Gifts today

Supporting the Foundation now can bring you tax savings at the same time it puts your gift to work for the library right away.

Planned giving

Planned giving can have substantial future benefits for your family and your estate.

Charitable deduction

Your gift to the Foundation now of cash, stocks, real estate, or other assets, is tax-deductible. In addition to the charitable deduction, you may (with certain limitations) avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated assets.

Gifts of stock

If you own stock, it is almost always more tax-wise to contribute stock than cash. A gift of appreciated stock lets you save taxes twice.

First, you don‘t pay capital gains tax on the increase in value of the stock. Second, you can count the full fair market value of the stock at the time of the gift as a charitable deduction.

Here‘s an example: If you purchased stock for $1,000 and it is now worth $10,000, an outright gift of the stock to the Library Foundation would give you a deduction of $10,000. And there‘s no capital gains tax on the $9,000 of appreciation.

Two things to note:

• Make sure you have owned the stock for a “long-term” period (generally more than one year) to qualify for these tax advantages.
• Gifts of appreciated stock are deductible up to a maximum of 30% of your adjusted gross income. For example, if your adjusted gross income for 2006 is $100,000, up to $30,000 of long-term appreciated stock and other property gifts may generally be deducted in 2006.

Any excess can usually be carried forward and deducted over up to five subsequent years. You may wish to consult with your tax advisor about how a gift of stock would benefit you.

To make a gift of stock to the library

Please contact Sandra Moore of Main Street Bank and Trust at 217/351–2731. Also, your broker or trust officer can arrange for a gift of stock from your account by contacting Main Street Bank and Trust.

For more information

Contact Donna Pittman, the library‘s development director, at 217/403–2048 or dpittman@champaign.org.