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United Methodist Church Endowment
YOUR GIFT MATTERS

Make a Lasting Impact—Now and Beyond Your Lifetime


When you include United Methodist Church of New Lenox (UMCNL) as part of your legacy, your generosity enhances our mission to bring God into the lives that follow us. Thank you for ensuring United Methodist Church of New Lenox can continue to serve our generations to come. Consider creating a planned gift. Thoughtfully structured planned gifts are uniquely powerful in sustaining and growing UMCNL’s ability to spread the word of God to future generations, while often affording exceptional financial and tax benefits to our planned giving donors. This material is intended to provide a basic exposure to the many ways you might consider giving to UMCNL Endowment. Creating an estate plan that includes planned giving can be a complicated process. Click on any of the topics you are interested in to learn more about this giving method.  We strongly advise that you seek the help of a qualified attorney, tax advisor or other financial professional(s) who can help develop a plan that meets your specific estate planning goals.

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Ways you might consider giving to UMCNL Endowment
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​Legacy Giving:  Estate Planning Essentials: 7 Key Steps
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​Resources - Attorneys and Financial Advisors 
Bequests Through a Will or Living Trust

Giving through a will or living trust is one of the most flexible ways to support the UMCNL Endowment Fund. It allows you to make contributions that may not have been possible during your lifetime, but you can leave a legacy gift of your choice by designating a specific property or cash amount. It can be:
 
  • A fixed dollar amount, Certificate of Deposit, or any Cash equivalency.
  • A percentage of your estate
  • Real Estate, securities, etc
  • The balance of your estate after all expenses are paid.

The benefits of making a Bequest are you can leave the kind of lasting legacy for UMCNL ministries that you desire, lessen the tax burden on your family and you may receive an estate tax savings. Bequests in wills and living trusts may be modified, if your circumstances change, during your lifetime. However, because it is a legal document, an attorney should be consulted to make any modifications.
Personal Property 

Vehicles, coins, antiques, artwork, jewelry and other collections are some examples of personal property that can be donated to the UMCNL Endowment Fund.  You can name the church as the beneficiary of these items in your will or estate plan.  Upon transfer, the Endowment Committee could sell the property, and the funds would be used to carry out its mission and leave a lasting legacy for you.  The church would not be subject to
capital gains tax on the transfer and no gift tax return will be required. 

Retirement Plan Assets, IRA  

Donating, or bequeathing, an IRA or other retirement assets, such as a 401k or 403B, can be a tax-smart planning strategy.  By designating the church as the beneficiary of these accounts, the full value of the account is available to UMCNL Endowment.  If left to other beneficiaries, they will be subject to tax on the distribution and could pay as much as 60% or more in taxes.  You would need to contact your account or asset administrator to designate the beneficiary to make sure the proper designations are in place.  This will ensure your plans are carried out as you intend.  

You can also use your IRA to make a donation to the Fund during your lifetime.  This is called a qualified charitable contribution, or QCD.  This allows individuals to fulfill their required minimum distributions, RMD’s, by direct transfer of the funds to the Endowment Fund.  This may help you avoid higher tax brackets and phaseouts of other deductions on your tax return. 

Charitable Remainder Trust

A Remainder Charitable Trust is a financial structure to set up your assets to benefit you, your beneficiaries and the UMCNL Endowment fund – all at the same time. Investment assets, such as money or property, are placed into a trust that provides current income to you, the donor/beneficiaries for their lifetime or for a specified period. The Trust (CRT) is an irrevocable trust that at the end the remaining assets will go to the UMCNL Endowment Fund.

With the CRT you can secure your financial future, support the UMCNL Endowment Fund and receive multiple tax benefits. However, as with any investments, there are risks and benefits with a Charitable Remainder Trust that should be considered with the advice of a financial professional and attorney.
Securities

Publicly traded securities include stocks, bonds, preferred shares and ETF’s that are marketable and liquid. A gift of securities can be one of the most advantageous ways to support the UMCNL Endowment Fund. A gift of appreciated securities held for more than one year typically generates an income tax deduction at the market value of the securities. For example, if you paid $5,000 for a stock that is now worth $10,000, you can avoid paying capital gains tax on the appreciated $5,000 in value, by using the security as a gift. For those desiring help in selling securities, the Midwest Methodist
Foundation offers assistance through their website at midwestmethodist.org or by calling 312-803-4801.
Real Estate

Your real property includes parcels of land and any structures permanently attached to the land. This real property may be given to UMCNL Endowment by executing a deed to transfer ownership. Your gift will generally be based on the property’s fair market value at that time, as established by an independent, qualified appraiser. If you would like to leave your home or land to UMCNL but would also like to receive a current charitable income tax deduction today, a life estate reserve might offer the solution. You deed your real property to the church with the right to use it for the rest of your life. You pay the property insurance and taxes and keep the property maintained. At the end of your life, your home will belong to UMCNL Endowment, to be used or sold to further the mission of the church.
Donor-Advised Funds
 
A Donor-advised Fund (DAF) is a great way to simplify your charitable giving and to benefit any qualified charitable organization, i.e. the UMC of New Lenox Endowment Fund. You make an initial, irrevocable gift of cash or stock, which is tax deductible. You are actually the advisor on the investment of the funds and on the timing of the distributions to the qualified charities, in that you may make gifts of any size or no gift at all for each year. Meanwhile, the gifts will grow tax free while in the fund. You will also receive an income tax deduction for the years of any subsequent additional gifts. When you pass, your heirs may recommend charitable gifts from your DAF. The startup time, costs and tax reporting are usually minimal for establishing such a fund.
Cash

One of the easiest and most common ways to support UMCNL Endowments is with a cash gift. A cash gift can be made by check, credit card or by initiating an automatic transfer from your bank account. This type of donation will usually result in a Federal Income Tax charitable deduction when you itemize your taxes. A cash gift can also be initiated by changing the beneficiary designation to UMCNL Endowments on a savings account or a certificate of deposit. Upon your death, the balance in those accounts will be transferred to UMCNL Endowments. Prior to your death, you retain and have total control of all the funds in those accounts and are free to use the money as you wish, change the beneficiary or close the account. It is important to identify all such cash gifts as contributions to UMCNL Endowments.
Life Insurance

Life insurance is another easy method of donating to UMCNL Endowments. There are a few options on how you can donate life insurance.

- You can name UMCNL Endowments as the beneficiary on a new or existing life insurance policy. You would still own the policy which gives you access to any cash value while you are living and gives you the option to change the beneficiary if you so desire. Of course, you must continue to pay the premiums to keep the policy in force.

- Rather than changing the beneficiary of your policy, you can change ownership of an existing policy to UMCNL Endowments which would receive a tax-free payout when you die. You may be eligible to take a charitable contribution tax deduction for transferring ownership of the policy.

- Another option if you want to receive a charitable contribution tax deduction, but don’t want to transfer ownership of your permanent life insurance policy is to have the current year dividends directed to UNCNL Endowments. Any accumulated dividends may also be transferred. In both cases the base life contract stays in place.
Charitable Gift Annuity

A Charitable Gift Annuity is established with a contract between a donor (you) and a charity (UMCNL Endowments) with the following terms: A donor makes a gift to a charity using cash, securities, or other assets. In return, the donor is eligible to receive a fixed stream of income for the rest of their life. In addition, the donor may be eligible to take a partial tax deduction.

Under the terms of a Charitable Gift Annuity, when you make a gift to UMCNL Endowments it is set aside in a reserve account and invested. Based on the amount of the gift and your age at the time the gift is made, you receive a fixed monthly or quarterly payout (typically supported by the investment account) for the rest of your life. At the end of your life, UMCNL Endowments receives the remainder of the gift. The amount of the income provided to the donor is determined by the size of the gift that is made and the life expectancy of the donor. UMCNL Endowments uses the Midwest Methodist Foundation to underwrite its annuities. When considering a Charitable Gift Annuity, consulting a tax professional and/or an attorney is recommended to obtain the best advice for your particular situation.
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