It might surprise you to learn that you don’t have to be wealthy to make a significant gift to MRG Foundation. That’s because a planned gift allows you to make a gift not from your income, but from the assets that you own.  In many cases, a planned gift can increase your income and reduce your taxes, giving you greater security and benefits than if you had not made a gift.  Here are simple explanations of just a few of the options available for you to consider giving.

Easy Ways to Make a Larger Gift in the Future

For some of us, our largest gift will be made in the future. Here are some of the ways you can plan to make a larger gift later rather than right now.

Include MRG Foundation in Your Will

One of the easiest ways to make a significant gift to MRG Foundation is through a bequest in your will. You can name MRG Foundation in your will or by adding a codicil to a will you already have.  You can bequeath MRG Foundation a specific amount of money, a particular piece of property, or even a portion of your estate that remains after your other obligations and bequests to family and friends are distributed.

MRG Foundation prefers bequests that do not have any conditions, so that they can be used in areas where it’s needed most. However, donors may designate gifts to the endowment, general fund or specify an area of interest.

For more information about naming MRG Foundation in your will, read the instructions that we've included on our You Should Have a Will page.

Making a Gift with Life Insurance

Life insurance can be an easy and inexpensive way to make a significant gift to MRG Foundation. For the cost of an insurance premium, a life insurance policy allows you to make a gift many times larger:

• Perhaps you have a life insurance policy that you took out long ago, perhaps to pay a mortgage or fund a college education, that you no longer need. This is a perfect gift to give to a non profit organization. You can either give the policy to MRG Foundation or name MRG Foundation as the policy’s beneficiary.
• You can also establish a new policy with MRG Foundation as owner or beneficiary.
• As a part of your gift, you pledge that you will continue paying the premiums.  You can also ask MRG Foundation to pay the annual premiums as long as you pledge to make an annual gift that will cover their cost.

A Gift of Deferred Retirement Income

Giving the remainder of your pension plan, IRA, 401K or other qualified retirement plan to charity is one of the smartest estate planning decisions you can make:

• Most people don’t realize that deferred retirement income that is held in a pension plan, IRA or 401K can be taxed very heavily if it is left to anyone but a legally married spouse.
• Taxes can gobble up as much as 78% of a retirement plan, making it a very expensive inheritance for your heirs.
• This heavy tax burden makes your retirement savings an excellent asset to give to charity by naming MRG Foundation as the beneficiary of your pension plan, IRA, 401K or other qualified retirement plan.

Should you want to make a larger gift today, here are additional ideas for you to consider:

Gifts of Appreciated Securities

One of the best things you can gift to MRG Foundation are stocks, bonds, or shares of mutual funds that you own. This is an especially effective way to make a gift if you own highly appreciated stock that is now worth far more than you originally paid for it. See our gifting stock page for more information.

You can also gift non-publicly-traded securities (such as those from a closely held company) if they are appraised by a qualified appraiser and can be immediately liquidated through redemption or sale.

Gifts of Real Estate

You can make a gift of your home or other real estate with approval of MRG Foundation.  As a part of your donation, you must provide an appraisal of the fair market value and an environmental audit of the property.  MRG Foundation will also conduct a visual inspection of the property before acceptance.

You can also give real estate in the form of a Bargain Sale – selling MRG Foundation a piece of property at a steeply discounted price for resale at market value. This allows you to eliminate capital gains and claim the market value as a charitable gift.

If you donate your personal residence to MRG Foundation, we can reserve a “life estate” that allows you to live in the property as long as you live.

Gifts of Personal Property

Have you collected valuable artwork or inherited jewelry that you'd like to donate?  Gifts of jewelry, artwork, collections, equipment, etc. may be accepted after approval by the Executive Director. Property will generally be sold upon receipt. For all gifts of tangible personal property you are responsible for determining the value of your gift. For gifts exceeding $500 in value, you are responsible  obtaining a written appraisal and for filing IRS Form 8283 with your income taxes. 

For more information about making a legacy gift to MRG Foundation, please contact sheryl [at] mrgfoundation [dot] org (Sheryl Sackman) or marjory [at] mrgfoundation [dot] org (Marjory Hamann).