Estate planning and planned giving
Planned giving, also referred to as gift planning or estate planning, is a donor’s intention to contribute a planned gift to an organization beyond their lifetime. This is often a continuation of the donations an individual or couple has made while living.
Types of planned gifts
The DAV Guardian Society honors patriotic supporters who have chosen to help keep our promise to America’s veterans by making a special legacy gift to DAV. When you become a Guardian Society member, you will help ensure over 1 million veterans each year can access the benefits they have earned, attend medical appointments, receive critical assistance during natural disasters, find meaningful employment and successfully transition into civilian life. To show our appreciation, Guardian Society members receive branded Guardian Society items in our thank-you kit shortly after letting us know their plans.
Will and trust gifts
This is a gift through your will or trust for a percentage of your estate, a specific dollar gift, a contingent gift or a residual gift. If you already have a will or trust, your attorney can add a bequest at minimal cost by using a simple codicil or amendment. This can be done by adding some simple language outlined below.
For an unrestricted gift that allows DAV to determine how to use the funds based on the most pressing needs, use the following language for your will and/or trust:
“I give to Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit corporation currently located at 860 Dolwick Drive, Erlanger, KY 41018 (tax identification number 31-0263158), or its successor thereto, [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted charitable use and purpose.”
Language for a designated purpose can be found at davplanmygift.org under Free Guides & Resources.
Charitable gift annuities
Once you reach the age of 60, this is a type of gift that can provide you and a loved one with regular income for life. With your transfer of $10,000 or more, the DAV Charitable Service Trust promises to pay you (and a second annuitant, if you choose) fixed payments, with rates based on your age, for the rest of your life. The donor can also claim a charitable income tax deduction. Payments and tax advantages are based on age; the older you are, the higher the payments and the tax benefit. After the beneficiaries’ lifetime, the remaining principal becomes a gift to the Trust.
Not 60 years old yet? You can request information for a deferred gift annuity. With a deferred gift annuity, you establish the gift annuity today, receive a charitable income tax deduction this year and defer the payments until a designated date sometime in the future. With this gift option, because you deferred the payments, your annual payment will be higher when the payments start than they would have been with a current gift annuity.
Financial accounts, life insurance and retirement policies
With a simple change-of-beneficiary form from your bank, financial investment firm, insurance company or retirement plan administrator, you can name DAV as a full or partial beneficiary of such assets. Use our legal name and address: Disabled American Veterans, 860 Dolwick Drive, Erlanger, KY 41018. Enter our tax identification number 31-0263158 at the appropriate EIN or Social Security number line.
You will receive some significant benefits through a beneficiary designation gift:
- Continue to support DAV, a mission that you care about.
- Continue to use and have access to your account as long as you need to.
- Reduce the burden of taxes on your family.
- Receive an estate tax charitable deduction.
Charitable remainder trusts
If you have built a sizable estate and are also looking for ways to receive reliable payments, consider a charitable remainder trust. This is another gift plan that benefits DAV in the future while you receive an ongoing income and significant tax savings. You can fund a charitable remainder trust (CRT) with a variety of assets, such as cash, real estate and highly appreciated stocks. The Trust then sells the assets and reinvests in a diversified portfolio that pays variable or fixed income to you and/or other individuals.
There are two ways to receive payments, and each has its own benefits:
The annuity trust pays you each year the same dollar amount you choose at the start. Your payments stay the same regardless of fluctuations in trust investments.
The unitrust pays you each year a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments is redetermined annually. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. If the value decreases, however, so will your payments.
After the funder’s lifetime, the remaining value of the portfolio becomes a gift to DAV. Advisers suggest funding a CRT with a minimum of $100,000 in assets to help offset expenses incurred in the creation and management of a CRT.
Memorial and honorary gifts
You can personalize any of these gifts to pay lasting tribute to a friend or loved one. Just let us know the individual’s name when you inform us of your special gift.
Anonymous gifts
Please let us know if you have completed one of these gifts but prefer anonymity.
Find out more by visiting davplanmygift.org; contacting a gift planning expert at
800-216-9802, then press 1; or emailing [email protected].
