Why Be a Donor

Many reasons persuade donors to give through the Cadillac Area Community Foundations, such as our grant-making expertise, financial benefits to donors, effective leadership, accountability, permanence, flexibility, simplicity, and the ability of the donor to receive public recognition or remain anonymous. These advantages work for you.

Grant-Making Expertise

With more than ten years of experience in the Cadillac area, the Cadillac Area Community Foundation provides an unparalleled knowledge of the community's needs and concerns. That knowledge guides our grant-making. The Community Foundation will advise you on ways to make the most of your charitable gifts by targeting your contributions to funds that will do the most good for the community.

Financial Benefits

Contributing through a Community Foundation is cost-effective. The Community Foundation gives you an immediate deduction for your charitable contribution, while offering the opportunity to participate in grant making at a later date. Advantages to giving to a Community Foundation include the Michigan Tax Credit, and a federal charitable deduction for the entire market value of donated securities. The Cadillac Area Community Foundation administers assets of over $4 million, so administrative costs are minimal, yet donors enjoy the benefits and services of a substantial Foundation.

Effective Leadership and Accountability

A volunteer Board of Trustees, composed of knowledgeable, caring, and committed community leaders representing the diversity of our community, provides overall direction and policy. The Community Foundation is fully accountable to the community. Our records are public, and our programs are carefully monitored. An independent audit helps ensure fiscal responsibility

Giving

There are many opportunities for individuals, families, companies, and organizations to contribute to the Cadillac Area Community Foundation, through gifts of any size and of many types. Giving to one or more of the funds within the Cadillac Area Community Foundation is always encouraged and is important for the growth of the Foundation. However, you may wish to create a new fund to serve your personal goals. To create a new fund, minimum gift requirements apply.

Giving Now

There are many attractive arrangements to future deferred gifts. Deferred gifts offer you the benefit of a current tax deduction in exchange for the commitment of funds at some later date, even after your lifetime. Considering tax advantages, especially with appreciated assets, the result may be an increase now in spendable income for you or your family and a substantial fund later to support the greater Cadillac community.

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Ways to Give [back]

What Assets Can I Give

Donors have made charitable contributions with the following: cash, securities, closely held stock, real estate (including a residence), insurance policies and variations or combinations of the above. The full-market value of gifts or securities to a Community Foundation qualifies for a charitable deduction. Foundation staff will be glad to discuss proposed gifts with you.

Charitable Trusts

A Charitable Remainder Trust makes payments to you and/or your beneficiaries for life. On your death or the death of your beneficiaries, the remaining trust assets pass to the Cadillac Area Community Foundation. If you feel you cannot afford to part with any of your cash securities at this time because you need income to live on, you should consider making a gift in trust, which will allow you to receive income from the property as long as you live, and your assets will eventually go to the Cadillac Area Community Foundation.

There are two types of Charitable Remainder Trusts - the Charitable Remainder Unitrust, which will pay a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the annual valuation of the assets, and the Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, which will pay a fixed amount annually until your death or the death of your beneficiaries.

Gift Annuity

Through a Community Foundation Gift Annuity, the donor transfers assets to the Community Foundation, which in turn guarantees to pay the donor or a named beneficiary a fixed income for life. The level of income is determined by the ages and number of beneficiaries at the time the contract is drawn. Annuity Gifts are placed in an annuity investment funded, backed by the assets of the Community Foundation, and upon death, are released for Foundation use as designated by the donor or the Community Foundation's Board of Trustees.

Gifts Through Life Insurance

A growing number of people are discovering that life insurance is an effective way of making a charitable gift to the Community Foundation. By assigning ownership of life-insurance policies to the Foundation, the donor receives an immediate income-tax charitable deduction in the amount of the present value of the policies. The proceeds after death of the insured are not taxable as part of the donor's estate. New policies or existing ones, which are no longer needed, can also be given.

Gifts By Bequest

Many donors provide gifts by will or trust. Through a bequest provision, the donor guarantees financial resources to be of lasting benefit to the Cadillac community and also receives immediate personal satisfaction. Bequests to the Cadillac Area Community Foundation are deductible from state and federal estate taxes. This presents a significant advantage, for taxes on estates can be far more substantial than assumed. Through gifts of bequests, a donor designates a specific number of dollars, property or a designated percentage of the estate to the Community Foundation through a will. The bequest may be unrestricted, designated for a certain use, or directed toward a testamentary fund that is established during the donor's lifetime and executed through a bequest.

The details of your gifts may remain confidential, and you may give anonymously.

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Tax Advantages for 2004 [back]