Planning a Gift

There are many ways in which a donor can contribute to the Hospital, for example, life income gifts and bequests, which carry on the donor’s legacy into the future. Following are descriptions of some of the planned giving strategies available to you at HSS. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss these options in further detail, as we would be happy to help you select the gift plan that would be most suitable for your lifestyle.

Charitable Gift Annuity

If you wish to contribute to the Hospital and receive a predetermined amount of income each year for the rest of your life, you can arrange a charitable gift annuity with HSS. Similar to a traditional annuity, the income you receive never fluctuates. The rate depends upon your age when you begin receiving payments. Donors who are sixty-five years or older find that gift annuities favor them with excellent returns. A portion of the annual income is tax-free for most or all of your lifetime, and you receive an immediate income tax deduction upon making the gift. HSS eventually receives the remainder of the annuity.

Bequests

The most common planned gift is a simple bequest. Gifts through wills have been an essential component of the Hospital’s endowment. Individuals are typically able to make a larger gift to a charitable organization than they thought possible by making a bequest. You may bequeath a particular asset, a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate or all or part of your residual estate. Because bequests are revocable and can be altered as the need arises, your lifestyle and future financial security are unaffected by a will provision.

Charitable Remainder Trust

If you prefer to be involved in the management of gift assets and like having investment flexibility, you can establish a Charitable Remainder Trust. You choose the trustee, the length of time you receive income and whether you receive a fixed or variable amount of annual income. Either way, you select the rate of return, as long as it meets or exceeds the legal minimum of 5%. The return should take into consideration the number of beneficiaries, their ages, and the size of the trust. Your attorney creates the trust document, you transfer assets to the trust, and your trustee invests the assets according to your plan. You will receive an immediate income tax deduction, as well as other savings based on the assets you contribute.

Charitable Lead Trust

If you wish to preserve assets for yourself, your children, or other heirs and still make significant contributions to HSS, you can establish a Charitable Lead Trust. The opposite of a Remainder Trust, a Lead Trust provides income to HSS for a specified period of years, then returns the assets to you or your heirs at the end of that period. This is an excellent way to fund an annual gift with the knowledge that your assets will be returned to you at the end of the trust. Charitable Lead Trusts are often used as gift strategies by individuals who wish to pass large estates to their heirs in a tax-advantaged way.

Retirement Plans

If you feel you may be accumulating funds in your retirement plan beyond your needs, you may wish to consider naming the Hospital as a beneficiary of the plan for any unused amounts. Assets remaining in these plans are unusual in that they are taxed twice when left to individuals other than your spouse, often leaving only about 30% of the original amount. The Hospital would generally have use of 100% of the original funds if named beneficiary, and your heirs would derive greater benefit from other assets not subject to double taxation.

Life Insurance

If you have a paid-up policy that has outlived its purpose or you would like to make a sizable gift on an installment plan, you should consider naming the Hospital the owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy. On an existing policy with a cash surrender value, you can gain an income tax charitable deduction, as well as a deduction for premiums paid after ownership has been transferred to the Hospital. All the premiums on a new policy could be claimed as a charitable contribution.

Pooled Income Fund

A charitable version of a mutual fund, the HSS Pooled Income Fund enables donors to pool their gifts for investment purposes in a professionally managed fund. When you make a gift to the Hospital’s Pooled Income Fund, you can earn income at rates that may be more attractive than the return you currently receive from cash or low-yielding securities. Your share of all income earned by the Fund is paid to you quarterly for your lifetime. The Hospital ultimately receives your share of the Fund’s principal as your gift. When you invest in the Fund, you receive variable income based on the amount of your contribution and market conditions.

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