Planned Giving
You can make a lasting impact at the Workers Circle through a variety of estate plan gifts. Planned gifts opportunities allow you to create a lasting legacy, representing your lifelong values and aspirations, and to plan for the future of you and your loved ones. We can help you and your financial advisor review the gift planning options and find the estate plan gift that meets your immediate and future financial needs. We can also create an opportunity for you to influence the lives of generations to come.
Planned Giving stories and Testimonials
Types of Gifts
Whether you want to make a gift that is revocable during your lifetime, or an irrevocable gift that gives you guaranteed income for life, please consider these options and their potential tax benefits.
Name the Workers Circle in your will or living trust.
Make a tax-free distribution from your IRA to the Workers Circle.
Designate the Workers Circle as a beneficiary of your IRA or Pension Plan.
Establish a planned gift that provides lifetime income to you and/or your spouse.
Gift ownership of a Life Insurance Policy.
Create a Permanent Endowment Fund.
WORKERS CIRCLE EIN: 13-6178558
For more information about planned giving, please contact Melissa Karachalios, Deputy Executive Director and Development Director, at mkarachalios@circle.org or 212-889-6800 ext. 811.
Types of Planned Gifts and the Tax Benefits
Name the Workers Circle in your will or living trust — Including the Workers Circle in your will or living trust is the most common form of planned gift.
To do this, you will need your attorney to draft a codicil (for a will) or amendment (for a living trust) or to write a new will or living trust. Wills and living trusts are revocable documents; nevertheless, the Workmen’s Circle recognizes and honors anyone who informs us of their intentions. We strongly encourage you to inform us of your gift so that your commitment can be recognized and help encourage others.
Tax Benefits: All bequests to the Workmen’s Circle are excluded from federal and state estate taxes.
Make a tax-free distribution from your IRA to the Workers Circle
If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of the IRA charitable rollover and provide a gift up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to the Workers Circle without having to pay income taxes. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions. If you have not yet taken your required minimum distribution for the year, your IRA charitable rollover gift can satisfy all or part of that requirement.
Designate the Workers Circle as a beneficiary of your IRA or Pension Plan
By naming the Workers Circle as a beneficiary of your IRA, pension plan or other retirement assets, you are creating a revocable commitment to the Workers Circle. This is a tax-wise form of giving, as funds designated in this manner are not subject to income tax after your passing. While estate taxes may or may not be a concern for you, IRA, pension plan and pre-tax retirement assets may be subject to income tax when distributed. That is, unless a non-profit institution like the Workers Circle is named beneficiary of some or all of the funds. Changing a beneficiary designation requires obtaining the correct form from your plan administrator and filing the new beneficiary designation form properly. As with bequests, notifying the Workers Circle of your intentions gives us the opportunity to thank you for your foresight and generosity while encouraging others to give.
Tax Benefits:
All IRA, Pension Plan and retirement assets designated to the Workers Circle are not subject to probate proceedings and are excluded from federal and state estate taxes.
All IRA, Pension Plan and retirement assets designated to the Workers Circle are also not subject to income tax after your passing unlike assets designated to non-charitable beneficiaries.
Establish a planned gift that provides lifetime income to you and/or your spouse.
There are various forms of planned gifts that allow Workers Circle supporters to transfer cash or appreciated securities in exchange for a guaranteed fixed or adjustable income stream. Such gifts may be for one or two lives or a term of years. One income beneficiary must be at least 60 years of age. Two forms of planned gifts that provide lifetime income are:
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Minimum gift of $100,000. There are various forms of charitable remainder trusts that can be established to benefit the Workers Circle. Trusts may provide: 1) a fixed annuity income for one or two lives or a term of years, or 2) a variable income stream based on a fixed percentage of the trust’s assets valued as of January 1 each year. Payment rates for charitable remainder trusts depend upon your goals and IRS limitations.
Charitable Gift Annuities
Minimum gift of $20,000. A charitable gift annuity is a simple contract which guarantees fixed annuity payments to you and/or a designated income beneficiary for life. The payments amount are based on your age(s) and rates range between 5% and 9%. The Workers Circle works with the National Gift Annuity Foundation to ensure that your gift is secure, and will be able to provide guaranteed income for life and a significant remainder gift to the Workers Circle.
Great news — Gift annuity rates have risen for year-end giving!
Tax Benefits:
Both charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts entitle you to a charitable income tax deduction for a portion of your gift, avoidance of capital gains when funding the gift with appreciated securities, and removal of assets from your taxable estate.
To receive an illustration of the specific benefits you may receive from establishing a life income gift, please contact the Workers Circle
Gift ownership of a Life Insurance Policy
Insurance policies which are already “paid up,” meaning that there are no more premiums due, are ideal assets to gift to Workers Circle if your family no longer needs the insurance. Alternatively, a new insurance policy can be purchased naming the Workers Circle as the owner if the donor pledges to make annual gifts to cover the premium payments. We will work with you and your financial advisor to determine the best policy to use for this purpose.
Tax Benefits:
A transfer of ownership of an existing insurance policy entitles the donor to a charitable deduction for the fair market value of the policy at the time of the transfer.
For newly established insurance policies owned by the Workers Circle where the donor agrees to make annual gifts to cover the policy premiums, the donor will be entitled to a charitable income tax deduction for all funds donated for this purpose.
Create a Permanent Endowment Fund
The Workers Circle maintains numerous permanent endowment funds. These are funds established by donors during life or through their estates whereby only the income is used for a specified purpose. Typically, endowment funds are established for named scholarships or a specific program. Depending upon your interests, we would be happy to work with you and/or your professional advisor to determine the best language for a fund to ensure that your intentions can be properly fulfilled.
For more information or to discuss establishing a permanent endowment fund at the Workers Circle, please contact Melissa Karachalios, Deputy Executive Director and Development Director, at mkarachalios@circle.org or 212-889-6800 ext. 811.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Planned Giving
Q: What is planned or legacy giving?
A: Generally speaking, a planned gift is made using the assets of your estate as opposed to giving cash from your salary or income. Planned giving is also referred to as charitable estate planning and is often done in conjunction with your estate planning with your financial and legal advisors.
Q: What’s the most common planned gift?
A: A bequest is the most common planned gift, by which the donor names a charity or charities for a specific percentage or dollar amount in their will or living trust. A specific bequest is a gift of a particular item or sum of money. A residuary bequest gives all or a portion of the donor’s property after all debts, taxes, expenses and other bequests have been paid. A contingent bequest will take effect only if the originally named beneficiary does not survive the donor.
Q: What’s a life income gift?
A: This is a popular planned gift where the donor retains an income stream for the rest of his or her life, or for a term of years, from the asset(s) that has been donated. Common examples include the charitable gift annuity and charitable remainder trusts.
Q: How do I name an organization in my will?
A: To name ________________________in your will, you can include the following language:
I give (___ dollars/ __ percentage or all of the residue of my estate) to the _______________________, (for the benefit of __________ (name of designation).
Q: How do I name an organization as a beneficiary in my retirement plan or life insurance policy?
Leaving your retirement plan or IRA (or a portion of it) to _____________________________ is a tax-wise gift. Naming _____________________________ as the recipient of your retirement plan after your lifetime (or at the death of the survivor of you and your spouse) avoids all estate and income taxes on the plan assets. Similar benefits can apply when designating _____________________________ as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy.
To make this gift, you simply notify your plan or policy administrator of your wish to change the beneficiary. A "change of beneficiary" form may be required, and your spouse may need to sign consent to the change of designation. The tax ID to identify _____________________________ as a designated beneficiary is: ____________________.
If your spouse and children are currently the beneficiaries of your retirement plan or life insurance policy, you can continue to keep them as beneficiaries, and also include __________________________ as the beneficiary of a portion of your plan or policy. Upon your death, the plan administrator can "cash out" _____________________________'s share without affecting your family's portion, so that _____________________________, and your heirs, benefit from your financial planning and your generosity.