Assets You Can Give

Some of the most common ways to make a gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey are to write a check, make a gift using a credit card, or donate online.

A gift of cash could be right for you if:

• You want the easiest way to donate to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey. 
• You want the largest possible income tax charitable deduction for your gift.
• You would like to make the gift to one both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey that has the greatest immediate impact.

How it works
You make a gift of cash directly to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey and you receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction.

What is an outright gift of cash?
An outright gift of cash is when you transfer funds to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey and get nothing of financial value in return. The most common way for donors to make an outright gift is to write a check payable to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

Gift provides immediate support
Unlike some other gift arrangements, your outright gift will provide resources that one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey can put to immediate use. If you prefer to restrict our use of your gift in any way, please contact us so that we can be sure that we can carry out your wishes.   

Maximum tax savings
You may deduct the full amount of your donation up to 60% of your adjusted gross income, providing tax savings if you itemize. You may carry forward all of your unused deduction for up to five additional years.

Ways to give cash
Most donors make an outright gift by writing a check payable to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey and mailing it to us. You may also make a cash gift using your credit card.

Example

Irma Norris would like to make an immediate $15,000 gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey. Irma could write a check for this amount and earn a charitable deduction equal to $15,000. Alternatively, Irma could make a gift using her credit card by calling us on the phone, responding to a mailing, or by donating online through our websites. Gifts of checks and gifts made via credit cards are considered cash gifts.

Benefits

• Irma may deduct up to 60% of her adjusted gross income for her gift of cash, providing tax savings if she itemizes.
• If Irma itemizes deductions but cannot use the entire deduction in the year of gift, she may carry the balance forward for up to five additional years. 
• Assuming Irma itemizes deductions and can use her entire income tax charitable deduction of $15,000, she will save her $5,550 (37% tax).
• Irma will gain the satisfaction of making a $15,000 gift to the organization.

Make a gift of publicly-traded securities to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey and potentially save income tax and capital gains tax, too.

A gift of publicly-traded securities could be right for you if: 

• You own publicly-traded securities that you have owned for at least one year.
• Some of these securities have increased in value since you bought them.
• Some of these securities may provide you with little or no income.
• You would like to make a gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

How it works

• You transfer shares of one or more publicly-traded securities, such as stock, bonds, and mutual funds, to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.
• The two most common ways to give publicly-traded securities are to make an outright gift of your securities or to make a gift of your securities and receive payments for life.

What are publicly-traded securities?
Publicly-traded securities are stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles whose values are readily available from an established securities market. For example, stocks listed on the New York or NASDAQ stock exchanges are publicly-traded securities. 

Are mutual fund shares publicly-traded securities?
Although mutual funds are sold by individual mutual fund companies rather than on an exchange, the same charitable contribution rules apply to mutual fund shares as to shares of publicly-traded securities. Gifts of mutual funds have the same tax benefits as gifts of individual securities.

Tax benefits of contributing publicly-traded securities
You can save income tax and capital gains tax when you give shares of a publicly-traded security that you have owned for a year or more.
Income tax benefit
If you have held your securities for more than one year, and provided you itemize, you may deduct from your taxable income the full fair market value of your shares as of the date of your donation, regardless of what you paid for them. Your deduction is limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income. You may, however, carry forward any unused portion of your deduction for up to five additional years.
Capital gains tax benefit
When you donate publicly-traded securities that have increased in value, and you have owned the securities for more than one year, you do not have to report any of your capital gain in the securities. If you were to sell these securities yourself, you would owe capital gains tax on the difference between the sale price and the amount you paid for them.

Should I give my securities or sell them and give the proceeds?
You should give your securities directly to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey if you have held them for more than one year and they have appreciated in value. This way, you will avoid paying tax on any capital gain you have in your securities. If you sell your securities first and then give us the proceeds, you will have to pay capital gains tax on all of your capital gain, an unnecessary and potentially substantial cost to you.

What is the advantage of giving appreciated stock instead of cash?
When you make a charitable gift of cash, you get an income tax charitable deduction only. When you make a charitable gift of the same value with appreciated stock, you get the same income tax charitable deduction and you avoid capital gains tax on all of your capital gain. The more highly appreciated your security, the more capital gains tax you will avoid.

The chart below shows how making a gift with appreciated stock can save substantially more taxes than making the same size gift with cash.  

Cash Gift vs. Stock Gift

*assumes donor itemized deductions

Should I make a gift of securities that have lost value?
No! If you sell securities that have lost value, you can net that capital loss against capital gains. Even if you cannot take a deduction for loss securities this year, there is a five-year carry forward. If you want to make a gift of loss securities, sell the securities and take the capital loss. You can then donate the proceeds of your sale to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey and use the capital loss to offset future capital gain.  

What happens if I give securities that I bought less than one year ago?
The charitable deduction available for property you have owned for 12 months or less, so-called "short-term capital gain" property, is limited to either its current full value or what you paid for it, whichever is less. For example, if you give stock worth $10,000 that you purchased nine months ago for $1,000, your charitable deduction will be $1,000, not $10,000.

When you give short term gain property, your deduction is limited to 60% of your adjusted gross income rather than the usual 30%. 

Is it easy to make a gift of publicly-traded securities?
Yes. Whether you plan to give one share or one thousand shares, it is easy to give your publicly-traded securities to us.  

Give securities and receive payments for life
Another option for giving securities is through a life income plan. Giving securities through a life income plan such as a charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust, or pooled income fund allows you to provide income for yourself or others you care about and then provide support to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey. Here's how it works:

1. You transfer securities to the life income plan.
2. A gift of appreciated securities to a charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust, or pooled income fund will typically defer or in some cases completely avoid capital gain from your gift of securities.  
3. During the term of the life income plan, you receive payments from the plan each year, typically for life.
4. When the life income plan ends, its remaining principal goes to support one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

Using securities to fund a life income plan typically will reduce your income taxes, providing tax savings if you itemize, and reduce or eliminate your capital gains taxes. 

Example

Jay Ross would like to make a $10,000 gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey. While he could write a check for this amount, he will be able to save even more in taxes by giving stock worth $10,000 instead. After reviewing his plans with his investment advisor, he decides to give shares of Poptropica Corporation worth $10,000. He paid just $​1,000 for these shares when he bought them 20 years ago.

Benefits

• Jay will earn an immediate income tax charitable deduction of $10,000, which will save him $3,700 (37% tax), provided he itemizes.
• Jay may deduct up to 30% of his adjusted gross income in the year of his gift, with a five year carry-forward period.
• He will avoid tax on $9,000 of capital gain, which will save him an additional $1,800 (20% tax).
• He will gain the satisfaction of making a $10,000 gift to the organization he cares so much about.

A gift of life insurance that you no longer need can be an easy way for you to provide generous support to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

A gift of life insurance could be right for you if:

• Your life insurance policy is paid up or has substantial cash value.
• You have no loan outstanding against the policy.
• Your family is well-provided for by other means.
• You would like to make a generous gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

How it works

Option 1:  You give your policy to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.
As the policy owner, the organization at Mission San Luis Rey will either cash in your policy and use the proceeds, or maintain the policy until it ends and then receive its face amount. Your benefits will include:

• An immediate income tax charitable deduction for the value of your policy.
• No change in your cash flow.
• The satisfaction of making a generous gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

Option 2:  You designate one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey as a beneficiary of your policy. When your policy ends, the organization will receive some or all of your policy's death benefit, as you have designated. Your benefits will include:

• The death benefit of your policy will not be included in your estate, which may save estate tax if your estate exceeds the applicable exemption amount.
• No change in your cash flow.
• The satisfaction of making a generous gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey.

This option offers the additional benefit that you can change your mind about your gift at any time should circumstances in your life change. 

Your life insurance may have a new purpose to serve
You may have purchased a life insurance policy years ago when you wanted to protect your family from financial hardship in case of your untimely passing. Now that your children are grown and independent, your mortgage is paid off, and you have accumulated sufficient assets in your estate to pass on to your family, you may no longer need your life insurance policy for its financial protection.

If this is your situation, consider making a gift of your life insurance policy to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey. The value of your policy can provide generous support to our mission without affecting your cash flow.

Give a paid-up life insurance policy
A paid-up life insurance policy is a policy that will stay in force without any additional premium payments. A paid-up life insurance policy is a valuable asset and makes an excellent gift. 

When you give your paid-up insurance policy to us, we will either cash in the policy immediately and use the proceeds, or maintain the policy until maturity and receive the death benefit of the policy.

Because this kind of gift is irrevocable, you will receive an income tax charitable deduction for the value of your gift at the time you transfer your policy to us, providing tax savings if you itemize. You will also remove your insurance from your estate, potentially saving estate taxes, as well.

In order to make your gift, you must assign the organization at Mission San Luis Rey all ownership rights to your policy and make the organization the irrevocable designated beneficiary of the policy. Usually this can be accomplished by completing a simple form from your insurance provider. Be sure to identify us as using a legal name, Federal Tax identification number and legal address, all of which can be found here. 

Make one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey a designated beneficiary of your policy
Another great way to make a gift to us with your life insurance policy is to make the organization a designated beneficiary of your policy. When your insurance reaches maturity, we will receive the amount or proportion you designate. You can change your designation at any time, giving you the flexibility to revise your gift for any reason.

Because your gift is revocable, you do not receive an income tax charitable deduction at the time you create the designation. Rather, your estate will receive an estate tax deduction for the amount your insurance policy distributes to us if your estate is subject to tax.

It is very easy to make one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey a designated beneficiary of your life insurance policy. Simply contact your insurance agent to make a change on your policy's beneficiary designation form. Be sure to identify us as using a legal name, Federal Tax identification number and legal address, all of which can be found here. 

Loan against policy will create taxable income
If you give a life insurance policy on which you have an outstanding unpaid loan, you will be considered to have sold your policy for the amount of the unpaid loan. As a result, you will have to declare a portion of the loan as taxable income. You may want to pay off your loan prior to making your gift in this case.  

If you plan to designate one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey as a revocable beneficiary of your policy, the existence of an unpaid loan against your policy will not affect your tax picture.

A few states will not allow you to give life insurance to a charity
For your gift of life insurance to be valid, your state of residence must consider a charity to have an "insurable interest" in your policy. Most states do, but verify that this is true in your state before you make your gift. 

Example

Sharon Cade bought a $250,000 life insurance policy on her own life shortly after the birth of the first of her four children. Her policy has been paid-up for years and her children, who are now in their 40s and 50s, no longer need the financial protection the policy provides. The cash value of her policy is now over $90,000, and she's paid $75,000 in premiums.

Sharon has enjoyed a relationship of many years with one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey, and would like to honor their relationship with a significant gift. However, she has been reluctant to use her liquid assets to make the gift. When Sharon learns that her policy can be put to a new and productive use, she is delighted. She arranges with her insurance agent to donate her policy.

Benefits

• Sharon will earn an immediate income tax charitable deduction of approximately $90,000, providing tax savings if she itemizes.
• Her $250,000 death benefit will not be included in her estate.
• She has the satisfaction of making a generous gift to one or both of the Franciscan communities at Mission San Luis Rey without reducing her income level.
• As the policy owner, the organization can either cash in the policy and have over $90,000 to work with immediately, or hold the policy and receive $250,000 as a legacy gift from Sharon.