PLANNED GIVING
Planned Giving offers a variety of ways for alumni to make a meaningful donation to Bronx Science, while often providing different tax benefits and incentives to the donor as well. Often, the largest and most impactful gift alumni can make is through a planned gift. Learn more below about how you can make your legacy felt at Bronx Science. Please let us know if you are making a planned gift, so we can recognize your generosity and say thank you.
LETTER OF INTENT FOR AN ESTATE GIFT
If you’re planning your estate and would like to support Bronx Science, please print out and send the following letter of intent found here to Eleanor Coufos at Bronx Science:
Eleanor L. Coufos
Vice President of Strategy and External Affairs
The Bronx High School of Science Foundation, Inc.
75 Bronx Science Boulevard Bronx, NY 10468
718-817-7800
foundation@bxscience.edu
Ways to Give
A Gift Through Your Will or Trust
Your will or trust is a wonderful way to make gifts that support Bronx Science in the future. These gifts, known as bequests, are accomplished through a simple provision in a new will or trust, or through an amendment to your current plans.
Gifts may be arranged in several ways. You can:
· Give all or part of the remainder (what’s left) after gifts to loved ones are fulfilled.
· Provide a gift of a specific dollar amount.
· Designate a percentage of your estate be given to Bronx Science.
· Give a certain property, such as securities, real estate, or other items of value.
· Make a blended gift—a specific amount plus a percentage or all of the residue.
Sample Bequest Language
If you would consider including Bronx Science in your will or trust, here is some language you may want to share with your attorney:
Below is the correct identification of the organization and some suggested wording to include in your bequest designation.
The Bronx High School of Science Foundation, Inc.
TIN: 13-3763299
I give to The Bronx High School of Science Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization located in New York, New York, $ _____ (or _____ percent (%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate). These funds shall be invested as part of The Bronx High School of Science Foundation, Inc.’s permanent portfolio and in accordance with its policies. The monies are to be used by The Bronx High School of Science Foundation, Inc. to support _______. Should this program no longer exist or there not be a financial need at the time of the gift, the Bronx Science principal has discretion to use these funds in a way that best meets the school’s needs while still honoring the gift’s original purpose.
Please let us know if you plan to include Bronx Science in your will and we can help provide some ideas about how to direct your gift.
If you already have a will, your attorney can prepare a simple codicil to include a bequest to the Bronx Science.
Tax-free Gifts from Your IRA
If you are age 70½ or older, you can make charitable gifts directly from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) using funds that might otherwise be taxed when withdrawn (up to a total of $100,000 per individual per year; $200,000 per couple with separate IRAs).
Because most funds withdrawn from IRAs are considered income, your total taxable income is increased, pushing you into a higher tax bracket. Distributions directly to charity from your IRA will not, however, be included in your taxable income whether or not you normally itemize your charitable gifts and other deductible expenses. Such gifts can also count toward all or part of your annual required minimum distribution (which, as a result of the SECURE Act, now begin at age 72 for those turning 70½ in 2020 or later).
Retirement Plans
Millions of Americans take part in saving for retirement through Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s, Keoghs, and similar plans. You may find that after first providing for your loved ones, you can make a meaningful gift to Bronx Science from your retirement accounts.
When you leave the balance of a retirement account to your heirs, they must carefully manage the account to avoid losing its tax-deferred status and potentially triggering large income taxes and possible penalties. You can simplify matters for your loved ones by directing all or a portion of what remains in your retirement accounts to Bronx Science, leaving other more tax-favored assets to your heirs. Designating a charity as a beneficiary of a retirement account does not require you to change your will.
Simply ask the administrator of your plan for a Change of Beneficiary form. Designate one or more charitable interests as a beneficiary to receive all or a portion of your retirement plan assets under whatever conditions you stipulate.
Life Insurance
A life insurance policy can offer a convenient way to fund a meaningful gift to Bronx Science. For instance, you may own a policy no longer needed for its originally intended purpose, such as the payment of estate taxes. Or, you may have life insurance you purchased to protect children who are grown, support family members who have predeceased you, or fund now-completed educational plans. You may have a business policy, such as a buy/sell agreement, that is no longer needed.
This can be a convenient way to make a substantial gift in an affordable and tax efficient manner. Some ideas for using life insurance:
· Give a paid-up policy you already own by changing the owner and beneficiary.
· Buy a policy benefiting your heirs to replace assets you have given to Bronx Science.
· Purchase a life insurance policy on the life of another person.
· Assign policy dividends to Bronx Science to fund regular gifts.
Savings Accounts and Investment Accounts
In most states, you can name a charity as a beneficiary of a savings account or investment account. Check with your financial service providers for more information about making gifts in this manner.
Real Estate
A gift of real estate can be an excellent way to make a significant gift to Bronx Science. Marketable properties such as houses, farms, vacation homes, office buildings, undeveloped land, and rental property are typical choices. If you are considering a gift of real estate, please contact us.
Appreciated Securities
With the strong performance of investment markets in recent years, it may now be particularly advantageous to make your charitable gifts with securities. Many are surprised to learn they can make gifts of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and certain other securities that are worth more than they cost.
Gifts of appreciated securities often result in income tax savings and the ability to bypass capital gains tax that would be due if you sold these assets. Recent tax legislation fully retained the special tax benefits of giving securities. To enjoy the most favorable benefits, you must have owned the securities for more than one year.
Gifts of appreciated securities are deductible and can be used to eliminate tax on up to 30% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) in the year of the gift. Any unused deduction amounts may be used to help reduce taxes in as many as five future tax years.
If you own securities that are worth less than their original cost, it is usually better to sell them and make a charitable gift using the cash proceeds. You may then be able to claim tax benefits for both the capital loss and the charitable gift and effectively deduct more than the current value of the securities.
Donor Advised Funds
The rising popularity of donor advised funds (DAFs) means that more and more people have made contributions to them. If you have established a DAF account, please consider requesting a distribution to Bronx Science.
We would also welcome being designated the eventual recipient of funds from a terminating DAF or to be a beneficiary of endowment distributions.
To be sure we have the opportunity to thank you and share how your specific contribution makes a difference, please let us know the amounts and sources of funds you may be generously sending our way through a DAF.
Charitable Lead Trust
A charitable lead trust allows you to make a gift to Bronx Science using funds that will eventually be returned to you or your loved ones.
With a charitable lead trust, Bronx Science receives its gift in the form of immediate payments from the trust for a period of time in an amount you determine. At the end of that time period, the assets used to fund the trust are returned to you or other loved ones you designate (often to grandchildren). Because you devote income to charitable purposes, gift and estate taxes that could otherwise be due on gifts to your heirs can be reduced or eliminated.
We will be pleased to work with you or your advisor to explain how a charitable lead trust might meet your needs and help provide for the talented students at Bronx Science
Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder trust offers a way to make a gift to Bronx Science as part of your financial plans while first providing income for yourself and/or others. With the help of your advisors, a trust is created and funded with cash or other property. A trustee you choose then manages the property for you and/or other beneficiaries you name.
At the time the trust is created, you determine both the payment rate (minimum 5%) and when the trust will terminate. Charitable remainder trusts can pay either a fixed income or an income that will vary with the investment performance of the trust assets. Payments are made from the trust to you or others you name each year until the trust ends. The trust document specifies when you wish this to occur, such as at the death of the last beneficiary or at the end of a term of years not to exceed 20 years.
When the trust terminates, all remaining assets—the “charitable remainder”—would become a gift to Bronx Science. You are entitled to an immediate income tax deduction for the value of the gift portion and may receive capital gains tax savings in the year you create the trust.
Funding your charitable remainder trust with highly appreciated assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate can be especially beneficial. In addition to providing a substantial charitable income tax deduction, you avoid or substantially reduce capital gains taxes that would be owed if you sold those assets.
A Memorial or Honor Gift
You can arrange any of these gifts in memory or in honor of someone special, such as a spouse, family member, or other loved one.
Whatever your plans, Bronx Science would be honored to be included. Please contact us with any questions. Again, thank you for thinking of us.
Creston Avenue Society
The Creston Avenue Society, honoring the location of our first building, recognizes Bronx Science alumni who have made a planned gift to the school.
Members of the Creston Avenue Society are recognized in our annual report, invited to events and offered opportunities to connect with the school.
If your gift is $100,000 or more, please connect with us as you will also be recognized as a member of our Atomic 100, our most prestigious giving society, where donors receive their own element on our Periodic Table of Donors.