Gifts of securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds can be made to the church. The procedure for donating them is simple and can provide a tax benefit to the donor. Selling securities that have appreciated in value generally results in long-term capital gains tax if the security has been owned for more than 12 months. A gift of long-term (held over 12 months) appreciated securities help avoid the capital gains tax. In addition, the gift gives the donor who itemizes deductions an income tax charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the securities (up to 30% of adjusted gross income). For more information, contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111.
You may wish to make Evergreen Community Church the beneficiary (or one of the beneficiaries) of a life insurance policy as a way to make a sizeable future gift to the church. You retain lifetime ownership of the policy, keeping the right to cash it in, borrow against it, and change the beneficiary. Because you retain ownership of the policy, you will not receive an income tax charitable deduction for this future gift or for your premium payments during your lifetime. However, the policy will be included in your gross estate and your estate can take an estate tax charitable deduction.
You may wish to transfer ownership of a policy to Evergreen Community Church or purchase a new policy with Evergreen Community Church as owner and beneficiary. If you make Evergreen the owner and beneficiary of a policy, you are entitled to certain tax advantages when premium payments are made. For more information, contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111.
Another way to make a sizeable future gift to Evergreen Community Church is to choose to designate either a certain percentage or specific dollar amount of your estate to the church in a will or bequest. For more information, contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111.
Using funds from a retirement account to make a bequest to Evergreen Community Church is another way to make a future gift. If there is a balance in your retirement account at your death, not only is there a potential income tax burden but there may be estate taxes as well. By designating Evergreen Community Church as a beneficiary (it can be a contingent beneficiary after the death of a spouse) the remaining retirement funds pass to the church free of taxes. It is possible to set up the beneficiary of the entire remaining funds in the account or to establish a percentage to fund the bequest. For more information, contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111.
There are many ways to donate property. It can be an outright gift, a retained life estate, or placed in a trust. In any case, while we can discuss some generalities here about donating real estate, if you are considering such a gift to Evergreen Community Church, please contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111 to discuss its suitability.
In addition to making a significant gift, there can be other benefits to you from donating a gift of property:
There may be a charitable income tax deduction that would lower your income tax. If your property has appreciated in value since you acquired it, there might be a large capital gains tax that would result if you sold it.
By donating the property, you may be able to avoid realizing the capital gains. Depending on state regulations, you may be able to turn the property into a gift that is structured to provide income for you and a beneficiary.
If the property is your home or farm, you may be able to make a gift of it now and continue to live in it for the rest of your life and receive tax benefits the year of the gift. If the contribution from your property exceeds the allowable charitable deduction limits, the deduction may be carried forward for five years.
Some people have items of value such as automobiles, boats, rare instruments, valuable jewelry, valuable artwork, etc. that they want to donate to Evergreen Community Church as a gift. It is very difficult for the church to accept and handle gifts of this type. To simplify the process, we ask that the donor take responsibility for having the item(s) appraised and sold. The donor can then make a monetary gift to the church based on the proceeds from the sale of the item(s). For more information, contact Jim Bird at 952-895-0887 ext. 111.
Some people have items like computer equipment, office equipment, furniture, etc. that they want to give to Evergreen Community Church. Decisions about accepting the gift and how the gift will be used are governed by church policy as outlined below. Please note that our policy does not allow the donor to designate the gift to a specific ministry within the church.
For gifts valued at less than $1,000, pastors at the church location where the gift was given will decide if the gift will be accepted and how it will be used.
For gifts valued between $1,000 - $4,999, the budget leaders from each church location and the Finance Director will decide if the gift will be accepted and where and how it will be used.
For gifts valued at $5,000 or greater, the Board of Trustees of the church will decide if the gift will be accepted and where and how it will be used.