Our Lady of Mercy Academy’s Fides, Mores, Cultura Legacy Society
Membership in the OLMA Fides, Mores, Cultura Legacy Society is available to all our constituents, including alumnae, parents of students, parents of alumnae, and friends. All that is required is the written expression of a willingness to consider including OLMA in one’s will. Known as planned giving, such a program enables prospective donors to explore sound and timely ways they can help meet their financial goals and maximize their philanthropic giving. The Fides, Mores Cultura Legacy Society is an important element in OLMA’s advancement program. Indeed, it represents a potentially large source of funds over the long term.
It should be clearly understood that membership in the Fides, Mores, Cultura Legacy Society does not imply obligation or commitment. Rather, it is simply a vehicle for people to apprise OLMA of their willingness to consider making a special gift, if they can. Gifts may include cash, securities, real estate, life insurance, unitrusts/charitable remainder trusts, annuity trusts, and bequests.
For more information or to become a member of the Fides, Mores, Cultura Legacy Society, call the Advancement Office at 516-921-1047 x 117.
Tax Advantages of Thoughtful Giving
Tax Deductions
Annual contributions to this campaign are fully tax-deductible (except in the instance of the IRA charitable rollover, further explained below).
Save as PDFIRA Charitable Rollover
In December 2015, Congress passed legislation making the IRA Charitable Rollover permanent. If you have an IRA and are aged 70½ or older, you may utilize the funds in your IRA to make a charitable contribution. When you do so, you may opt to transfer up to $100,000 per year to Our Lady of Mercy Academy. If married, and each spouse has an IRA, then each may gift up to $100,000. As a charitable gift, the transfer must go directly from your IRA administrator to Our Lady of Mercy Academy. The distribution is not reported as income, so there is no adverse income tax effect.
Save as PDFAppreciated Stock or Securities
If you have held stock outside a retirement account for one year or more and were to sell it, the proceeds of the sale would be subject to capital gains tax. However, you can avoid this tax by giving the stock directly to a charitable institution like Our Lady of Mercy Academy. When you do this, you are allowed to take a tax deduction for the full, current market value of the stock. As a charitable institution, Our Lady of Mercy Academy sells the stock immediately and pays no capital gains tax. This results in both a bigger deduction for you and a larger gift to Our Lady of Mercy Academy. To make a gift of stock, please instruct your financial advisor to contact the Advancement Office at (516) 921-1047 (ext.117).
Save as PDFBequests to non-profit institutions are exempt from estate taxation. Gifts may be made in specified dollar amounts or as a percentage of an estate. It is possible to bequeath cash, real estate, stocks, bonds, coins, etc. as they are formally documented through a letter of intent.
Whole or Universal Life Insurance Policies no longer needed for lifestyle protection may be gifted to charitable institutions like Our Lady of Mercy Academy for the cash or surrender value of the policy.
Retirement Plan Benefits that are not distributed to the plan’s owner during his/her lifetime may be subject to both estate tax and income tax upon the owner’s passing. To avoid this “double jeopardy,” consider gifting these assets to the Academy. Simply list Our Lady of Mercy Academy as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of all or part of your IRA or retirement plan benefits.
Charitable Trusts allow the donor to place funds in trust to benefit both loved ones and Our Lady of Mercy Academy. In the case of a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT), the donor places funds in trust, and the trust in turn pays a fixed dollar amount every year to a beneficiary (usually the donor) for life or for a set number of years. When the trust expires, the remainder becomes a gift to the Academy. Charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs) operate on the same principle, but instead pay a set percentage of the trust’s corpus each year to the donor/beneficiary. Charitable lead trusts, on the other hand, provide financial support to one or more charities for a set period of time (such as the lifetime of the donor), with the remaining assets eventually going to family members or other beneficiaries. Depending on how they are set up, charitable trusts can be powerful tools in retirement and estate planning and often carry significant tax benefit.
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