San Ramon Valley Education Foundation

Fundraising Overview For Education Foundations

Donors may make gifts to the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation in
a variety of ways. For more information, contact the SRVEF at info@srvef.org.

GIFT VEHICLES

Outright gifts. Any asset of value may be presented as a gift to an education foundation. Gifts of cash, real estate, cash value of an insurance policy, tangible property, stocks, bonds, and so forth may be given for restricted or unrestricted purposes.

Life income gifts. A gift may be given to an education foundation and the donor retains a life income from the gift. Vehicles such as a charitable gift annuity, unitrust, annuity pool, or pooled income funds are available.

Testamentary gifts. Gifts may be made through a will. Amounts of money or assets may be specified as donation.

TYPES OF GIFTS

Real estate. Appreciated property is contributed, the fair market value is available for tax deductions and no tax is required for capital gains.

Securities. Appreciated securities may be transferred with the same tax advantages as any other asset.

Tangible property. Any asset of value that can be transferred into another more useful asset, i.e. cash, can benefit an education foundation.

Insurance. An education foundation can be named the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. In addition, an individual can take out a policy and name the foundation as both owner and beneficiary. This allows the donor to deduct the premiums as a contribution.

Gifts-in-kind. Pieces of equipment and other useful items (computers, televisions, science equipment, etc.) may be donated.

COMMON PLANNED GIVING VEHICLES

Wills and bequests. Individuals may choose to give specific amounts of cash, property, stocks, real estate, or even works of art. The major benefit of such gifts to a nonprofit organization is that it can reduce or even eliminate the estate taxes that would ordinarily be paid by the heirs of the deceased.

Charitable gift annuities. A charitable annuity is an arrangement between a donor and a nonprofit group wherein the donor gives either cash or property to the organization in exchange for an income for the rest of the donor's life. Donors who make such arrangements are entitled to an income tax deduction for the value of the gift portion of whatever property is transferred. To be eligible for the tax deduction, however, the gift must be irrevocable.

Charitable remainder unitrusts. A charitable remainder unitrust is a separate trust that pays at least 5 percent of the value of the trust, but the difference between this and a fixed annuity is that this trust is valued annually. Thus what an individual receives will vary as the value of the trust changes.

Charitable lead trust. In this vehicle, a donor provides a gift to a nonprofit group that the nonprofit can use for a specified period of time. What is left after that period of time reverts to the donor or to someone else the donor chooses to name.

Gifts of property. Individuals can make gifts of a wide range of properties (real estate, land, equipment, etc.) to a nonprofit group and claim income tax deductions for these gifts. The definition of property is wide ranging-land, houses, automobiles, stock, money, art, music collections, libraries, mineral and oil rights-in effect almost anything an individual owns.

Pooled income funds. This vehicle offers some individuals an opportunity to make a gift to an institution at a time when they may not have the resources for a large major gift. In the pooled-income approach, individuals make a gift to a nonprofit group and the funds are commingled with gifts of other donors. Each donor is assigned certain units of ownership and the income earned by the fund is distributed to the donor's base on the units or shares owned. Donors may claim a tax deduction on the earnings history of the fund and the age of the life beneficiary. However, all income received is "ordinary" income and as such is 100 percent taxable.

Life insurance. Nonprofit groups may be named as beneficiaries to life insurance policies. Individuals may give life insurance policies to nonprofit organizations and gain income tax deductions. The donor deducts all premiums or the cash value of the policy as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.