Planned Giving
Planned gifts provide resources that create extraordinary opportunities and preserve our future while also achieving your own financial objectives.
You can make a gift by:
- Providing a bequest in your will
- Adding SHARE as a beneficiary of your:
- Frequently asked questions
We encourage you to consult with your legal and financial advisors when considering a planned gift.
Please let us know if you have included SHARE so we can thank you and list you as a member of the Legacy Society.
Contact Leah Cooper, Development Director, at lcooper@sharecancersupport.org or 212-937-5584 (direct line).
Bequests and Trusts
You can leave SHARE money in your will in several ways:
- Specify a dollar amount.
- Designate a percentage of your estate to be given through your will or living trust.
- Give only what is left after all your bequests to loved ones have been made (the "residual").
- Provide for a gift of stocks or other securities.
- It is also possible to name SHARE as a contingent beneficiary of your estate in the eventuality that your named beneficiary is no longer alive at the time your will is probated.
Sample bequest language:
"I give and bequeath to SHARE: Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer, presently located at 165 West 46th Street, Suite 712, New York, NY 10036, the sum of $___, to be used for breast or ovarian cancer support."
Federal Tax ID # 13-3131914
If you have any questions about making a bequest or establishing a trust, please call Leah Cooper, Development Director, at lcooper@sharecancersupport.org or (212) 937-5584.
If you don't need help in your planning and do include SHARE, please let us know so we can thank you, and list you as a member of the Legacy Society.
We encourage you to consult with your legal and financial advisors when considering a planned gift.
SHARE is a member of Community Health Charities and a 2016 Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
Retirement Accounts
Name SHARE as Beneficiary
If you would like to make a gift to SHARE, naming SHARE as a beneficiary of a retirement account is potentially very beneficial for both you and your heirs.
Contributions to an IRA or other qualified account have been growing tax-free within the plan over the years.
- If left to an individual, these funds may be subject to both estate tax and income tax, thus greatly reducing the amount of money your heir will actually receive.
- If the funds are left to a charity like SHARE, these taxes are usually avoided, often resulting in a larger gift than you might otherwise be able to make.
All you have to do is to name SHARE: Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer as your sole or partial beneficiary on the form available from your retirement plan's administrator. You retain complete control over the funds or assets in the account while you are living, and these gifts are completely revocable.
Make a Charitable Gift During Your Lifetime
The law allows people 70 1/2 years of age or older to make a total maximum gift of $100,000 to one or more qualified charitable organizations directly from an IRA -- without incurring taxes that a withdrawal typically entails. Gifts must be made directly to the charity and may not be given to donor advised funds, private foundations, or supporting organizations.
The information that should be included about SHARE is:
SHARE
165 West 46th Street, Suite 712
New York, NY 10036
Federal Tax ID # 13-3131914
If you do make SHARE a beneficiary, please let us know so we can thank you. Just contact Leah Cooper, Development Director at lcooper@sharecancersupport.org or 212-937-5584.
We encourage you to consult with your legal and financial advisors when considering a planned gift.
SHARE is a member of Community Health Charities and a 2016 Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
Life Insurance
Life insurance policies are an easy and often overlooked way to make a significant charitable gift. There are a number of ways to support SHARE's many programs with an insurance-related gift:
Make SHARE a beneficiary
It is simple to change the beneficiary/beneficiaries of your insurance policy without changing your will or other aspects of your estate plan. Just ask your insurance company for a form that will allow you to make SHARE a beneficiary of some or all of your insurance policy. You retain complete control over the funds or assets in the account while you are living, and these gifts are completely revocable.
The information that should be included about SHARE is:
SHARE
165 West 46th Street, Suite 712
New York, NY 10036
Federal Tax ID # 13-3131914
Give a paid-up policy
Do you have a paid up policy that has outlived its intended purpose, such as protecting a child or a mortgage? You can donate the policy to SHARE.
We will then surrender the policy for its cash value. You receive an immediate income tax deduction for the gift of the policy up to the cash basis, or what you paid for it.
Make SHARE the owner and beneficiary of a new policy
You can take out a new policy and make SHARE the owner and beneficiary of the policy. Premium payments are tax deductible. They can either be made by SHARE from your annual contribution for this purpose or you can pay for the policy directly. This process enables you to make a manageable annual tax-deductible payment that provides a significant contribution to SHARE when the policy matures.
The information that should be included about SHARE is as follows:
SHARE
165 West 46th Street, Suite 712
New York, NY 10036
Federal Tax ID # 13-3131914
If you do make SHARE a beneficiary, please let us know so we can thank you. Just contact Leah Cooper, Development Director at lcooper@sharecancersupport.org or 212-937-5584.
We encourage you to consult with your legal and financial advisors when considering a planned gift.
SHARE is a member of Community Health Charities and a 2016 Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
Bank and Investment Accounts
You have the option to leave instructions with your bank or investment institution naming a beneficiary to receive the contents of any account upon your passing. These are sometimes known as "payable on death" or "transfer on death" accounts.
All you have to do is complete a form provided by your financial institution. You do not have to change your will or work with an attorney or an accountant. There are no fees to arrange such a gift. You retain complete control over the funds or assets in the account while you are living, and these gifts are completely revocable.
The information that should be included about SHARE is as follows:
SHARE
165 West 46th Street, Suite 712
New York, NY 10036
Federal Tax ID # 13-3131914
If you do make SHARE a beneficiary, please let us know so we can thank you. Just contact Leah Cooper, Development Director at lcooper@sharecancersupport.org or 212-937-5584.
We encourage you to consult with your legal and financial advisors when considering a planned gift.
SHARE is a member of Community Health Charities and a 2016 Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
Frequently Asked Questions about Planned Giving
Generally speaking, during your lifetime you can make an outright gift of cash, securities or other property (e.g., real estate, personal property).
Through your will or with a distribution from a retirement plan or life insurance policy, your gift can be designated to SHARE in accordance with your wishes.
You have the option of making a gift that returns income to you, your spouse, or other individuals, such as a charitable remainder unitrust or annuity trust.
Your tax benefits will depend on several factors: the type of gift, the time at which it is made, whether it is outright or deferred or has any income payments. In general, though, here are some guidelines:
- Outright gifts to SHARE generate a full income-tax charitable deduction. Outright gifts of appreciated securities are deductible at fair market value, with no recognition of capital gains -- a great tax benefit!
- Gifts of personal property, like art, books and collectibles, are fully deductible so long as they are relevant to our mission. We can advise you on this point.
- Bequests do not generate a lifetime income tax deduction. They are exempt from estate tax.
- Similarly, life insurance distributions to SHARE are not income-tax deductible, but are exempt from estate tax. If you have made us the irrevocable owner and beneficiary of a policy during your lifetime, you may deduct annual gifts that offset premium payments (for more details on this point, see Question 4 below).
- The charitable deduction for a gift that returns income to you, such as a charitable remainder trust, is the fair market value of the gift asset minus the present value of the income interest you retain.
No. The IRS would not consider that a "completed gift" -- they'd say that, as the owner of the policy, you could change the beneficiary designation to a friend or family member. We must be made the irrevocable owner of the policy for gifts offsetting premium payments to be deductible.
Qualified retirement plans such as IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), and Keoghs allow individuals to defer paying taxes on a portion of their income until the assets are withdrawn during retirement years. However, after a person's death, these accounts are often exposed to income and estate taxes, at a combined rate that could rise to 75% or even higher on large taxable estates. The tax will be paid at some point -- by your estate and your heirs unless contributed to charity. In other words, by giving retirement assets to charity you receive double benefits. Your estate and heirs will not be taxed on the portion that goes to charity and you will support SHARE!
The IRS requires that donors of artwork and collectibles secure an independent appraisal of the items to establish fair market value. The appraisal has to be related to the gift, too -- an insurance appraisal won't suffice. We can assist you on this point.
Your planned gift is a significant addition to our long-term financial strength and our ability to meet the challenges and opportunities the future will bring. However, today's efforts are supported through annual gifts and we greatly appreciate and encourage any annual support you may want to consider.
SHARE is a member of Community Health Charities and a 2016 Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
