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Online Tools Personalize Gift Benefits – Encouraging Word – July 2017

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Online Tools Personalize Gift Benefits

With the help of planned giving vendor PG Calc, WELS Foundation has updated its website with online tools to help users personalize the benefits of different giving options:

  • The Explore Gift Options tool walks the user through several questions to help them find the best gift for their personal situation.
  • The user can Run a Personalized Gift Illustration for a tailored diagram of any gift.
  • As a person navigates the WELS Foundation site and reads about certain gifts (for example, the charitable gift annuity) they can click to view a specific illustration for that type of gift and personalize the illustration to their situation.

As always, if somebody is interested in learning more or would like assistance with making a gift, WELS provides Christian giving counselors at no cost or obligation to help WELS members carry out their charitable goals.

WELS Foundation executive director Jim Holm hopes prospective donors find the tools useful. He says, “We want to make it as easy as possible for those supporting WELS ministry—their church, synod, or another WELS organization—to explore the options available.”

Helpful Hint – Encouraging Word – November 2015

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Illustrate Planned Giving with WELS Foundation’s Gift Guide

As you encourage stewardship among members, don’t forget to let them know about planned giving opportunities including estate planning and other options for supporting the Lord’s work and family while receiving tax benefits.

Direct people to WELS Foundation’s online Gift Guide either by providing the URL (http://giftguide.wels.net) or linking to it from your website. The gift guide provides an overview of options for supporting your church, regional WELS ministries, or the synod through a planned gift—and even lets people calculate benefits according to their personal situations.

Downloads

IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

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For anybody 70.5 years or older, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is a great option for making gifts to the Lord’s work at church, a local WELS-affiliated ministry, and/or a WELS area of ministry.

Typically IRA distributions are taxable, but, for anyone 70.5 or older, qualified distributions from an IRA to charity are free from federal and potentially state income tax. Consider directing IRA distributions to WELS to save on taxes, then using the cash you would have given for other needs. The rollover to charity counts toward satisfying the required minimum distribution for anyone 73 and older.

You and your spouse, assuming he or she is 70.5 years or older and has an IRA, may each make direct transfers of up to $105,000 per year to charity. Rather than being treated as taxable income, direct transfers to charity are wholly excluded for federal income tax purposes. These transfers do not generate a charitable deduction, but the relief from tax impact is often more advantageous. Consult your tax or financial advisor to determine the most appropriate gift assets for your situation.

You can also make a QCD of up to $53,000 (out of the annual limit) into a charitable gift annuity in one calendar year. You and your spouse can each distribute up to $53,000 from your IRAs in one year for a CGA. A CGA provides you and/or your spouse with fixed quarterly payments for life. Then, after the donor goes to heaven, the remainder of the gift goes to the ministries you choose. Consult your tax or financial advisor to determine how appropriate this option may be for you.

Contact the investment firm that handles your IRA to request a direct transfer of IRA assets to a WELS ministry. The custodian typically provides the appropriate paperwork (or you can download an authorization letter template below). To ensure that your IRA distribution is not taxable, the check must be made payable to the charity, not to you personally.

You can give to multiple WELS ministries by directing your IRA distribution to WELS Foundation. WELS Foundation will distribute funds to the ministries per your instructions and provide you with the proper gift acknowledgment letter.

If interested, talk to your financial planners and your local WELS Christian giving counselor to learn more.