Planning for Your Future
A planned gift is a donation made in the present, then gifted in the future.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to be wealthy to make a planned gift. Remembering CASA in your will is a simple way to create a long-lasting, transformative impact.
Listed below are a few common opportunities for making valuable gifts of non-cash assets to support CASA’s critical mission
To discuss these creative ways of giving, please contact Lisa Barsky Firkser, Executive Director at (973-998-7590) or lfirkser@casamsc.org.
Appreciated Securities
Donate appreciated stock, bonds, or other marketable securities held over one year.
Benefits to You: Helps avoid capital gains tax; provides an immediate tax deduction for the fair market value of the assets contributed; removes taxable assets from your estate.
Bequests
Name CASA of Morris and Sussex Counties as a beneficiary in your Will or Living Trust. A charitable bequest is usually a set dollar amount or percentage of an estate that goes to a nonprofit after the donor’s death.
A bequest can be included in a new will, or added to an existing will or living trust through a simple amendment called a codicil — often without the expense of hiring a lawyer.
Benefits to You: This type of gift costs nothing during your lifetime; is exempt from Federal Estate Tax; avoids capital gains tax; and allows you to make a substantial gift when you no longer need the assets.
Retirement Plan Assets/IRA’s
Unused retirement assets are often donated as planned gifts to nonprofits. Name CASA of Morris and Sussex Counties as a whole or partial successor beneficiary on your plan’s form.
Benefits to You: You can continue to take withdrawals from the Plan during your lifetime; it frees up other assets to pass on to your heirs (retirement funds left to heirs incur double taxation of federal estate and income tax); the gift is exempt from federal estate and income tax.
Life Insurance
Donate a paid-up policy you no longer need, donate a new policy, or name CASA of Morris and Sussex Counties as a policy beneficiary.
Benefits to you: Receive a current income tax deduction for the donation of a paid-up policy; on a new donated policy, you can deduct future premium payments; donations are exempt from federal estate tax upon your passing.
Charitable Gift Annuity
A Charitable Gift Annuity allows you, the donor, to transfer an irrevocable gift of cash or securities to CASA in exchange for a fixed income payment for life.
Benefits to You: A Charitable Gift Annuity provides supplemental income with steady, partially tax-free lifetime payments to one or two individuals; it removes taxable assets from an estate; and income tax deduction for gift portion of asset. At the end of its term, the Charitable Gift Annuity balance goes to the nonprofit to support its mission.
Donor Advised Funds
A Donor Advised Fund, or DAF, is a simple, flexible, and tax-advantageous way to give. DAF’s are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the US. Donor Advised Funds work like a “charitable bank account” or a charitable investment account for the sole purpose of supporting the charitable organizations you care about.
When you contribute cash, securities, or other assets to a donor-advised fund at a public charity, you are generally eligible to take an immediate tax deduction. Those funds can then be invested for tax-free growth, and you can recommend grants to any eligible IRS-qualified public charity.
Benefits to You: You receive tax deduction for funds deposited in same year; you can spread charitable donations over several years.
