Investing with Faith / Kimberly Pohovey

Blending charitable gifts allows donors to make a greater impact

If you’ve ever played an instrument or sung in a group, you know that good music doesn’t just happen. It takes hard work to keep everybody together and maintain the balance between parts just right. And even if all the singers have beautiful solo voices, they must learn to listen to each other to produce a sound that blends their individual talents into a choir. A similar approach can help people reach their financial, tax, estate planning and charitable giving goals.

“Blended gifts” allow donors to reach meaningful charitable and life goals without depleting any single source of their wealth. Simply put, a blended gift allows a donor to make a gift today for current needs, as well as a planned gift for the future.

Usually, a smaller immediate cash gift is combined with a gift of stock, retirement funds or life insurance designated to be given later through a bequest, trust or another planned gift vehicle. In this way, resources that may be needed in the future can be designated for charity but kept available during the life of the donor or other beneficiary.

The benefits of blended gifts are numerous. Giving in more than one way increases the overall impact of your giving while preserving your wealth for your own needs and those of your family.  

For those who need an additional source of income 

Setting up a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder unitrust can provide ongoing income to you along with support for the causes you care about. What goes into an annuity or trust isn’t limited to cash. So, it’s possible to conserve more liquid assets while being as generous as you want to be. 

For those who already give monetary gifts 

A blended approach to giving means a donor can make modest monetary gifts now and put a plan into place that will benefit the mission of the Church in a more significant way later, when funds are no longer needed. Charitable bequests, annuities or trusts can help you take advantage of tax benefits now and keep more of what you have saved for the things that are most important to you.

For those who have already implemented a planned gift 

If you’ve included charitable initiatives in your will or created another planned gift, you can begin to see the impact of your generosity today by adding outright gifts of cash, securities or perhaps a gift from your IRA or donor-advised fund. But there are also potential benefits of doing so for you. A monetary gift may help you benefit from an income tax deduction. Giving stock or other appreciated investments to qualified charitable initiatives means you’ll avoid capital gains taxes. A gift of stock or other investments can lower both income and capital gains tax liability.

There are many ways to give—both now and in the future. Blended gifts use a variety of vehicles to create a strategy for giving that combines the strengths each one offers. And that can be beautiful music indeed, especially for those in need.

If you are exploring ways to make a significant gift to the Church’s mission in central and southern Indiana today and tomorrow, or would like to consider how a blended gift might help you give more than you thought possible, contact the archdiocesan Catholic Community Foundation at 317-236-1568 or ccf@archindy.org. We’re here to help.
 

(Kimberly Pohovey is the director of major and planned gifts for the archdiocese. Tax or legal information provided herein is not intended as tax or legal advice. Always consult with your legal, tax or financial advisors before implementing any gift plan. If you would like to learn more about including your parish in your estate plans, please contact us any time. We exist to exclusively serve you and your parish in planned giving.) †