Philanthropic Planning

Planning can be as simple as including a bequest to The Community Foundation of NC East. You may leave a percentage share of your estate, specify the dollar amount, or designate the Foundation as a contingent beneficiary.

This type of planning encompasses much more than a simple bequest. With the goals of providing for your loved ones, reducing taxes, and remembering worthy causes, there are a variety of techniques available that have mutual benefit to you, your community, and your favorite charitable organizations, both now and into the future.

Often the easiest way to support charitable interests, a bequest permits you to support the community while retaining complete control over your assets during your lifetime. Bequests can be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of an estate, or what remains after other bequests, such as those to family members, are satisfied.

Highlights

  • Heirs may receive lifetime income from a charitable trust, with the remainder going to the Foundation for charitable purposes.
  • You may name a new fund, an existing fund, or a specific group or organization to receive a bequest.
  • The Foundation can accept cash, appreciated stocks, or other assets.
  • Some of the most tax-efficient asset types to give through a will come from retirement plans, which can be far more advantageous than having those assets included in a taxable estate or leaving them to heirs, in which case they may be taxed at a cumulative rate of over 65%.
  • Bequests to the Foundation earn a full charitable deduction on estate taxes.

Giving through a charitable remainder trust allows you (or someone whom you select) to receive income for life, knowing that whatever remains will benefit your charitable interests. Cash, stock, property, or other assets are placed into a trust that distributes to the “income beneficiary” an annual income for life or for the duration of the trust. As a donor you will receive an immediate tax deduction for the present value of the gift in the year the gift is made. After death or at the end of a specified trust term (up to 20 years), the remainder of the trust transfers to a fund that has been named at the Foundation or to a specific charitable organization.

Highlights

  • You may choose to receive a fixed income or receive distributions that vary with the value of the trust.
  • The income beneficiary can be you or someone else, including a spouse, sibling, dependent parent, friend, or former employee.
  • The minimum to establish a charitable remainder trust with the Foundation serving as trustee is $5,000.

A charitable remainder trust is particularly useful for people who own securities or real estate that have increased in value but earn little income, since the assets, once placed in the trusts, can be sold and reinvested free of capital gains taxes.

There are two beneficial and easy ways that you can use life insurance to fund your giving. If you have a paid-up (or cash value) life insurance policy that is no longer needed for its intended purpose (e.g., your children are grown, your spouse has predeceased you, or tax laws have changed), you can give the policy to the Foundation. The policy will be cashed in, and the proceeds can be used immediately to create any type of fund. Life insurance can also be made part of your estate planning by naming the Foundation as a partial and/or contingent beneficiary of an insurance policy’s death benefit. If one or more of the primary beneficiaries predecease you, their share can go directly into a fund established at the Foundation.

Highlights

  • When you make an immediate gift of a life insurance policy, you may claim an income tax deduction based on the policy’s current value or cost basis as determined by a financial advisor. The Foundation can either cash in the policy and place proceeds directly into a permanent fund or trust, or your can make tax-deductible premium payments to the Foundation as the new owner of the policy.
  • Estate taxes are reduced since the value of the policy is removed from your estate.
  • Naming the Foundation as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of a life insurance policy enables you to protect loved ones while providing for the causes you care about, even if the policy’s beneficiaries predecease you.
  • An unneeded asset is removed from your estate, without affecting your income.

Get Started Today

To learn more about the Community Foundation of NC East and its impact to our region and local communities, or to get started on your planned giving, simply contact us at 252-756-8549 to speak with our Chief Executive Officer, Melissa Spain.