Planned Giving

The Ivy Society

The Ivy Society honors donors who have provided for the support of SPSG with a planned gift. The Ivy Society includes alumnae, parents, parents of alumnae, grandparents, current and former faculty, trustees, and friends of the school. Their gifts represent a variety of planned gifts including bequests, gift annuities, retirement plan assets, life-income arrangements, charitable remainder and lead trusts, and life insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Planned Giving

Q: What is planned giving?
A: Planned giving is a strategy that allows you to make a gift that offers a tax benefit to you and provides for current or future needs of the school. Planned gifts include bequests, retirement account assets, charitable gift annuities, gifts of property, and life-income arrangements.

Q: Why is planned giving such a smart philanthropic strategy?
A: Planned giving takes advantage of favorable US tax laws to benefit both the donor and the institution. In many cases, a planned gift can actually increase the income that a donor receives from a particular asset. Planned giving often allows individuals to become major donors, providing gifts that dramatically impact the school.

Q: Is planned giving only for the very wealthy?
A: No. In fact, one of the benefits of planned giving is that it allows a donor to make a legacy gift that might otherwise be impossible to do with cash. Regardless of gift size, tax benefits and some life income arrangements often make a much larger gift possible than originally thought.

Q: What is the easiest way to leave a legacy to St. Paul’s School for Girls?
A: The most straightforward planned gift is a testamentary bequest - the inclusion of the school in your will. A bequest allows you to:

• Leave a significant legacy to the school
• Protect a portion of your estate from estate tax
• Hold on to all of your assets for the rest of your life
• Adjust your plans if your circumstances change

To make a bequest to St. Paul’s School for Girls, please ask your attorney to include the following language in your will:

Bequest Language: I give, devise, and bequeath to St. Paul’s School for Girls, a Maryland nonprofit organization located at 11232 Falls Road, Brooklandville, Maryland 21022, (state percentage of estate, residue, or sum of money or other assets or property) to support the general purpose of the institution.

Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity (or CGA) can serve the needs of many donors who wish to give, but may be reluctant to do so because of worries about their own financial needs and those of their loved ones.

Charitable gift annuities are simple contracts between the donor and the school. They can provide you and/or others with income for life or for a term of years. To make a gift annuity, you transfer cash or other property to the school. In exchange, SPSG pays you a specific amount of income each year during the remainder of your life (and/or another beneficiary). Unlike the allowance limits to contribute to an IRA, you can place as much into your annuity as you like. Rates of interest are traditionally higher than those offered by financial institutions. SPSG’s current policy requires a minimum of $5,000 for any annuity agreement.

In addition to receiving payment for life, you are entitled to a charitable income tax deduction for the gift and a portion of the payment you receive is generally tax free for many years. Older donors generally want payments to begin immediately. Younger donors - those in their fifties and sixties - can defer receiving payments to a future time and thus receive a higher rate. The amount you receive from a gift annuity depends on your current age at the time of the gift and when you want payments to begin.

Benefits of Charitable Gift Annuities include:

• You receive an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of your gift.
• Your annuity payments are guaranteed for life.
• A portion of your annuity payment is tax free.

Retirement Plan Assets

You can leave the school a part of or your entire retirement plan by naming SPSG as a partial or full beneficiary of your plan. Retirement plan assets are more highly taxed than most other assets in a person’s estate plan. If left to your family members, they may receive less per dollar in the plan than they would from another asset. Accordingly, when you are arranging your financial affairs in your estate plan, it is often wiser to have charitable gifts such as bequests to the school made payable out of your retirement plan assets rather than other assets. It will mean a greater net estate for your family beneficiaries.

Personal Residencies

Donors may make a gift of a personal home, vacation home, or farm to SPSG and continue to sue them for the remainder of their lives. They will receive an immediate tax deduction for the value of the remainder interest that will go to the school. The donor’s age (and any other beneficiaries) - as well as the value of the property - will determine the charitable tax deduction. The property will be removed from the donor’s taxable estate. At the end of the arrangement, the school may choose to use the property in the school’s program or sell the property to sell the proceeds.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Charitable remainder trusts are appealing to donors who are looking for increased income from their assets, particularly assets that would be subject to significant capital gains taxes if sold. Donors can often increase their income by transferring assets to a trust that pays the donor an annual income. At a future time, these assets are given to St. Paul’s School for Girls. Donors receive a tax deduction when the trust is created. This is based on the donor’s (and any other beneficiary’s) age and the value of the assets which the school will ultimately receive. Capital gains taxes are avoided.

Charitable Lead Trusts

Charitable Lead Trusts are appealing to donors who want to support SPSG today with interest from an asset; protect from tax a sum that they plan to pass on to their heirs; and return a substantial sum to pass on to their heirs. A charitable lead trust is a creative method that aloo9ws a donor to “loan” the school certain assets. During the term of the lead trust, the school receives the income generated from the asset. At the end of the trust term, the remainder interest returns to the donor or other family members, with significantly lessened tax implications.