How It Works:

With the help of your attorney, you can include language in your will or living trust specifying that a gift be made to Sojourner Truth House after your lifetime.

Through a bequest, you can give a specific dollar amount, a specific asset such as real estate, or the residual balance of your estate after all other commitments have been resolved.

You can also designate an area or program you want your bequest to support at Sojourner Truth House. Our experienced development officers will work with you to create a gift agreement that will ensure your wishes are upheld.

Benefits:

• You keep your assets during your lifetime.
• You could receive an estate tax charitable deduction.
• You can easily make changes to your gift if your circumstances change.

Sample Bequest Language

How It Works:

You can name Sojourner Truth House as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, IRA, donor-advised fund, or other retirement, investment, or bank account.

Simply request a new beneficiary designation form from your broker, banker, insurance agent, or other individual who helps with your account and send it back once you’ve completed it.

You can continue fully using your account and make changes or add new beneficiaries anytime. You can also designate whether a beneficiary will receive the full remainder of your account or a partial amount.

It is also important to inform Sojourner Truth House of your gift so we can ensure the funds will support the area of your choice after your lifetime.

Benefits:

• You continue to use your account as long as you need to.
• You don’t have to pay for any legal counsel.
• You reduce the burden of taxes on your family and could receive an estate tax charitable deduction.
• You can easily make changes to your gift if your circumstances change.

If you are looking for secure payments unaffected by fluctuating markets, a charitable gift annuity is a great answer for your philanthropic goals.

With fixed lifetime payments to you and future funds to benefit Sojourner Truth House, a gift annuity can meet your financial and charitable needs.

How It Works:

A contract between you and Sojourner Truth House, a charitable gift annuity can be created with a $10,000 minimum gift of cash or securities. In return, Sojourner Truth House provides fixed payments to one or two individuals for life.

After this time, the remainder of the annuity will benefit whatever area of Sojourner Truth House you wish. Individuals receiving payments must be at least 50, while the fixed payments will depend on the age of the recipient.

You can also choose to start receiving payments at a later date by creating a deferred gift annuity.

Benefits:

• Your payments are fixed on the date of your gift, so they will never change, even if interest rates or the stock market fluctuates.
• You can reduce capital gains taxes on appreciated assets used to fund the gift.
• You will receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction, and a portion of each payment may be tax-free for a period of time.

If you want your property to benefit Sojourner Truth House but still wish to use it during your lifetime, a retained life estate might be an ideal solution.

By transferring your deed to Sojourner Truth House while continuing to use the property and receiving a tax deduction, you can ensure your property produces maximum impact for both your and STH’s future.
 

How It Works:

You deed your home, farm, vacation residence or other property to Sojourner Truth House, with a provision that you can continue to use your property for the rest of your life and the life of your spouse or any other specified individual.

You will still be responsible for maintenance, taxes and insurance and can also receive any rent, agricultural proceeds or other income from the property.

After your and your spouse’s lifetimes, Sojourner Truth House will take ownership of the property and use or sell it to benefit the ministries according to your wishes. 

Benefits:

• You continue to use the property during your lifetime.
• You will receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction.
• You could receive an estate tax charitable deduction.
• If at some point you wish to terminate the life estate prematurely, there are three resulting options: You can contribute the remainder interest and qualify for an additional charitable income tax deduction; transform the property into an income-producing property and receive the income; or share in the proceeds of the property’s sale.

Cash

With a cash gift, you can give a lump sum or pledge a gift to be completed in five years. You can also give gifts of cash via check or credit card through our online giving system. You will receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction for your gift.

Gifts of Securities

Gifts of appreciated securities may offer better tax benefits than gifts of cash. Sojourner Truth House accepts gifts of publicly held stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Advantages of making a gift of securities include:

• A charitable income tax deduction for the fair market value of the gifted securities as of the date of the gift.
• Eliminating capital gains taxes that would ordinarily be due if you had sold the appreciated securities on the open market and donated the proceeds from the sale.
• Claiming your charitable deduction against up to 30% of your adjusted gross income. Any unused deductions can be carried forward over the next five years.
• Providing a way to help you achieve your long-term financial objective of reducing your income and estate taxes.

If you have securities that have declined in value over the years and are interested in donating them, you may find it more advantageous to sell the securities first and contribute the proceeds as opposed to donating the securities outright. This strategy should allow you to claim a deduction for both the loss from the sale of the securities as well as the charitable gift.

Is donating an IRA to charity tax deductible?

Because charities do not pay income taxes on the donations they receive, distributions to charities will avoid being taxed as income. Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets, such as your individual retirement account (IRA), is an excellent way to contribute to Sojourner Truth House.

How does a qualified charitable distribution work, and what qualifies as a charitable IRA rollover?

If you are over age 70½, you may give a gift from your IRA as a tax-free distribution to a qualified charity. This means an amount (up to $100,000 annually) transferred from your IRA directly to Sojourner Truth House can count toward your required minimum distribution without being considered taxable income for you. The deduction then lowers your adjusted gross income (AGI). The distribution, also known as an IRA Charitable Rollover, is authorized by Section 408(d)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code.

As a qualified charitable IRA rollover, the gift must be transferred from a traditional IRA directly to a qualified public charity like Sojourner Truth House and must be completed during the applicable tax year.

Sojourner Truth House must receive your gift by Dec. 31 for your IRA charitable distribution to qualify for that tax year.

Can Sojourner Truth House be the beneficiary of my IRA?

A beneficiary can be any person or entity, such as Sojourner Truth House, the owner chooses to receive the benefits of a retirement account or an IRA after the owner’s lifetime. Make your IRA part of your legacy, and learn more about legacy giving to see the special way we honor your generosity.

A beneficiary designation gift is an easy and flexible way to impact Sojourner Truth House and its mission.

Many retirement accounts pass to heirs with high tax burdens. Because Sojourner Truth House is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, we receive retirement assets tax-free, ensuring that the only thing your assets pass on is impact for future generations.

How It Works:

You can name Sojourner Truth House as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, IRA, donor-advised fund, or other retirement, investment or bank account.

Simply ask for a new beneficiary designation form from your broker, banker, insurance agent or other individual who helps with your account and send it back once you’ve completed it. 

You can continue fully using your account and make changes or add new beneficiaries at any time. You can also designate whether a beneficiary will receive the full remainder of your account or a partial amount.

Benefits:

• You continue to use your account as long as you need to.
• You don’t have to pay for any legal counsel.
• You reduce the burden of taxes on your family and could receive an estate tax charitable deduction.
• You can easily make changes to your gift if your circumstances change.