Planned Giving

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With a bit of planning, you have the opportunity to make a gift that will have a great impact on the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund and support both your personal and philanthropic goals. The following planned giving options have special advantages such as tax-saving benefits or generating an income stream. At the same time, you have the satisfaction of knowing your gift will provide vital support for future Maine Golf Scholars. 

Thank you for taking a few minutes to explore the planned giving information presented here.

Charitable Bequests

A charitable bequest is one of the easiest and most flexible ways that you can leave a gift to the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund to make a lasting impact.

  • Receive an estate tax charitable deduction
  • Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
  • Leave a lasting legacy to charity

A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an attorney, you can include language in your will or trust specifying a gift to be made to family, friends, or the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund as part of your estate plan, or you can make a bequest using a beneficiary designation form. Some ways to leave a bequest to the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund are:

  • Include a bequest to the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund in your will or revocable trust
  • Designate the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary of your retirement account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or pension)
  • Name the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy

A bequest may be made in several ways, either as a gift of a percentage of your estate.

  • Specific bequest – make a gift of a specific dollar amount or a specific asset
  • Residual bequest – make a gift from the balance or residue of your estate

Charitable Gift Annuity

You may be tired of living at the mercy of the fluctuating stock and real estate markets. A charitable gift annuity is a gift made to Maine Golf Scholarship Fund that can provide you with a secure source of fixed payments for life. The benefits of a charitable gift annuity are:

  • Receive fixed payments to you or another annuitant you designate for life
  • Receive a charitable income tax deduction for the charitable gift portion of the annuity
  • Benefit from payments that may be partially tax-free
  • Further the charitable work of the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund with your gift

A charitable gift annuity is a way to make a gift to support the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund. You transfer cash or property to the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund and in exchange, we promise to pay fixed payments to you for life. The payment can be quite high depending on your age, and a portion of each payment may even be tax-free. You will receive a charitable income tax deduction for the gift portion of the annuity. You also receive satisfaction knowing that you will be helping further our mission.

If you decide to fund your gift annuity with cash, a significant portion of the annuity payment will be tax-free. You may also make a gift of appreciated securities to fund a gift annuity and avoid a portion of the capital gains tax. Please contact your financial planner to inquire about other assets that you might be able to use to fund a charitable gift annuity.

Current charitable gift annuity (payments begin within one year). With a current gift annuity, you may transfer cash or property in exchange for our promise to pay you fixed payments beginning as early as this year. You will receive an income tax charitable deduction this year for the value of your gift to the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund.

Deferred charitable gift annuity (for payments at future date). Perhaps you are not ready to begin receiving payments until a future date, such as when you retire. With a deferred gift annuity, you establish the gift annuity today, receive a charitable income tax deduction this year, but defer the payments until a designated date sometime in the future. Best of all, 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.

Flexible deferred charitable gift annuity (gives you flexibility as to when the payments will start). With a flexible deferred gift annuity, you retain the flexibility to decide when the annuity will begin making payments. As with a deferred gift annuity, you establish the annuity today and receive a charitable deduction this year, but the payments are deferred until such time as you elect to begin receiving the payments.

Beneficiary Designation Gifts

A beneficiary designation gift is a simple and affordable way to make a gift to support the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund. You can designate us as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment or bank account or your life insurance policy. The benefits of a beneficiary designation gift are:

  • Support the causes that you care about
  • Continue to use your account as long as you need to
  • Simplify your planning and avoid expensive legal fees
  • Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
  • Receive an estate tax charitable deduction

To make your gift, contact the person who helps you with your account or insurance policy, such as your broker, banker or insurance agent. Ask them to send you a new beneficiary designation form. Complete the form, sign it and mail it back to your broker, banker or agent. When you pass away, your account or insurance policy will be paid or transferred to the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund, consistent with the beneficiary designation.

Important Considerations for Your Future

If you are interested in making a gift but are also concerned about your future needs, keep in mind that beneficiary designation gifts are among the most flexible of all charitable gifts. Even after you complete the beneficiary designation form, you can take distributions or withdrawals from your retirement, investment or bank account and continue to freely use your account. You can also change your mind at any time in the future for any reason, including if you have a loved one who needs your financial help.

Flexibility: Most beneficiary designation forms are very flexible. You can name the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund as a “full” or “partial” beneficiary of your account or life insurance policy. You can also name the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund as a “primary” or “contingent” beneficiary.

Family Considerations: Beneficiary designation gifts allow you to provide for family and support the causes that matter most to you. With a designation form you could, for example, name your spouse as the “primary” beneficiary and each of your children and the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund as “partial contingent” beneficiaries. With this arrangement, if your spouse survives you, he or she would receive the account. If not, the account or policy would be paid out to your children and the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund in whatever shares (or percentages) that you chose on the designation form.

Terminology: Beneficiary designation gifts are simple and straightforward. Common terminology includes “beneficiary designation” but also includes “payable on death” or “transfer on death.” The term “beneficiary designation” is most commonly used when naming beneficiaries of retirement plans or life insurance policies. The term payable on death (or “POD”) typically involves the designation of a beneficiary of a checking account, savings account or certificates of deposit, and transfer on death (or “TOD”) often involves the designation of a beneficiary of stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

IRA Charitable Rollover

You may be looking for a way to make a big difference to help further our mission. If you are 70½ or older you may also be interested in a way to lower the income and taxes from your IRA withdrawals. An IRA charitable rollover is a way you can help continue our work and benefit this year. The benefits of an IRA charitable rollover are:

  • Avoid taxes on transfers of up to $100,000 from your IRA to Maine Golf Scholarship Fund
  • Satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year
  • Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions
  • Make a gift that is not subject to the 50% deduction limits on charitable gifts
  • Help further the work and mission of Maine Golf Scholarship Fund

Contact your IRA plan administrator to make a gift from your IRA to us. Your IRA funds will be directly transferred to Maine Golf Scholarship Fund to help continue our important work. Please note that IRA charitable rollover gifts do not qualify for a charitable deduction.

Thank you for considering the Maine Golf Scholarship Fund in your planned giving strategies. As always, when making decisions of this nature, please contact your financial planner for further information.