Planned gifts are charitable donations one chooses to make through long-term financial planning and strategies. Therefore, they are not limited to bequests or gifts of life insurance policies. While traditional charitable contributions, such as one-time cash donations, remain essential, planned giving allows you to structure your philanthropy and take it to a whole new level. Here’s how planned giving and its advantages stand out:

  • A Lasting Impact Beyond Your Lifetime

Unlike one-time donations, planned giving enables you to build a legacy that will endure  beyond your lifetime. Your generosity will continue to benefit the causes you care about for years to come, allowing you to leave your mark and enable a sustainable and lasting impact.

  • A Process Tailored to Your Objectives

Planned giving provides a high degree of flexibility. You can customize your approach to align with your own values and long-term goals. Whether you want to establish a scholarship fund, support a specific community project, or create a new revenue stream for a charitable organization, planned giving allows you to modulate your philanthropy as you see fit.

  • Optimized Tax Benefits

Planned giving can offer more substantial tax benefits compared to traditional donations. Depending on the chosen vehicle, you may be eligible for deductions that can significantly reduce your taxable income, leading to immediate savings. In many cases, those deductions can also be transferred to your estate, thus benefitting your family and loved ones. Each case is different; be sure to work with a tax professional to make the most out of these benefits and optimize your financial and estate planning.

  • Diverse or Complex Asset Contributions

Planned giving can be achieved through the donation of a wide range of assets, including securities, real estate, life insurance policies, or even private equity or flow through shares. This versatility allows you to maximize the value of your contributions while simplifying the process of giving.

  • A Sustainable Source of Support

By combining planned giving with the establishment of an endowment fund, the latter can generate sustainable and predictable revenue for the organizations or causes you have chosen to support. This is especially valuable for nonprofits that cannot count on other sources of stable, long-term funding.

In summary, planned giving offers a strategic approach to philanthropy that allows you to leave a lasting legacy, to align your donations with your personal goals, to optimize the type of assets you want to give and the tax benefits stemming from them, and create a sustainable source of income for the organizations you care about. The advantages stemming from planned giving allow you to give back but also to give forward, by building a philanthropic heritage reflecting your values and your commitment to your community.

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