Types of Planned Gifts

Lifetime Gift Giving is considered by many Christians to be an important dimension of their support of kingdom causes.

Stewards Fund

Barnabas Foundation's donor-advised fund is one of the best ways to maximize and simplify your charitable giving. The Stewards Fund allows you to make a single gift to Barnabas Foundation and decide later how you want to distribute the funds to your favorite charities. You receive an immediate tax benefit and have plently of time to determine which charities you want to support.

You can establish a Stewards Fund account by contributing a number of different types of assets. There is no set-up fee for this account and you may gain other tax benefits as well, depending on the asset(s) you contribute.

Stewards Fund Benefits

  • Select from a number of different assets to accomplish your charitable giving
  • Time your gift to gain the greatest tax advantage
  • Support more than one charity form a single gift
  • Avoid capital gain tax on contributions of long-term appreciated assets

Lifetime Income Agreements

With a Life Income Agreement, you make a charitable gift of cash or other property and receive an immediate tax deduction while receiving an income for life, with the remainder going to your favorite Christian causes at the time of your death.

Charitable Gift Annuity

A Charitable Gift Annuity is a contract between you and a charity that provides guaranteed fixed payments for life. You receive a charitable deduction at the time of funding the Charitable Gift Annuity, and the annual payment percentage is based on your age at the time the gift is made. In addition, a portion of each payment is tax-free. At death, the charity receives the balance of the annuity.

A Gift Annuity can be created for an individual or a married couple. Payments are then arranged for either the life of the individual or for the lives of both a husband and wife. The annuity rate for couples is somewhat lower than the rate for a single person.

Barnabas Foundation issues Charitable Gift Annuities for the support of its member organizations. An advantage of using Barnabas Foundation for your Chairtable Gift Annuities is that distributions can support more than one charity.

Gift Annuity Benefits

  • A fixed income to you for your lifetime
  • Immediate income tax deduction for the charitable value of the Gift Annuity
  • A portion of the annual income payments you receive is tax-exempt, resulting in a higher effective rate of return
  • Money in a Gift Annuity is not generally included in your estate for tax purposes

Gift Annuity Rates

Effective through June 30, 2010.

Single Life

Two-Life

Effective on July 1, 2010.

Single Life

Two Life

Remember that these are maximum rates. Donors can always request a lower rate, get a bigger charitable deduction and help their favorite charities even more.

Charitable Remainder Trust

A Charitable Remainder Trust is an arrangement which provides for payments to you for life or a specified period of years. At the end of the trust term, the remaining balance in the Trust is distributed to qualified charities of your choice. You recieve a charitable tax deduction at the time of the gift to the Trust.

Unlike Charitable Gift Annuities, you select your annual payout at the time the Trust is created. The minimum percentage selected must be at least 5%. The maximum allowable percentage depends on your age or the term of the Trust.

If an appreciated asset such as stock or real estate is given to charity, prior to sale, it will yield a charitable deduction based upon the current fair market value of the asset.  By giving an appreciated asset to a CRT, you will receive a payout based on the full value of the property placed in the CRT, without any reduction for taxes that otherwise would have been paid it you sold the property and the net after-tax proceeds were invested.

An alternative to establishing a CRT during your life is to provide an income interest for children or grandchildren after your death through the use of a CRT. This type of gift can be utilized to reduce the death tax in your estate while providing an income to family members on a portion of your estate.

Charitable Remainder Trust Benefits

  • Annual payments to you for your lifetime or a term of years
  • Immediate income tax deduction based upon the value of the remainder interest of the Trust
  • The remainder interest which passes to charity is not subject to estate tax
  • If funded with appreicate assets, you avoid the immediate realization of capital gain tax

Charitable Trusts must be administered according to a set of strict IRS requirements. Because Barnabas Foundation has the expertise to provide this service, we often serve as Trustee for Charitable Trusts.

Christians use Planned Gifts from their estate to further support kingdom causes that are important to them. To help evaluate your options, we've created a complete chart of Planned Giving Options which identifies income and tax implications, along with benefits to you and your favorite charities.