Estate / Planned Giving

A Charitable Gift Annuity yields generous fixed payments for life. If you are 65 or older, a Charitable Gift Annuity can yield tax deductions and pay you high interest income every month for the rest of your life. The payments will never change and will continue for your lifetime. You are entitled to an income tax deduction in the year of your gift. In addition (for a period of time), a portion of each payment may be free of income tax or may be taxed at a capital gains rate. The amount used to fund the gift annuity may be free from gift and estate taxes.

A Charitable Unitrust is a document drawn up by a donor’s attorney whereby cash and securities are then transferred to that trust.

Charitable Lead Trusts are designed to reduce the estate tax burden on your heirs. A Charitable Lead Trust this is a planning tool permitted by federal gift and estate tax laws that allow donors to fund a trust which provides a stream of income to CAMO for a single-year term. At the end of the term of trust, the remainder of the trust passes to the donor’s heirs.

Donations of retirement account assets are among the most tax-smart gifts you can make to CAMO. If you choose to contribute all or part of these assets to CAMO, our status as a nonprofit organization means that we can use 100 percent of your gift to support our lifesaving work.

A life insurance policy may provide a way for you to make a much larger contribution to CAMO’s lifesaving initiatives – more than you ever thought possible:

• Name CAMO as the recipient of all or part of the proceeds of a life insurance policy.
• Contribute a paid-up policy during your lifetime.
• Purchase a new life insurance policy in which you name CAMO as owner and beneficiary or co-beneficiary.

Assets through Payable/Transfer-on-Death gifts can be directed to CAMO from your estate and bypass probate.

When you donate collectibles, rare books, coin or stamp collections, jewelry, artwork, electronics, office equipment, automobiles or more routine household items that were owned more than one year, you can claim a full deduction for the fair market value of the property if the items are used in connection with CAMO’s main activity or tax-exempt purpose.  If CAMO sells the donated tangible personal property item, your deduction is limited to your costs basis in the property (what you paid for it, rather than its appreciated value).

Gifting real estate – including homes and commercial property – to CAMO makes sense when:

1. The property in question has significant long-term appreciation, and
2. The property is relatively easy for CAMO to liquidate.

You must obtain a qualified appraisal for the real estate that is contributed during the tax year. With real estate, you can also donate a remainder interest, in other words, you can donate your house (or farm) and reserve the right to live there for your lifetime.

At a young age, you can start your retirement planning to supplement existing retirement assets. A DGA is most beneficial to donors who already have made the maximum contributions to their existing retirement plans. If you are 50 years old for example, you can plan for retirement by opening a Deferred Gift Annuity. This will give you an immediate tax deduction, and by the time you are 65, you will earn income as high as 12.8% a year. At age 65, you will be paid a fixed amount of income on a regular basis. Part of this gift qualifies for an immediate income tax deduction which will reduce your current taxes. The full value of the gift is removed from your estate. The younger you are, the larger the tax-deductible portion of the gift. Part of the annuity payment may be received as tax-free income.

Many donors create Deferred Gift Annuities on an annual basis to build retirement assets. The donor may name a joint and successor beneficiary who will receive the annuity at the end of the donor’s lifetime, beginning on the date of the donor’s 65th birthday or thereafter.