Planned Giving

Planned giving is the process of designating a gift now to be allocated at a future date. These gifts can be granted during your lifetime or after death via will, trust, or beneficiary designations.

We are honored to help you to consider the life-changing benefits that your gift of cash, stock, insurance, or other bequests can have on current and future generations of community members living with muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases.

Gifting Options

• Stock Gifts
• Donor-Advised Funds
• Qualified Charitable Contributions
• Bequest Provision Within Your Will or Trust
• Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designation
• Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation
• Charitable Remainder or Charitable Lead Trust
• Family Legacy Society

Stock Gifts

Donating stock directly is one of the easiest and most tax-smart ways to give. By donating appreciated stock held for more than a year, you’re actually giving up to 20% more than if you sold the stock and then made a cash donation. 

The reason why is simple: avoidance of capital gains taxes. Plus, you’re still able to deduct the full fair-market value of the asset you donated on your income taxes (up to allowable IRS limits).

Donor-Advised Funds

Donor-advised funds allow for ease and flexibility in your charitable giving to MDFF and other not-for-profits. You make a gift that’s immediately tax-deductible in the year of donation, but then recommend grants to MDFF (or other charities) at whatever future date you prefer.

In the interim, the assets in your donor-advised fund can be invested as you wish for growth. You can also add to your fund at any time. This is the closest thing to establishing a private family foundation without any of the administrative burdens or costs.

Qualified Charitable Contributions

A qualified charitable contribution is a direct transfer from your IRA to MDFF (or another charitable organization) that can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distribution for the year. 

Unlike regular withdrawals from an IRA, a qualified charitable contribution excludes the amount donated from your taxable income. There are annual maximums and other rules that apply. Please consult your tax advisor or us for more details.

Bequest Provision Within Your Will or Trust

Perhaps the simplest way to leave MDFF a planned gift is to make a bequest for a gift within your will or living trust. You can contribute a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or the residual of your estate. We can help to provide you with sample language for a bequest.

Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designation

Another easy and effective way to give is to designate MDFF as a beneficiary of retirement funds held in your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc. As with other beneficiary designations, you can typically select a specific dollar amount or a percentage.

Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation

Similar to retirement accounts, a beneficiary designation determines who will receive the death benefit from your life insurance policies. You can name MDFF as the partial or full charitable beneficiary of one of your policies.

Charitable Remainder or Charitable Lead Trust

In transferring assets to a charitable remainder trust, you receive an immediate tax deduction as well as an income stream from the trust for either a term of years or your lifetime. Upon completion of the trust term, any remaining assets will pass to MDFF. 

These trusts can be structured to reduce or avoid capital gains taxes associated with the gifted assets as well as remove the assets from your taxable estate. Charitable remainder trusts also offer the flexibility to elect to receive your annual payments as a fixed dollar amount (an annuity trust) or as a variable amount based on a percentage of
the fair market value of the trust assets (a unitrust).

By comparison, a charitable lead trust would distribute income to MDFF for a predetermined period of years or for your lifetime. Then, upon completion of the chosen term, the remaining assets return to you or your surviving family members.

Charitable lead trusts are a highly effective way to make a meaningful gift while also ultimately transferring assets to family members with little or no gift and estate tax.

---

When considering gift planning strategies, we always recommend consulting with your financial, legal, and tax advisors as part of the decision process.