There are many opportunities to support the College of Public Health, including through outright gifts, securities, real estate and planned giving. For additional information, contact Larry Rubin.
Outright gifts can be used immediately to make a dramatic impact on major areas of need for CPH. Many such gifts may bear the name of the generous donor or the names of those the donor wishes to honor. An endowment fund perpetuates one's support of CPH. The principal of your gift is left intact while the generated interest income provides permanent support of a College of Public Health program, department, activity or facility. With endowed gifts, the income is either directed to areas where additional funds are needed, or is designated for particular activities or programs of interest by the donor. As with outright gifts, endowment funds, and the programs or facilities they support, may carry the name of the donor or someone the donor wishes to honor or memorialize.
By contributing appreciated long-term securities, stocks or bonds that are now worth more than their tax cost, you can make a gift whose value exceeds its original cost. The donor assigns the securities to Temple University, which then sells them. The donor receives a tax deduction based on the value of the securities on the date of transfer. CPH receives the cash and the donor benefits through a significant tax savings. Not only can the donor deduct the full market value of the securities, but he/she also avoids paying capital gains tax on the appreciation. If the deduction is larger than can be used in one year, the donor can assign the surplus as deductions for up to five additional years.
Subject to the approval of the University a donor can contribute real estate. Although there are important tax implications that must be reviewed carefully by the donor's legal or tax counsel, both the giver and the College of Public Health can obtain important gains. All gifts of real property are handled on a case-by-case basis. A qualified appraisal of the property will be requested. It is assumed that Temple will not necessarily hold on to the real estate; rather, it will be sold, as the University would follow through with securities. Capital gains considerations will be discussed according to specific federal and state guidelines.
Temple can accept gifts by bequest. Charitable bequests are attractive to many people because they reduce the size of a taxable estate and thus also reduce estate taxes. There are several types of bequests a donor can make to support CPH. For example, a donor can make an outright bequest of a specific dollar amount or asset, or a residuary bequest that is part of the estate that remains after other distributions are made.
Life Income Trust: Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust
If an individual would like an assured income (at a fixed amount) for him/her and (if applicable) their partner, with the organization benefiting after both lifetimes, a donor may establish an Annuity trust, with College of Public Health named as the recipient of the remainder at the end of the trust. The amount of annual income from a Charitable Remainder Annuity trust is fixed at the time the trust is established, so the contributor will receive the same amount of income each year. The individual or partners will receive that income for life, and receive substantial tax deductions. If a couple has established the trust, when either dies, the survivor will get the income and estate taxes will be reduced. The school will benefit by the charitable remainder, which will become a permanent charitable fund in the name of the donor(s) on the death of the last income beneficiary, or for a term of no more than 20 years.
Life Income Trust: Charitable Remainder Unitrust
A donor may recognize that the fixed income approach might buy less and less and therefore looks to have the income grow over the years. In setting up a special trust, the donor will arrange for a Unitrust instead of an Annuity trust. The donor can specify that a percentage (not less than 5%) of the trust's assets are paid to the donor each year for life, instead of a fixed number of dollars. If the assets grow, the donor's income grows, too. It is possible to add to the Unitrust at any time. Charitable Lead Trust A donor may more adequately provide for his/her children, even though estate taxes will take a big share out of what remains, through a Charitable Lead trust. The donor contributes part of his/her estate to the trust now, and the income goes to the unrestricted fund (or any other type of fund) for a designated period of time. The donor's estate taxes are reduced, leaving more property for children or grandchildren. When the trust terminates, the assets go to their benefit. College of Public Health benefits during the years of the trust, and the donor's family will receive much more than they would otherwise.
Pooled Income Fund
Modest gifts could be made to a pooled income fund. The fund adds the donor's cash or securities to the gifts of others. The donor receives a proportionate, variable share of the income of the fund. The donor receives tax benefits, and at the end of the lifetime of all designated beneficiaries, the gift passes to the school.
Life Insurance
A donor can combine estate planning and charitable giving by buying a life insurance policy that names Temple University College of Public Health as beneficiary. Or, the donor can transfer ownership of an existing policy. In this way, the donor can perpetuate his/her/family name or that of a loved one, while helping CPH. Naming Temple as owner and beneficiary of a new policy entitles the donor to a tax deduction for contributions made to pay the premiums. Transferring an existing policy provides the donor with a deduction equal to either the total value of paid premiums or the cash value of the policy, whichever is less.
Charitable Gift Annuities
Based upon an agreement between Temple and the donor, a gift annuity purchased from Temple offers the donor, and any successor beneficiary, fixed payments for life, with the remainder passing to the School as a charitable gift. Charitable gift annuities may be funded with cash or securities. The donor's tax deduction and the annuity rate are based upon the ages of the named income beneficiaries. In most cases, a portion of the annuity income may be tax-free.
Gifts of Retirement Plans
Donors may designate CPH as the full or partial beneficiary of their qualified retirement plans, or as a contingent beneficiary. A combination of estate taxes, income taxes and generation-skipping taxes can consume a high percentage of a retirement plan account, however, charitable designations from this plan can yield significant estate and income tax savings.