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Year-end is a great time for giving. When you make a donation by December 31 to the Academy Foundation, you aren't just making a monetary contribution – you’re perpetuating your own values and those of the Academy Foundation’s—together we can prevent avoidable blindness and severe visual impairment through public service and education.
Here are six tips to help you make the most of your year-end giving:
- Talk to your advisor.
Before making any significant gift to the Academy Foundation, or to any other nonprofit for that matter, you should have your CPA, attorney, or other advisor help you understand the impact of your gift on your income tax return and estate.
- Do your giving early
This is especially true if you want to make a gift of non-cash assets (stock, real estate, etc.). It also applies to life-income gifts (gift annuities, trust arrangements, etc.).
- Calculate your income.
Take the time to do some planning while you still have the opportunity to make a year-end gift. Try to get a handle on your tax liability for the year. Did your unearned income increase? Did you sell any appreciated assets? Will you owe more taxes? This alone may motivate you to increase your giving before December 31.
- Review your stocks.
Look at the stocks you have held for more than a year. Which ones have appreciated the most? It may be prudent for you to make your year-end gift using one or more of these stocks. Here's why: If you sell the stock, you will incur capital gains tax on the appreciation. However, if you gift the stock you get a charitable deduction for the full amount of the stock, just as you would if your gift was made with cash. And if you can't use all of the income tax charitable deduction resulting from the gift, you;can carry it forward for up to an additional five years. Such gifts are deductible up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income.
Click here for Instructions for Electronic Gift Transfers of Securities
- Contact the Development Office
For additional information contact Karen Ito, Development Manager, at kito@aao.org or 415.447.0356.
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