FCCF Quick Tips For 2019 Year-End Giving

December tips:

1. Review timing of your charitable gifts
With your advisor, discuss the optimization of charitable deductions considering your projected income level and tax rate this year and for future years.

2. Open or Add to a Donor Advised Fund
Transferring assets to create or add to a Donor Advised Fund at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation can allow you to receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction, generating tax benefits at the maximum amount allowed for gifts to public charities. The decision as to which nonprofit organization(s) you wish to support can be extended beyond the year of the gift.

Charitable funds at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to support your favorite nonprofits. And as a partner of the Community Foundation, you’ll have access to our nonprofit expertise and connections, and can receive personalized philanthropic guidance. To learn more about Donor Advised Funds and other ways to give, click here. Please click here for wire and securities transfer instructions.

3. Contribute from Your IRA
Individuals 70 ½ and older are permitted to exclude from income up to $100,000 when the distribution from their IRA is paid directly to the Community Foundation. IRA distributions to almost all types of funds at the Community Foundation—scholarship, field-of-interest and designated funds are eligible—for example. Distributions to Donor Advised Funds are not considered qualified charitable distributions eligible for the exclusion from income. For married individuals filing a joint return, the limit is $100,000 per individual IRA owner.

4. More savings with gifts of appreciated securities!
A gift of appreciated securities you have owned for over a year is often the most efficient way of contributing to the Community Foundation.You will be eligible to claim a federal income tax deduction equal to the fair market value of the securities on the date of the gift for up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income and avoid the tax on capital gain.

You can use this form to learn how to easily make stock transfers to Fairfield County’s Community Foundation as a gift to our Community Impact Fund, or to your or someone else’s existing Donor Advised Fund, or a Scholarship Fund.

5. Check your beneficiaries
Many people experience a significant life event and never consider the need to update their beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance policies. You might wish to consider adding a charity – such as your Donor Advised Fund or FCCF’s Community Impact Fund – as a partial beneficiary (5 percent or more) of your retirement account or life insurance for possible tax savings.

November tip:

The “Giving Power” of a Donor Advised Fund
Set up or add to the Donor Advised Fund you established with the Community Foundation for an immediate charitable income tax deduction and provide recommendations for grants to nonprofits. These charitable funds are easy to establish and one of the most tax-advantaged ways to support nonprofits. As a donor-advised fundholder of the Community Foundation, you can work with our knowledgeable, flexible and efficient community impact and philanthropic services staff to find innovative solutions to critical issues you care about — both here in our community and beyond.

Learn more about Donor Advised Funds at the Community Foundation here.

October tips:

Quick Tip for IRA Owners
If you are an IRA owner over age 70½, you may make a gift from your IRA directly to a qualified charity – including the Community Foundation. The maximum IRA charitable rollover gift is $100,000 per year. An IRA charitable rollover gift can help satisfy your required minimum distribution, reduce your taxable income, and further the work of a charitable organization such as Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.

You can designate your gift to the FCCF Community Impact Fund, our Fund for Women and Girls, The FCCF Center for Nonprofit Excellence (our nonprofit capacity building initiative), and other community impact-focused funds at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.

Greater Tax Savings With Gifts of Appreciated Securities
Many donors are surprisingly unaware that they can give shares of appreciated stocks or mutual funds and enjoy greater tax savings than with a comparable cash gift. If you have owned the securities for at least one year, your gift will not trigger any capital gains tax, regardless of how much the securities may have appreciated in value over time.

You can use this form to make stock transfers to Fairfield County’s Community Foundation as a gift to our Community Impact Fund, or to your existing Donor Advised or Scholarship Fund.

Year-end planning is an important ritual for many individuals who coordinate their tax preparation and charitable giving. Through creative gift planning, you may be able to do more for yourself with regard to tax planning and for the causes that matter to you.

As always, the staff at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is here to help you. Whether you have a question about a nonprofit in Fairfield County (or beyond), are interested in establishing a Donor Advised Fund or adding to your existing Donor Advised Fund, or would like to make a specific gift to support our Community Impact work , please don’t hesitate to contact:

Karen R. Brown, MPA, Vice President of Development and Philanthropic Services at KBrown@fccfoundation.org or 203.750.3203.

Scott Hunter, Director, Planned Giving & Philanthropic Services at SHunter@FCCFoundation.org or 203.750.3212.