How to Include United Way in your Will or Estate Plan
It is easy to include United Way in your will or estate plans. Here are some of the most popular ways to do this. We would welcome the opportunity to send you additional information or meet with you to take the next steps.
Make an outright gift of cash or appreciated stock or real estate.
Giving appreciated securities as an alternative to giving cash.
Giving more for less
- The income-tax benefit is similar to that of cash: the donor can deduct the fair market value of the gift. Giving stocks and mutual funds, however, ensures that the long-term capital gain (LTCG) is not recognized on their tax return, so the donor avoids any LTCG tax due on the appreciation.
- The second tax benefit lowers the cost of the gift for the donor or allows them to give more than they were intending to, at the same cost as the cash amount they were prepared to give.
Reduce future Capital Gains
- If you believe that a stock is going to continue to go up, this may be a good time to donate your stocks. There is a gift strategy to keep your investment and 'step up' your basis, thus reducing LTCG tax owed when they are sold. If you are considering making a gift of $5,000 or more with a check or credit card, you could donate that amount in stock, and use the $5,000 cash to buy new shares of the same stock. Your out-of-pocket cost is exactly the same, but you now have a new stepped-up cost basis for calculating future capital gains.
Different ways to put together a legacy gift.
Legacy giving refers to donations that supporters plan to give the United Way of Greater New Bedford after their passing. Legacy giving is also commonly referred to as planned giving as donors often plan these gifts years before they are distributed to the designated parties.
Bequests are the most popular and simplest type of legacy giving. In their wills, donors will name what they want to give to a nonprofit, whether it's a specific amount of funds, stocks, a piece of art, or even a percentage of the value of their estate.
When taking out a life insurance policy, donors can name a nonprofit as one of its beneficiaries. Donors who currently have life insurance policies, and they don't need anymore, can also participate in legacy giving by donating their policy's accumulated value to a nonprofit.
Some donors may have a tax-deferred retirement plan. If you are 72 or older and you do not need your RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) from your IRA, you can donate it to a charity of your choosing. The benefit of doing this instead of writing a check is that you will still need to pay taxes on the RMD that you would collect as ordinary income. If you have an IRA, you can use this as a method to participate in your legacy giving program. You can do this by naming a nonprofit as a beneficiary or as a recipient of the percentage of the proceeds.
Large nonprofits may set up charitable gift annuities for their donors. With this method, donors make a large gift during their lifetime, and in exchange, the nonprofit provides them a fixed income for the rest of their life. When the donor passes, the nonprofit will receive the remaining funds.
Instead of making a monetary donation, donors can give nonprofits a piece of property they own, while still retaining the right to use it during their lifetime. After the donor passes, the nonprofit can choose to keep or sell the property.
Charitable Bequest
A charitable bequest is one of the easiest and most flexible ways that you can leave a gift to United Way that will make a lasting impact. Support United Way's mission by leaving us a bequest in your will, living trust or with a codicil. One significant benefit of making a gift by bequest is that it allows you to continue to use the property you will leave to charity during your life. In order to make a bequest, you should speak with your attorney. Your attorney can help include a bequest to United Way in your estate plan.
Benefits of a bequest:
- Leave a lasting legacy to your community
- Receive an estate tax charitable deduction
- Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
How a bequest works
A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an attorney, you can include language in your will or trust, specifying a gift to be made to family, friends, or United Way of Greater New Bedford as part of your estate plan, or you can make a bequest using a beneficiary designation form.
Here are some of the ways to leave a bequest to United Way:
- Include a bequest to United Way in your will or revocable trust
- Designate United Way as a full, partial, or contingent beneficiary of your retirement account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or pension). See section below
- Name United Way as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy
Types of Bequests
There are a number of ways you can make a bequest to United Way.
A specific bequest involves making a gift of a specific asset such as real estate, other property or a gift for a specific dollar amount. For example, you may wish to leave your home or $10,000 to United Way.
United Way’s Bequest Language
Specific Bequests
If you are considering making an outright bequest to United Way, we recommend the following language:
Bequest of a Specific Dollar Amount – I hereby give, devise and bequeath _________ and No/100 dollars ($DOLLARS) to United Way of Greater New Bedford, a nonprofit organization located at: 128 Union St. Suite 105, New Bedford, MA 02740. Federal Tax ID # 04-2104264, for United Way’s general use and purpose.
Bequest of Specific Personal Property
I hereby give, devise and bequeath DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY to United Way of Greater New Bedford, a nonprofit organization located at: 128 Union St. Suite 105, New Bedford, MA 02740. Federal Tax ID # 04-2104264, for United Way’s general use and purpose.
Leave a specific percentage of your overall estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 10% of your estate to United Way.
United Way’s Bequest Language
If you are considering making a bequest of a percentage of your estate to United Way of Greater New Bedford, we recommend the following language:
I hereby give, devise and bequeath ____ percent (___%) of my total estate, determined as of the date of my death, to United Way of Greater New Bedford, a nonprofit organization located at: 128 Union St. Suite 105, New Bedford, MA 02740. Federal Tax ID # 04-2104264, for United Way’s general use and purpose.
A residual bequest is made from the balance of an estate after the will or trust has given away each of the specific bequests. A common residual bequest involves leaving a percentage of the residue of the estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 30% of the residue of your estate to United Way.
United Way’s Bequest Language
I hereby give, devise and bequeath to United Way of Greater New Bedford, a nonprofit organization located at 128 Union St. Suite 105, New Bedford, MA 02740. Federal Tax ID # 04-2104264, for United Way’s general use and purpose. ALL OR A PERCENTAGE of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to be used for United Way’s general use and purpose..
A contingent bequest is made to charity only if the purpose of the primary bequest cannot be met. For example, you could leave specific property, such as a vacation home, to a relative, but the bequest language could provide that if the relative is not alive at the time of your death, the vacation home will go to United Way.
United Way’s Bequest Language
If (primary beneficiary) does not survive me, then I hereby give, devise and bequeath to United Way of Greater New Bedford located at: 128 Union St. Suite 105, New Bedford, MA 02740. Federal Tax ID # 04-2104264, for United Way’s general use and purpose, DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY to be used for United Way’s general use and purpose.
United Way’s Bequest Language
If you are considering a bequest to United Way of Greater New Bedford and would like to ensure it will be used for a specific purpose, please let us know. We will work with you and your attorney to help you identify ways to give and meet your charitable objectives. We will also work with you and your attorney to craft language to accomplish your goals. If you are making a restricted bequest, we recommend that your attorney include the following provision to give United Way flexibility should it no longer be possible for our United Way to use your gift as you originally intended:
If, in the judgment of the Board of Directors of United Way of Greater New Bedford, it shall become impossible for United Way to use this bequest to accomplish the specific purposes of this bequest, United Way may use the income and principal of this gift for such purpose or purposes as the Board determines is most closely related to the restricted purpose of my bequest.
IRA Charitable Rollover
You may be looking for a way to make a big difference to help further our mission. If you are 70 or older, you might consider a IRA Charitable Rollover to lower the income and taxes from your IRA withdrawals while helping United Way of Greater New Bedford continue its work this year.
Benefits of an IRA charitable rollover
- Avoid taxes on transfers of up to $100,000 from your IRA to our organization
- Satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year
- Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions
- Make a gift that is not subject to the 50% deduction limits on charitable gifts
- Help further the work and mission of our organization
How an IRA charitable rollover gift works
- Contact your IRA plan administrator to make a gift from your IRA to us.
- Your IRA funds will be directly transferred to our organization to help continue our important work.
- Please note that IRA charitable rollover gifts do not qualify for a charitable deduction.
- Please contact us if you wish for your gift to be used for a specific purpose.
Contact
Michelle N. Hantman at mhantman@unitedwayofgnb.org or 508-994-9625 ext. 212 if you have any questions about how to make a bequest to United Way, to request any additional information that might be helpful to you and your attorney as you consider making a bequest to us, or about IRA Charitable Rollover.
If you have included a bequest for United Way of Greater New Bedford in your estate plan, please let us know. We would like to thank you and recognize you for your gift.