Planned gifts or giving offers you the opportunity to receive exceptional tax benefits while providing SNAP Cats the resources to save more special needs cats’ lives for years to come. Gifts can be made through a variety of tax-saving vehicles designated for a specific purpose or for SNAP Cats to use where needed the most.
There are many options when approaching planned gifts, each offering its own set of benefits for your financial wellbeing as well as for our special cats in the long term. Below is a summary of the most common and popular planning gifts programs. Please ask your financial advisor or estate attorney which will be the greatest benefit for you.
1. Bequest in Your Will – Working with your estate planning attorney, you can designate an amount or a percentage of your estate as your bequest gift. The gift will come to SNAP Cats tax free and may provide your estate with an estate tax deduction. SNAP Cats will receive your gift once it has passed through a court probate process, or you can set up a living trust through your attorney to avoid probate (as noted in #2 below).
2. Bequest in Your Trust – The same as bequest in your will, but you are able to avoid probate of your bequest. This typically requires the assistance of an estate attorney.
3. Donation of Life Insurance – Donating a partially or fully paid life insurance policy provides you with a current charitable income tax deduction. You can also keep the policy and simply change the beneficiary designation to SNAP Cats.
4. Beneficiary Designation on a Tax-Deferred Account – This is very simple to do and can be done any time. It does not require the assistance of an attorney.
5. Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) – If you are 70 years-old or older, you can transfer money from your traditional IRA or Roth to SNAP Cats. Those funds will not be added to your adjusted gross income on your taxes, and can count toward your IRA’s required minimum distribution (RMD).
6. Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) – A gift of Assets establishes a trust and names SNAP Cats as ultimate beneficiary. You receive tax benefits during your lifetime and retain the income generated from assets given to the trust.
7. Charitable Lead Trust – A trust is established as for the CRT above, but income from the trust is donated to SNAP Cats during your lifetime. After you pass, the trust assets pass to your heirs without further tax to them.
8. Donor Advised Fund (DAF) – An account held by a non-profit sponsoring organization, such as a Community Foundation, that you contribute your tax benefitted charitable funds, administers the funds, investing and distributing them according to the direction of the donors.
Thank you for supporting SNAP Cats through Planned Gifts. You are helping us sustain our long-term mission – to rescue and save as many special needs cats as possible.
If you have any questions regarding Planned Gifts, please contact our Executive Director, Darryl Roberts, at darryl@snapcats.org or 707.836.6000.