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Ways to Give
Your gifts to The New
York Bar Foundation make an important difference
in helping to support charitable and educational
law-related endeavors throughout New York
State. Charitable contributions to The New
York Bar Foundation are tax deductible,
as allowed by law. Listed below are some
of the ways that you can give:
Click here
to make a donation online.
GIFTS OF CASH
A gift of cash is the
easiest way to give to The Foundation. Make
your check payable to THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION
and mail to:
The New York Bar
Foundation
One Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
Or call Foundation headquarters
at 518/487-5651 to give your gift through
your credit card. You may give an unrestricted
gift to be used for general purposes or
you may direct your gift to one or more
of our Restricted Funds. Please click here
to go to our Restricted Funds page for further
information.
Charitable contributions
of cash are fully income tax deductible
up to a maximum of 50% of your annual adjusted
gross income, with a five-year carryover
of any unused deduction.
WHEN RENEWING YOUR NEW YORK
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP
The New York Bar Foundation
is grateful to those members of the New
York State Bar Association who contribute
to The Foundation by including their gift
when paying annual membership dues. All
members of the New York State Bar Association
are encouraged to include a charitable contribution
to The Foundation when paying your membership
renewal dues each year. Your voluntary tax-deductible
charitable contributions help The Foundation
to award grants throughout New York State
to fund charitable and educational law-related
programs that facilitate the delivery of
legal services, improve the justice system
and the law, increase public understanding
of the law, and enhance professional competence
and ethics.
IN
MEMORY OF A LOVED ONE OR COLLEAGUE
You can give a charitable
contribution to The New York Bar Foundation
as a fitting and lasting tribute to a deceased
loved one or colleague. The family of the
deceased will receive an acknowledgement
of your gift, although the amount of your
contribution will not be specified.
All lawyers, in whose
name contributions are made, will be listed
in a Foundation Memorial Book maintained
at the New York State Bar Center in Albany.
In addition, the names of deceased members,
in whose memory bequests or contributions
in the amount of $1,000 or more are made,
will be permanently inscribed on a bronze
plaque mounted in Memorial Hall facing the
lovely courtyard at the Bar Center.
Such gifts will also be acknowledged in
the Foundation’s Annual Report.
TO HONOR A LOVED ONE OR COLLEAGUE
Oftentimes there are occasions
when you would like to do “something
special” to celebrate a special occasion
for a loved one or colleague. Making a contribution
to The New York Bar Foundation in honor
of a friend, colleague or loved one on a
special occasion is a fitting way to acknowledge
the occasion and to support law-related
charitable and educational programs. Examples
of such occasions might include: the anniversary
of a firm, the promotion of a colleague,
receiving a special professional honor or
passing the bar exam.
The honoree will receive
an acknowledgement of your gift, although
the amount of your contribution will not
be specified. In addition, such gifts will
be acknowledged in The Foundation’s
Annual Report.
THROUGH CORPORATE OR FIRM
MATCHING GIFTS
Corporate or Firm Matching
Gifts are an important way for you to maximize
personal contributions to The New York Bar
Foundation and will increase the impact
of your gift. By taking advantage of a company’s
Matching Gift Program, you may be able to
double or even triple the amount of your
contribution.
How
to get your gift matched
Each company has its own guidelines for
employees, spouses and retirees but most
Matching Gift procedures are very simple
and usually include the following steps:
- Request a Matching
Gift Program form from the Human Resources
Department or other appropriate department
at your company or firm.
- Complete and submit
the form to The New York Bar Foundation
along with your gift.
- The Foundation verifies
your gift and sends the form to the
proper institution.
- The institution issues
a Matching Gift contribution to The
New York Bar Foundation.
Completed forms should
be sent with your check to:
The
New York Bar Foundation
One Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
GIFTS OF SECURITIES
The New York Bar Foundation
welcomes your gifts of securities including
stock, bonds and mutual funds. A gift of
appreciated securities (owned for more than
one year) generally offers a two-fold tax
savings because you avoid paying capital
gains tax on the increase in value of the
asset and you receive a charitable deduction
for the full fair market value of the asset
at the time of the gift. Gifts of appreciated
securities are fully income tax deductible
up to a maximum of 30% of your adjusted
gross income, with a five-year carryover
of any unused deduction.
Please contact Rosanne
Van Heertum, Foundation Director of Development,
at rvanh@tnybf.org
or 518/487-5650 to transfer securities in
certificate form or electronically through
your brokerage account.
GIFTS OF OTHER APPRECIATED
ASSETS
Gifts of appreciated assets
such as a home, farm, land, vacation or
second home may also be contributed to The
New York Bar Foundation. By contributing
this type of asset, you can possibly avoid
paying capital gains tax and receive an
income tax charitable deduction for the
full fair market value of the property.
You (and your spouse) may wish to continue
to live in or use your home or other asset
after contributing it to The Foundation.
If you follow Internal Revenue Code rules
a life estate can be established to accommodate
your wishes at the time of your contribution.
GIFTS
OF LIFE INSURANCE
You can donate to The
Foundation a newly purchased life insurance
policy or a life insurance policy that you
own and no longer need. By designating The
New York Bar Foundation as the owner and
beneficiary of the policy, you will receive
an income tax charitable deduction of the
current cash value of the policy. If you
continue paying the premiums on the policy
after the gift is made, the premium payments
will be income tax deductible each year.
GIFTS OF RETIREMENT PLANS
You may designate The
New York Bar Foundation as the survivor
beneficiary to your qualified retirement
plan including your IRA, Roth IRA, 401K,
403B or other type of retirement plan. When
passed to beneficiaries other than a spouse,
retirement plan assets are subject to greater
taxes than other estate assets including
federal and state estate taxes as well as
income taxes. These taxes can claim a high
percentage of the plan’s assets.
When you designate The
New York Bar Foundation as the survivor
beneficiary of you retirement plan, your
gift becomes exempt from estate tax, income
tax and generation-skipping transfer tax.
When giving a gift of this type to The Foundation,
you may consider designating other lesser-taxed
assets for your loved ones.
GIFTS THROUGH A CHARITABLE
REMAINDER TRUST
As part of your estate
plan, you may wish to make an irrevocable
transfer of cash, securities or other property
to The Foundation to establish a Charitable
Remainder Annuity Trust or Charitable Remainder
Unitrust whereby you and/or a loved one
would receive payments for life or for a
period of up to 20 years. The remaining
assets would then be distributed outright
to The Foundation for general use or for
a restricted purpose that you designate
when establishing the trust.
GIFTS THROUGH A CHARITABLE
LEAD UNITRUST
You may wish to transfer
cash, securities or other property to The
Foundation to establish a Charitable Lead
Unitrust whereby during its term, the trust
pays a percentage of its value each year
to The New York Bar Foundation. When the
term of the trust ends, its remaining assets
pass to the beneficiaries you have named.
Under certain circumstances,
you are allowed a charitable income tax
deduction when you establish a Charitable
Lead Unitrust while protecting asset growth
for your family. You may also transfer additional
assets to the trust during its term. Take
into account this valuable financial instrument
to support The New York Bar Foundation as
you consider your estate planning options.
GIFTS THROUGH A BEQUEST
Naming The New York Bar
Foundation in your will is a simple and
easy way to give to The Foundation. You
can bequeath a specific dollar amount, a
percentage of your estate, the remainder
of your estate or the remainder of a trust
to The Foundation. You may direct your gift
for use for general purposes or for a particular
purpose (either by establishing a Restricted
Fund or by contributing to an existing Restricted
Fund of The Foundation). The minimum amount
required to establish a new Restricted Fund
is $10,000.
Your bequest to The New
York Bar Foundation will reduce the size
of your taxable estate and can reduce estate
taxes.
Sample wording:
"To The New York
Bar Foundation, I leave
the sum of $50,000 to be used at the discretion
of The Foundation."
“To
The New York Bar Foundation, I leave the
sum of $50,000 to be used to establish a
Restricted Fund in the name of John A. Smith
and restrict its use to provide funding
for legal services to the indigent.”
THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION
LEGACY SOCIETY
You can become a member
of The New York Bar Foundation Legacy Society
by designating a minimum $1,000 bequest
to The Foundation in your will or by establishing
a planned gift with The Foundation.
Click here
to download the Legacy Society
form
Please contact Rosanne Van Heertum,
Foundation Director of Development at 518/487-5650
or rvanh@tnybf.org
for more information or to arrange a meeting
to further discuss your planned gift.
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