Planned Giving – St. Matthew's Catholic School

Since 1963, St. Matthew’s Catholic School has thrived thanks to the unwavering generosity of parents, alumni, and friends. Their continued support has allowed us to grow and adapt our programs to meet the evolving needs of our students. By including St. Matthew’s in your planned giving, you help ensure that we can continue preparing our students for high school, college, and life beyond.

Unlike cash gifts, planned gifts involve assets from your estate that go beyond everyday income. Whether you wish your gift to make an impact now, throughout your lifetime, or as a legacy after your lifetime, we can work with you to create a charitable plan that aligns with your goals.

With your support, we can continue to “empower leaders—one faith-filled day at a time.”

There are many meaningful ways to support St. Matthew’s through Planned Giving. Let us help you find the one that’s right for you!

Appreciated Securities

Securities and mutual funds that have increased in value and been held for more than one year are one of the most popular assets to use when making a gift to SMS. Making a gift of securities or mutual funds to us offers you the chance to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself.

When you donate appreciated securities or mutual funds you have held more than one year to us in support of our mission, you can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. You may also be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the securities at the time of the transfer.

Charitable Lead Trust

Do you want to benefit from the tax savings that result from supporting SMS, yet you do not want to give up any assets that you would like your family to receive someday? You can have it both ways with a charitable lead trust.

There are two ways charitable lead trusts make payments:

A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to SMS and is more attractive when interest rates are low. A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust’s assets go up in value, for example, the payments to SMS go up as well.

Charitable Remainder Trust

Looking for a way to support SMS with a significant gift? If you have built up a sizable estate and are also looking for ways to receive reliable payments, you may want to check out the advantages of setting up a charitable remainder trust.

Benefits of a charitable remainder trust include:.

Potential for a partial charitable income tax deduction
Potential for increased income
Up-front capital gains tax avoidance

There are two ways to receive payments with charitable remainder trusts:

The annuity trust pays you, each year, the same dollar amount you choose at the start. Your payments stay the same, regardless of fluctuations in trust investments.
The unitrust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments is redetermined annually. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. If the value decreases, however, so will your payments.

Donor Advised Funds

Are you looking for an easy, cost-effective way to support SMS and other causes you love? A donor advised fund, which is like a charitable savings account, may be the right choice for you.

You transfer cash or other assets to a tax-exempt sponsoring organization such as a public foundation. You can then recommend, but not direct how much and how often money is granted to SMS or other charities. You avoid the cost and complexities of managing a private foundation.

You qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction at the time you contribute to the account, and the power to make recommendations on which charities to support whenever you want. You centralize your giving and record-keeping in one location. And maybe best of all, you can start a legacy of giving by letting your children help decide which grants to recommend.

Life Insurance

When the original purpose for a life insurance policy no longer applies—such as educating children now grown or providing financial security for a spouse now deceased—your policy can become a powerful and simple way to support our work.

There are three ways to give life insurance to SMS:

Name us a beneficiary of the policy. This gift is as simple as updating your beneficiary designation form with the policy holder. You can designate SMS as the primary beneficiary for a percentage or specific amount. You can also make us the contingent beneficiary so that we will receive the balance of your policy only if your primary beneficiary does not survive you.
Make an outright gift of an existing policy. You can name us as owner and beneficiary of an existing policy. You qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize on your taxes. If you continue to pay premiums on the policy, each payment is tax deductible as a charitable gift when you itemize.
Make an outright gift of a new policy. You can take out a new policy and irrevocably name SMS as the owner and the beneficiary of the insurance contract. This method may be particularly attractive for the younger donor. Whether you make one single premium payment for the policy or pay annual premiums, each payment is tax deductible as a charitable gift when you itemize.

Real Estate

Want to make a big gift to SMS without touching your bank account? Consider real estate. Such a generous gift helps us continue our work for years to come. A generous gift of real estate helps us continue our work and helps you. When you give us appreciated property which you have held longer than one year, you get a federal income tax charitable deduction, avoid paying capital gains tax and no longer have to deal with that property’s maintenance costs, property taxes or insurance.

There are multiple ways to donate real estate. We would love to discuss details with you in person.

Gifts such as real property, personal property, in-kind gifts, non-liquid securities, and contributions whose sources are not transparent, must be reviewed and approved prior to acceptance.

Retirement Plan Assets

If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to benefit SMS. You can give up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as SMS without having to pay income taxes on the money. This law no longer has an expiration date so you are free to make annual gifts to our organization this year and well into the future.

Your Required Minimum Distribution can be utilized for all or part of this gift–a great way to reduce taxable income.

Tangible Personal Property

Did you realize that valuable antiques, stamp and coin collections, works of art, cars, boats, and other personal property can be used to support our work? Your treasures can make suitable charitable gifts today or after your lifetime. The financial benefits of the gift depend on whether we can use the property in a way that is related to our mission.

Related use property, e.g., a piece of artwork donated to an art museum, is deductible at the full fair market value. Any other property is deemed non-related use property and the deduction would be limited to the lesser of fair market value or your tax basis in the property.

If the federal income tax charitable deduction claimed for a gift of tangible personal property exceeds $5,000, you must obtain an appraisal from a qualified appraiser and submit a special IRS form with the tax return on which the deduction is claimed.