Type of Gifts

(For a quick, side-by-side comparison of these gift types, please click here. PDF reader required. Need one? Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader
Charitable Gift Annuities: A Charitable Gift Annuity, or "CGA," is a CONTRACT under which the Scottish Rite Foundation, Southern Jurisdiction, in return for a transfer of cash or marketable securities, agrees to pay the annuitant (s) a fixed sum of money for a period measured only by one or two lives. The fixed payments (called the "annuity") are set and unchanged for the term of the contract. A portion of the payments is considered to be a partial tax-free return of the donor's gift. The contributed property becomes a part of the charity's assets, and the annuity payments are a general obligation of the Scottish Rite Foundation, backed by the Scottish Rite Foundation's entire assets, not just by the property contributed. Remember also that you have the ability to name a local Scottish Rite Foundation as the remainder beneficiary of the charitable gift annuity.
Pooled Income Fund ("PIF"): A PIF is a trust in which a number of donors "pool" their gifts and receive their proportionate share of the earnings derived from the investment of all of the assets in the pool. To donate to the PIF, you irrevocably transfer funds or appreciated securities to the PIF (the PIF cannot accept real estate or tax-exempt property under IRS rules). Your contribution is combined with the assets given by all other donors to the fund and invested. You and any designated income beneficiary receive income payments from the PIF for their lives, based upon their allocated share of the dividends and interest earned by the whole PIF, exclusive of capital gains. In this respect, the PIF is similar to a mutual fund. Unlike a mutual fund, however, when the last income beneficiary dies, the charity receives any principal left in the donor's PIF account as an irrevocable gift.
Charitable Remainder Trusts: A Charitable Remainder Trust ("CRT") gives you, or people you designate in the CRT as income recipients, an income for life or a term of years (maximum of 20 years), and then gives the balance of the trust's assets to the charities of your choice. To create a CRT, you decide what you want to put into the trust; how much income you want to receive from the trust annually; and whether you want the income you receive to vary each year or to be a fixed amount. You also select a trustee, who can be a bank, an attorney, a CPA, or a trusted friend. There are two basic types of CRTs: the charitable remainder annuity trust ("CRAT"), and the charitable remainder unitrust ("CRUT"). A CRAT pays out the same dollar amount every year to the income beneficiaries (at least 5 percent and no more than 50 percent of the value of the property contributed to the trust), while a CRUT pays out a fixed percentage (at least 5 percent and no more than 50 percent) of the fair market value of the trust's assets, revalued annually. You can make additional future contributions to a CRUT, but not to a CRAT.
Bequests: You can leave a gift of cash or property or a percentage of your estate to the Supreme Council's charities in your will. By amending your existing will (i.e., making a codicil) or by writing a new will, you can name a Scottish Rite Foundation as the beneficiary of a percentage of your estate or of a specific amount of money or property. An attorney can help you draft the will or codicil. Since state laws regarding how to make a will or codicil differ, you need to talk to an attorney in your state to make sure your will or codicil will be valid in that state.
Life Insurance Policy: You also can donate a life insurance policy to your local or national Scottish Rite Foundation. If you have a whole life policy, for example, you can assign the policy to a Scottish Rite Foundation and get a charitable deduction for the assignment. The Foundation becomes the owner and beneficiary of the policy, and the amount of the policy is removed from your estate. If you continue to pay the premiums of the policy for the charity, you get a charitable deduction for the amount of the premium payments.
Pledges: Through the Scottish Rite Pledge Program, an individual may pledge to donate to the Supreme Council's charities or to the local Scottish Rite foundation a certain sum per year for a period of up to five years or may make a pledge that will be satisfied through a specific bequest in the donor's will or living trust. If you make a pledge, the Supreme Council will recognize you according to the Scottish Rite Donor Recognition Program for the full amount of that pledge at the time you make the commitment rather than when it is fully paid.
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