Legacy gifts are the best way to benefit a charity or cause you love forever. Is there a charity or cause you want to benefit after your lifetime? By making a legacy gift, you provide enduring support to the causes or charities you care most about, while securing your own legacy forever.

A legacy gift can allow you to maintain assets during your lifetime and provide valuable estate planning and tax advantages. Some options can provide you with income. And when you start a charitable endowment at CICF with a legacy gift, your direction and decisions are honored and your impact on the community never ends.

Field of interest funds benefit nonprofits working in charitable areas you select. The cause or issue can be broad, such as improving education, or narrow, such as improving a neighborhood. This allows you to invest in an issue you care about while relying on future philanthropic experts to identify opportunities that make the greatest impact in that field. CICF has many existing funds that were created decades ago and are awarding grants today to specific interest areas, such as women and girls, seniors, libraries, the arts, and children with disabilities.

Designated funds let you tell us exactly which 501( c )( 3 ) public charity or charities you wish your fund to benefit. Every year, grants are directed to the charity of your choice enabling you to “endow” your current annual gift to your favorite charitable organizations. You provide a permanent, ongoing source of support and we oversee the distributions.

Scholarship funds provide financial assistance for students seeking post-secondary education. Scholarships can benefit students from a certain city, who attend (or plan to attend) a specific high school, college or university, facing a particular barrier or students planning to go into certain careers. You can also add to the Community Scholarship Funds for Marion or Hamilton counties (funds of entities within the CICF Collaborative), which are permanent endowment funds that assist students who have financial need.

Donor-advised funds let you make one contribution to CICF or an entity within the CICF Collaborative and recommend grants to nonprofits. A donor-advised fund provides ease and flexibility in personal charitable giving. You make a gift that is deductible in the year of the donation, and you can add to your fund at any time. Successor advisors may be named to continue recommending grants after your lifetime. This leaves a lasting legacy that benefits your community after the advising period. This option most closely resembles a private family foundation but eliminates the administrative burdens and costs and allows you to work with CICF donor engagement officers dedicated to helping you accomplish your charitable goals.

Another easy way to leave a bequest is to name CICF as the beneficiary of your retirement funds held in your IRA, 401(k), or 403(b) to add to or establish a charitable fund. This is a simple and effective way—and maybe the most tax advantageous—to create your legacy since it will not be subject to either estate or income taxes, as it would be if left to anyone but a spouse.

Like your retirement accounts, a separate beneficiary designation form determines who will receive money from your life insurance policies. Policies you own enable you to name a charitable beneficiary. A simple way to make a legacy gift is to designate CICF as the full or partial beneficiary on the required beneficiary form.

A charitable gift annuity lets you receive guaranteed income for life and an immediate charitable income tax deduction, as well as supporting charitable organizations meaningful to you. You make an irrevocable gift to CICF, and CICF pays a fixed dollar amount to you and one other person (if you choose). The remainder of the annuity could establish a charitable fund, add to an existing CICF fund, or support the community endowments at your passing. The annuity income depends on your age, the number of people receiving payments, and the amount of your gift to establish the annuity. A portion of your gift annuity income may also be income-tax-free.

By transferring assets to establish a charitable remainder trust, you receive an immediate tax deduction and lifetime income for you and your named beneficiary. You can also reduce or avoid capital gains taxes associated with the gifted asset, and you would remove the assets from your estate. When the trust’s term is complete, any remaining assets pass to CICF to establish a fund of your choice. Charitable remainder trusts offer a great deal of flexibility, and you can receive a fixed dollar amount each year (an annuity trust), or a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets (a unitrust).

A charitable lead trust distributes income to your charitable fund for a period of years or during your lifetime. Then the assets return to you or your surviving family members. The result is gift and estate tax savings. A charitable lead trust can allow you to make a significant gift to charity and transfer assets to family members with little or no gift and estate tax.