December 2015’s historic federal legislation made charitable IRA rollovers permanently available to individuals over age 70 ½. Community Foundations can now accept qualified charitable distributions of up to $100,000 from individuals annually. Because IRA assets can be among the mostly highly taxed, they make very effective charitable donations. The donor will not pay federal income tax on these gifts, unlike other IRA distributions.
You may put your charitable IRA rollover to work in many ways, including:
- Greater Mercer Grants, which funds the strongest nonprofit work done in our region;
- Designated funds, in which the donor chooses in advance the organization(s) that benefit;
- Field of interest funds, which allow a donor to focus their giving on a specific area of their choosing – perhaps education for underserved students, health care, the environment or the arts;
- The Community Foundation’s unrestricted or endowed funds, to ensure that we will serve local nonprofits forever; and
- The Fund for Women and Girls, dedicated to improving the lives of our region’s neediest girls and the women who raise them.
A quick note: donor-advised funds cannot accept charitable rollovers from IRAs. But Community Foundations have so many other giving options. If you’re interested in this giving strategy, call us to talk about how much good you can accomplish.
