Planned Giving   Charitable Gift Annuity: Benefits You and Helps Secure Columbus Audubon's Future by Marc Blubaugh Columbus Audubon has established a planned giving program in order to encourage members and non-members to include Columbus Audubon in their estate planning. Charitable contributions can be made in an unrestricted fashion for the general use of Columbus Audubon or may be designated for deposit into one of the endowment funds established by the board of trustees:  (1) the Education Fund, (2) the Conservation Fund, or (3) the Operating Fund. Bequests and donations directed to the endowment funds will be invested and only income from the investment will be spent. In short, your contribution provides a permanent benefit to Columbus Audubon.  Over the past year, Columbus Audubon has reported on various mechanisms available to those who would like to benefit Columbus Audubon through their estate planning. A charitable gift annuity is another estate planning mechanism. How it works A charitable gift annuity is essentially a contract whereby Columbus Audubon agrees to pay you or your designated beneficiary income for life in exchange for your gift of cash or stock. For example, you may be 73 years old and have a $25,000 certificate of deposit that is coming due at a local bank. Your certificate of deposit may not be yielding as high of a return as you would like. Instead of renewing the certificate of deposit, you could donate that certificate of deposit to Columbus Audubon. In exchange, Columbus Audubon will pay you a fixed return in excess of what the bank was paying on the certificate of deposit. Benefits to you In addition to providing Columbus Audubon with a significant gift that will benefit future generations, you could also receive several additional benefits. First, a portion of your income will be tax free because it will be deemed a return of your investment in the annuity for the balance of your life expectancy. Second, your donation will generate a meaningful tax deduction for you. The size of the tax deduction will vary depending on your income bracket and the size of the gift. Third, if you donate stock, you can reduce the capital gain tax that you would have had to pay if you sold the stock.  We hope that you give some serious thought to taking advantage of a charitable gift annuity in your estate planning if your tax advisor and attorney believe that a charitable gift annuity might be right for you. Please contact Columbus Audubon or Marc Blubaugh, director of planned giving, at 614-895-0857 with any questions. Page updated 08/27/03 © Columbus Audubon 2003