Ways to Give
Make a Difference
Your gift makes a wonderful difference at Genesee Community College and in the lives of our students.
Your gift to the Foundation’s General Fund benefits all the Foundation’s activities. Your gift to a special fund supports scholarships for students in a particular academic program, students facing financial hardship, or students living in a particular community. The Foundation holds more than 150 different Endowment and Special Term Funds.
You can make a one-time gift, or make a “recurring gift” every month, every quarter or annually. Use your credit card, make a gift directly from your bank account, or simply make a pledge. The Foundation’s Gift Policies & Tips help meet your needs, and ensure that you and the Foundation comply with any relevant tax laws.
Making an online gift is safe, and your information is protected by secure server technology. Making an outright gift of cash or other assets is the most common form of charitable giving. However, if you are doing long-term financial planning or estate planning, you may wish to consider planned or deferred giving as a way to achieve your charitable and financial goals. If you have any questions about the GCC Foundation or the donation process, we’re here to help! Contact us anytime at (585) 345-6809 or email foundation@bianlifan.com.
Bequest
Bequests are the most common and popular forms of planned gifts. A bequest is simply a statement contained in a donor’s will directing that assets be given to a charity upon the donor’s death. Bequests can involve specific dollar amounts or percentages of a donor’s estate. And donors can designate bequests toward the general support of a charity, or toward a specific program or purpose. Bequests must be included in a donor’s will, but most are very easy to create.
By leaving cash or other assets to charity upon your death, you help ensure that your interests and values are supported for years to come. A bequest is a gift made to a charitable cause through your estate. Bequests can only be made by including them in your will. Bequests of cash are common, but bequests can include securities or gifts of other types of property. A bequest is usually easy to create, and your attorney can quickly draft language that meets your needs.
Four tips:
- We encourage you to let us know that you are planning a bequest. If you wish, we will include your name in our Legacy Society, which honors individuals who make bequests and other deferred contributions.
- Our legal title is The Genesee Community College Foundation, Inc. Your attorney should use this title in drafting bequest language in your will.
- The Foundation holds many funds created by donors to promote study in particular fields, honor loved ones, or support students who live in specific communities. If you wish to make a bequest and direct it toward your own endowment fund, we strongly encourage you to create your fund now – even if you are not planning to make contributions to the fund during your lifetime. Creating your own fund now simplifies your will, and helps avoid confusion after your death.
- We are always pleased to help you or your attorney prepare your bequest. Call us at 585-345-6809 anytime.
Charitable Gift Annuity
A Charitable Gift Annuity is simply the transfer of cash or other assets to a charity by a donor in exchange for a fixed annual payment to the donor for life (or to the donor and another beneficiary for both lives). The payment rate is based on the number of annuitants and their ages; generally, the older the donor, the higher the payment. Charitable gift annuity rates may be somewhat lower than commercial annuity rates, but usually much higher than CD or money market rates. Gift annuities are considered a form of insurance, and charities are required to maintain sufficient reserves to guarantee that the annuities will be paid over the lives of the donors. Gift annuities are very easy to create. They provide a partial tax deduction for the transferred assets, and a portion of the annual annuity income is tax free.
Charitable Lead Trust
A charitable lead trust is a “temporary” trust set up for a specified number of years, removing trust assets from the donor’s estate. The trust pays income to one more designated charitable organizations each year, which the charities can use for general support or for a purpose designated by the creator of the trust. The creator of the trust or another designated beneficiary receives the trust assets at the termination of the trust. Lead trusts are highly complex gift instruments. They usually require sizable legal and management costs, so lead trusts need to be funded with a very substantial sum of assets. Income is generally subject to taxation.
Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder trust is an irrevocable trust created by a donor with cash or other assets with a trustee, in return for the donor (or other beneficiaries) to receive income for life or for a specified number of years (generally not to exceed 20 years). A charitable remainder annuity trust provides income to the donor of a payout percentage based on the value of the trust when it established. For example, if the initial value of the trust is $100,000 and the payout percentage is 5%, the donor or beneficiaries will receive $5,000 annually for the duration, regardless of the changing value of the trust assets. A charitable remainder unitrust, on the other hand, provides variable income to the donor or beneficiaries, based on the fluctuating value of the trust assets. For example, if the initial value of the trust is $100,000 and the payout percentage is 5%, the donor or beneficiaries receive $5,000 the first year. But if the value of the assets increases to $110,000 the following year, the payout is then $5,500. Donors receive partial tax deductions for the assets transferred into the trust. Charitable remainder trusts are complex, and require the services of an attorney and accountant.
Donor-Advised Fund
A donor-advised fund is often termed a “charitable checking account.” Donors can contribute cash or other assets to the fund at their discretion, which is usually sponsored by a large charitable organization, such as a community foundation. Some investment firms also sponsor philanthropically-related donor-advised funds. Donors can make contributions to their “accounts” periodically, and make recommendations to the sponsoring charity on grants made to the fund. However, the sponsoring charity is not obligated to follow these recommendations. Donor-advised funds give donors the ability to make charitable gifts at will, or time gifts to meet their unique tax requirements, without designating specific beneficiaries at the time gifts are made.
Life Insurance
Life insurance gifts can take several forms. For instance, donors can contribute paid-up or partially paid-up policies to a charity, or donors can actually buy a life insurance policy on behalf of a charity. Some conventional life insurance policies on the market include a charitable gift option which the policy owner can use if he or she buys enough insurance. Corporations occasionally make modest charitable life insurance policies available to key officers and managers. Generally, life insurance gifts can be created simply by designating one or more charities as beneficiaries. Tax deductions are limited to policy surrender values or premiums paid, and the purchaser of the policy must designate the charity as irrevocable owner and beneficiary. The tax advantages of life insurance gifts may not be as significant as other types of planned and deferred gifts, so life insurance is not the ideal giving tool for many donors.
Private Foundation
A private foundation is an incorporated not-for-profit organization that generates ongoing charitable support from income-producing assets. Private foundations are often established to create family or corporate legacies. Private foundations can be structured to exist in perpetuity, or for a limited number of years. Private foundations do have drawbacks, however. They require ongoing governance and management, and are regulated under federal and state laws. Private foundations require a very significant investment of cash or other assets to be effective and economical.
Retirement Plans
For many donors, retirement plans (including IRAs) comprise a large portion of their assets. Donors over age 70½ can contribute all or a portion of a retirement plan to charity, usually by designating one or more charities as beneficiaries on the retirement plan’s beneficiary designation form. By gifting retirement assets to charity instead of individuals, donors can achieve very significant tax savings.