How to Contribute
It’s easy for anyone to contribute to the North Chapel Endowment Fund and become a member of the North Chapel Legacy Society
Longer Term Endowment Gifts
For many people, the easiest way to give to the Endowment Fund is through a bequest.
You don’t have to be wealthy to leave a legacy: Anyone can make a simple gift naming the North Chapel in your will or trust. It can be defined as a specific amount, a percentage of the estate, or a residual. If you have an existing will or trust, we can provide simple language to add North Chapel as a beneficiary. If you don’t yet have a will, it’s surprisingly easy to do, and we can help.
You also can contribute by making North Chapel the beneficiary of all or part of your retirement account’s residual balance. Be aware that if you leave your IRA or 401(k) balance to family or friends, they will need to pay both income and capital gains tax on that gift. Since North Chapel is tax exempt, this asset can be an extremely efficient charitable gift.
A similar approach is to make a gift of your life insurance policy. By designating the North Chapel as the policy’s owner and beneficiary, the church will receive the full face value of the policy on your death. Meanwhile, you can claim both the current value of the policy and all future premium payments as tax deductions.
Finally, some financial instruments can be designed to let you make a gift of assets such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds in exchange for a regular stream of income that you would receive during your lifetime. One such option is the Charitable Gift Annuity, an instrument that offers a tax deduction for a gift of $25,000 or more, and then provides guaranteed lifetime income to you or a nominated recipient. We can help you set up such an agreement through the Vermont Community Foundation.
Immediate and Direct Endowment Gifts
The simplest short-term way to contribute is to make a gift of cash or appreciated securities directly into the Endowment Fund.
We also can arrange to receive direct contributions of other assets, such as real estate or personal property. Such gifts protect the donor from capital gains and income tax otherwise due, while providing a charitable tax deduction.
Another option is to make a gift of your retirement fund distributions.
If you are aged 70 and 1/2 or older, you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) from your IRA or similar plan, which is taxed at your ordinary income rate. By gifting annually from these required RMDs to the Endowment Fund, you can avoid paying tax on a distribution of up to $100,000, while also making a valuable charitable contribution to our church.
For More Information
We can provide support and guidance on any of these tools or other financial instruments. While all such decisions should involve your financial advisor, we would be happy to answer your questions and connect you with support and advice from experts at our church and at the Vermont Community Foundation. For more information, simply contact Chris Bartlett at cbartlett@hbs.edu .
Once You Have Made Your Commitment…
Once you have made your commitment, we would like to honor you as a member of the North Chapel Legacy Society. Click on the button below to complete and submit the form confirming your legacy commitment.