Other Ways to Give

Roughly 70% of Americans do not have a current will or estate plan. Does your estate plan take into account the most recent tax laws? Leading The Way’s My Legacy Planner will not only allow you to assess your current will and estate plan, but will also provide you with a thoughtful framework as you prepare to meet with your financial advisor or attorney.

Basic to every Estate Plan is a will. Every responsible Christian should have a current will in place. If you die without a will, the distribution of your resources will be at the discretion of a probate court who may not distribute your assets according to your wishes.

Giving to Leading The Way through your will is the easiest way to continue passionately proclaiming the uncompromising Truth of the Gospel after your passing and remove highly taxable assets from your estate.

Gifts of marketable securities (stock) may be more tax efficient than gifts of cash. As securities grow in value, their sale may require payment of capital gains taxes. A charitable gift of appreciated securities (that have been held for at least a year and a day) in most cases avoids the capital gains tax.

For example, Mr. Davis acquired $25,000 of stock in the X Corporation a few years ago. The current value is $100,000. Therefore, if he were to sell the stock today, he would have to pay the current capital gains rates for both Federal and State taxes. Since he has owned the stock for more than a year and a day, he can gift the stock to Leading The Way and receive the full value of the stock as a tax deduction. He would also avoid the capital gains tax on the $75,000 appreciation.

To ensure efficient processing of your gift of stock, it is important to notify Leading The Way of your gift. Do not rely on your stockbroker or wire transfer service to provide us with this information, as they typically send the stock with no reference to the donor.

How to transfer stock to Leading The Way—if your shares are held in an account:

Ask your broker to make an electronic transfer of the shares to Leading The Way's Register Financial Associates, Inc. (404.364.2180), account # 4995-4552. The DTC number is 0141 – Clearinghouse is First Clearing, a division of Wells Fargo. In some cases you may be asked to provide the Tax ID number of Leading The Way. Our Tax ID is: 58-1816773.

Once the stock is transferred into Leading The Way's account and notification of the transfer is made, a receipt will be sent to you. The effective date is the day that the shares are placed into our account.

Once again, please remember to contact Leading The Way to advise us of the number of shares and the identity of the stock.

IRA Charitable Rollovers enable individuals at least 70 ½ years or older to transfer up to $100,000 per calendar year, tax-free, from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to a qualified charity by the end of the calendar year.

Gift parameters

• If you are 70 ½ or older and own an IRA, you can give up to $100,000 per calendar year.
• Your gift must be complete on or before December 31 of the calendar year in which you choose to utilize the IRA Charitable Rollover gift vehicle for tax purposes. Generally, if sent by US mail, the postmark determines the date of gift.
• Your gift must be made to a qualified public charity, such as Leading The Way.
• Distributions must be made directly from your IRA to Leading The Way. Do not withdraw the funds yourself and pass them on to Leading The Way or your gift will not qualify for the IRA Charitable Rollover and will be included in your taxable income.
• You can only make outright gifts. The IRA Charitable Rollover cannot be used to fund life income gifts (such as charitable gift annuities or charitable reminder trusts).

You can deed your home, a commercial building, or investment property to Leading The Way. Leading The Way will then most likely sell it and use the proceeds for ministry programs.

Giving a gift of real estate provides you with a number of benefits:

• You receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the real estate, no matter what you originally paid for it.
• You pay no capital gains tax on the transfer.
• A Leading The Way consultant handles all the administrative burdens by receiving, managing, and selling the asset for you.

Gifts of a limited liability company interest is a great opportunity to provide resources to further the work of the Kingdom. The tax benefits of gifting such assets before a sale is made—rather than selling the asset, paying the tax, and donating the proceeds—can be enormous. Not only does this avoid tax on the sale, it also provides a sizable charitable tax deduction.

 

For example, Jonathan began his company shortly after World War II with $500 in borrowed funds. Today, the company is worth $10 million. It is Jonathan's habit to give tithes and gifts equal to 20% of his income. Therefore, he wishes to give $2 million to charity upon the sale of his business to support ministries involved in Christian evangelism.

 

If he makes his charitable gift after he sells his business, he must pay capital gains tax of approximately 15%. In order to give $2 million to charity, he would use approximately $2.5 million of his stock value, paying the government approximately $419,000 in tax.

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is the best tool for increasing your retirement income while also supporting the ministry work of Leading The Way. This simple process has been around for decades, but today, with continued low interest returns on investments, more and more seniors are choosing the benefits of CGAs.

The returns on these annuities are generous. For example, if someone aged 70 were to create a single-life CGA of $50,000 today, the quarterly payment would be approximately $724.98 and would continue for the annuitant's life. The income tax deduction would be about $19,000 and best of all, nearly two-thirds of the annuity payments are free from income tax. Where can you match that today? The older the income beneficiary is, the greater the return.

With a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT), you transfer cash, appreciated property, or securities (stock) into a trust. The year you make the transfer of the asset(s) to the trust, you receive an income tax deduction. The trust converts the transferred assets into cash and then invests the money to produce income. The trust then makes fixed annual payments to you or your beneficiaries. When the trust terminates, the remainder is given to Leading The Way.

 

For example, Mr. and Mrs. Graham have owned a second home for about 27 years. They bought it for $55,000 and the current value of the home is $120,000. They no longer use the home, so they are considering selling it. If they sell it, they will immediately be confronted with the possibility of a capital gains tax. 

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) provides most of the benefits of a private foundation without the cost and expense of establishing a foundation. A DAF is an account that allows the donor the opportunity to make multiple charitable donations but channel them through one fund. This can be helpful if, for example, a donor has received a sum of money and would like to make charitable gift distribution decisions over time. A tax deduction is available immediately upon making a gift to the DAF but distribution to various ministries can come later.

 

For example, Mr. Adams sold his business and wanted to contribute a total of $250,000 to Christian ministry. However, at the time of the sale he was not sure of the amount he wanted to give to which Christian ministries. But, he did need the income tax deduction in the year of the sale. A DAF provided the perfect solution. Mr. Adams donated the money immediately into a DAF and received a tax deduction but was able to wait until a more convenient time to allocate his Christian ministry giving. To make a specific donation to a named ministry all Mr. Adams needed to do was forward a written request to the DAF administrator who then forwarded the funds to the ministry.

One of the ways you can give to the ministry is by designating Leading The Way as the beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other qualified plan. After your lifetime, the remainder of your plan passes on to Leading The Way tax-free.

Some key benefits to making this type of gift are:

• You can escape both income and estate tax withholding on the remainder left in your retirement account by gifting it to Leading The Way.
• You can gift the most-taxed asset in your estate and leave more favorably taxed property to your heirs.
• You can continue to take withdrawals during your lifetime.
• You can change the beneficiary if your circumstances change.

Need help? Contact our development office.

Phone: (800) 538-7677

While there are several types of life insurance, the concept of giving it remains the same: a small gift now can ultimately provide a much larger gift in the future. Types of policies you may want to consider giving are:

 

• A life insurance policy in force which is no longer needed for whatever purpose it was originally purchased. Typically it is an old policy and in many cases may be "paid up." 
• A "forgotten" policy which has been recently remembered (or discovered during an estate planning effort).

 

You can increase your contribution to Leading The Way through your Company Match Program. Many companies match their employees' charitable contributions. For example, if you donate $100 to Leading The Way, your employer may match that amount or donate a percentage of the amount. Your $100 gift becomes $150 or $200 and reaches even more people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Some companies provide the guidelines and forms to fill out online, or you can check with your Human Resources office. A few companies even match the contributions of retirees and employees' spouses. Inquire within your company to see what Company Match Program options are available.

Need help? Contact our development office.
Phone: (800) 538-7677

You might be surprised to know that the majority of wealth does not come out of our wallets—it's actually sitting in our driveways, storage facilities, garages, and closets. These unused assets—from old cars to unused equipment to game consoles—can be turned into Kingdom impact.

Giving to Leading The Way through iDonate is simple, easy, and hassle-free. Whether you're donating a boat, a mobile device, jewelry, excess inventory, or a gift card, iDonate handles the details—from the shipping or pickup of the item, to the assessment of its value, to its liquidation into a cash donation. Whatever you want to give, it's all funneled toward Leading The Way's work of proclaiming the Truth of Christ around the world.

Donating non-cash items through iDonate streamlines the giving process for you and saves Leading The Way time and money, enabling us to be better stewards of our resources.