usually in an amount equal to the cash surrender value. If you wish, you can ask the Community Foundation to maintain the policy. The annual premium payments you contribute to the Foundation each year will qualify for a tax deduction.
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Gifts of Business-Related Stock
You are an executive of a business which has enjoyed successful and dynamic growth. You have acquired a sizeable amount of stock in your company at a low cost through bonus and stock option plans. You would like to begin sharing some of this wealth charitably with your community.
You make a gift to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan’s General Endowment Fund or YOUR NAME FUND, with your publicly-traded stock. Your fund becomes a permanent vehicle for sharing your success and for carrying out your charitable wishes.
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Gifts of Closely-Held Securities
As a majority shareholder of a closely-held business, you are looking for an effective strategy to transfer ownership while minimizing your tax liability.
You arrange to donate your closely-held stock, with the guidance of a knowledgeable tax advisor, to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. With this gift, you can claim a charitable deduction for the fair market value of the stock, provided that the Community Foundation is under no legal obligation to sell the stock at the time of the gift. The fund grows and charity benefits if the stock is redeemed by your company or sold to other existing stockholders, thereby reducing retained earnings which may need to be distributed.
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Gifts of IRA Accounts or
Other Retirement Plans
You have an IRA account, or other retirement plan, and have accumulated sufficient assets to meet your family’s future needs. You wish for charity to benefit from the balance in your retirement plan after your lifetime.
You name the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan as the beneficiary of your retirement plan. The proceeds of the account are normally taxable to the beneficiary; however, the community Foundation is tax-exempt and no income tax is required. Directing that your retirement plan balance be distributed to the Community Foundation through your Will can reduce your estate taxes as well.
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Charitable Bequest
You have enjoyed a successful life in Orange County. You have provided for your loved ones and you also want to provide for your community.
You can make a bequest in your Will to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan of a specific amount, a particular asset, or a remainder interest. You can request that the bequest be used to establish YOUR NAME FUND, or be used for unrestricted purposes, designated charities, or to support a particular field of interest.
Your estate planner can contact the Community Foundation for suggested language for such bequests.
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Gifts of Charitable Residue
Your Will provides for the benefit of your spouse and children. But you are still concerned about the disposition of your estate should these beneficiaries die in a common disaster or not survive you.
A common disaster or contingent beneficiary clauses in your Will can prevent your assets’ dispersal to distant relatives or from escheating to the state of your legal residence. Naming the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan as contingent beneficiary insures that your assets will be used for your local community’s good. A bequest to the Foundation’s General Endowment Fund, or to YOUR NAME FUND will provide a permanent symbol of your benevolence.
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Life Income-Fixed Amount
You find yourself in later life with a fairly comfortable accumulation of assets. You would like an assured income for you and your spouse for the rest of your lives. Eventually, you may wish for charity to benefit after both of your lifetimes.
You establish a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, with the remainder assigned to the Central New York Community Foundation’s General Endowment Fund or to YOUR NAME FUND. You receive a tax deduction, which may reduce your income taxes for up to six years. You and your spouse will receive an income for life, the same amount each year. When either dies, the survivor will continue to receive the income. Your estate taxes will be reduced and charity will benefit.
If you prefer, you may accomplish this in your Will providing a life income for your spouse. Because of the charitable deduction to your estate, the surviving spouse may actually receive a larger income than otherwise would be the case.
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Life Income—Variable Amount
You are in the same situation as stated in the last example but find yourself concerned about inflation. A fixed income may buy less and less each year. You would like a chance to have the income grow over the years.
You arrange for a Charitable Remainder Unitrust instead of an Annuity trust. You specify a percentage (i.e., 5%) of the fund’s assets paid to you each year for life, instead of a fixed number of dollars. If the assets grow, your income grows. Again, if you prefer, this can be accomplished through your Will for your surviving spouse. The charitable deduction to your estate can mean that the survivor may get a larger income because the assets remaining after taxes would be greater.
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Life Income—Pooled Income Fund
You would like the advantages of a life income gift arrangement, but your contribution may not be large enough to justify the Expense of setting up a Charitable Remainder Trust.
The Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan maintains a pooled income fund, which pools your gift with those from others, with a minimum contribution of $5,000. You receive the income during your lifetime, with the option to have the income go to your spouse upon your death. Upon the death of the last beneficiary, the funds come to the foundation for the purposes you choose. You receive an income tax deduction at the time you make the gift to the pooled life income fund, and your estate taxes will be reduced as well.
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Life Income–Charitable Gift Annuity
A charitable gift annuity is a contract between you and the Community Foundation, guaranteed by the assets of the Foundation. In exchange for your gift, the Foundation will pay you (and your spouse, if you so choose) a fixed amount for life. Each quarter you receive a set amount, part of which is treated as return of principal and part as taxable income. You also get a charitable tax deduction for a portion of the value of the gift.
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Charitable Lead Trust
You have a sizeable estate and are trying to plan for the future. You are able to provide amply for your children even though estate taxes will be considerable. But, now you are concerned about the welfare of your grandchildren. Will much be left after the taxes on your children’s estates?
You set up a Charitable Lead Trust. You donate part of your estate to the trust now, and the income goes to the Community Foundation’s General Endowment Fund, or to YOUR NAME FUND for a designated number of years. Your estate taxes are reduced and the donated property is not taxed to your children.
When your grandchildren reach maturity, the trust terminates and the assets are used for their benefit. You have contributed to charity during all those year, the trust has grown tax-free, and now your grandchildren will receive much more than they would have otherwise.
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Transfer of Private Foundation
You are the trustee of a private foundation and some of the fun has gone out of the job. The government keeps laying down more rules about what you can and can not do. They tax part of the foundation’s income and require detailed annual reports. There is a risk of personal liability. A better arrangement is required for its administration.
You establish a fund in your private foundation’s name with the Community Foundation. You arrange to transfer your foundation’s assets to YOUR FOUNDATION FUND and then dissolve the foundation. With the Community Foundation administering your fund, there is no more tax to pay, more dollars are available for charity, our staff takes care of all government required paperwork, and investment decisions are handled by our professional investment advisors. Most importantly, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your foundation’s purpose will be carried on in perpetuity.
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Giving Option for Private Foundation
Again, you are the trustee of a private foundation but not all of your fellow trustees can agree on transferring the foundation’s entire assets to the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. Isn’t there a more moderate step that can be taken in order to test such a relationship?
You can set up a fund in the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, most likely with the name of your private foundation. You arrange for your private foundation to contribute part or all of the current year’s income to the fund. The trustees get to know the Community Foundation. This arrangement, if mutually desirable, can go on indefinitely until the trustees are ready to take full advantage of the Community Foundation’s administrative and fiscal management.
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Corporate Giving in Community
You are an executive in a large corporation, responsible for corporate giving. Part of the job is easy—support the typical charities, do “good-citizen” things in cities where you operate, and give to projects of importance to you and your employees. But what about the abundance of requests you get from other charities? Who is to decide whether to support such programs?
You can establish a fund in the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, either with the name of the corporation or an anonymous name. You divide the corporate giving into two parts.
One part is to cover those charities you want to provide for annually. The other part is discretionary and you assign the task of its distribution to the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and staff.
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Estate or Trust—Gift to Charity
You are the Executor or Trustee under a Will. The Will requires you to allocate a certain amount of money to charity, but either the organizations and amounts are not named or the task of carrying out the charitable provisions is too burdensome for your role as Executor or Trustee.
You set up a fund in the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan in the name of the person who died. With the approval of the court, if necessary, you arrange to have the charitable portion of the estate paid to the Community Foundation. The Foundation is usually fully qualified to receive the charitable portion of the estate. The burden of carrying out the charitable provisions would remain under the guidance of the Community Foundation.
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Group Memorial Fund
You and your friends are deeply saddened by the death of a dear and valued friend. Couldn’t something be done to preserve your friend’s memory and the goodness of that person’s life?
You set up a fund in the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan in the name of the individual who died. You ask interested friends to contribute to the fund. You dedicate the purpose of the fund to the field-of-interest which would have pleased the individual. The fund becomes a permanent living memorial to your friend.
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Scholarship Fund
You wish to establish scholarships in your name for deserving young people. You realize, however, that the administration of scholarship programs takes a great deal of time and consideration and must conform strictly to standards of impartiality and integrity.
You set up YOUR NAME FUND as a scholarship fund in the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. You may, if you wish, specify either the schools the students have graduated from or the ones to which they will be admitted. The scholarships may be for any level of education you specify. The Community Foundation will present scholarship awards to qualified educational institutions and monitor the process annually to make sure your purpose is fully respected.
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Agency Endowment Fund
As a member of the board of directors of another charitable organization, you recognize that an endowment fund would help stabilize the organization’s revenue needs, but you and your fellow board members were chosen for your knowledge of the charitable service not for the management of endowment funds.
The charitable organization can establish an agency endowment fund within the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, which can receive funds from the organization and from interested individuals. The advantages of this type of arrangement are that funds will be invested with professional investment managers. Additionally, both the board and donors are assured that the funds will always be available for charitable purposes, even if the charitable organization ceases operations.
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Charitable Organization Closing
You are on the board of directors of a charitable organization with a problem. The service the organization offers is no longer practical. Costs are outrunning income and there is little prospect for relief. It would be logical to close the agency but there are still some assets, a building perhaps, or some restricted funds that remain.
You open a fund with the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, probably in the name of the charitable organization. Assuming appropriate legal procedures are followed, you can liquidate the assets and transfer them to the Community Foundation. You can specify that grants from the fund will be used for services or programs similar to those of the charitable organization. The mission of your organization is thereby continued in the years ahead.
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