Charitable Gift Annuities

Charitable gift annuities are an extremely flexible way to make a gift while providing fixed payments for life—payments you can NEVER outlive. They are designed to provide steady payments for 1 or 2 people (usually a donor or donor and spouse). They are simple to create and can be funded with gifts of $10,000 or more. Additional, subsequent charitable gift annuities can be established with a gift of $5,000 or more. You must be 65 years of age or older to begin receiving payments.

Here’s how a charitable gift annuity works with the Jane Goodall Institute:

1. You irrevocably transfer cash or other assets to JGI. This involves completion of a simple agreement and can normally be handled easily by mail.
   
   
2. You’ll receive generous fixed payments regularly (most people choose quarterly payments) that will never vary in amount. The amount is based on the recipient’s age when the gift is made.
   
   
3. You will be entitled to an immediate income tax charitable deduction. In addition, part of each payment is tax-free for your life expectancy.
   
   
4. If desired, you can also choose to name another person (typically a spouse, parent or sibling) to receive payments with you, instead of you, or following your lifetime for the remainder of his or her life.
   
   
5. The assets used to fund your gift annuity will generally be removed from your estate for tax purposes.
   
   
6. You make a significant charitable gift.

Many choose to fund a new gift annuity agreement each year. Since payment rates increase with age, each gift annuity generally brings larger annual payments.

When appreciated property such as stock, mutual funds, or other securities is given for a gift annuity, part of the capital gains tax that would normally be due on its sale can be avoided at the time of the gift. Only part of the gain will need to be reported over the annuitant’s life expectancy. The charitable deduction is normally based on the current value of the gift.

The use of appreciated, low-yielding assets to fund a gift annuity can thus be an excellent way to completely bypass capital gains tax at the time of your gift. Using such assets also allows you to enjoy a current charitable tax deduction and delay payment of capital gain taxes on a portion of each payment.

Click HERE for a current gift annuity rate schedule.

JGI currently does not offer charitable gift annuities in the following states: AR, CA, HI, NY.

For any planned gift, please consult your own financial advisor. For more information concerning your estate planning and JGI, please contact Jessica Lindenfelser, Director, Gift Planning, at 703-682-9292 or jlindenfelser@janegoodall.org.