Recently I had the pleasure of visiting with Chuck, a long-time supporter of Sunset Senior Communities. As our conversation progressed, Chuck mentioned that as much as he supports and respects the ministry of Sunset, he had given away all of his 2021 budgeted donation funds to a missionary serving abroad.
Chuck’s situation is not uncommon. With a lot of need in our world, compassionate supporters of ministry are often pulled in multiple directions to help. If you find yourself in a situation similar to Chuck’s, and still feel a strong desire to give to ministry, thankfully there is a simple way you can still help with a supporting gift AND also reduce your tax burden.
How Can You Still Give?
You can still give through non-cash gift assets. These types of gifts include items like real estate, commodities (grains, livestock, lumber, etc.) or even stocks. When these types of assets are donated to a ministry, you receive the fair market value deduction at the time of your gift, and you will avoid tax liability on the sale of the assets. Another long-time supporting family of Sunset’s ministry often donates stocks as their primary form of giving. Throughout the years, their stock donations have assisted in funding some major renovations throughout the Sunset organization. And according to the family, they believe the stocks “are more cost-effective than giving cash.” Other supporters of Sunset donate non-cash assets to establish “life income gifts.” Life income gifts provide an additional form of steady income to further care for their family member’s needs. Those who provide support in this method give away assets that are no longer needed in their portfolio, thus helping those who can benefit from them, and the gift assists in reducing tax debt for the donor.
How You Can Help
If you are interested in exploring donation of non-cash gift assets or providing life income gifts and what may work best for you, please contact me at the information below. Thank you for supporting Sunset Senior Communities.
Jim Steenbergen, Executive Director of the Sunset Legacy Foundation
jsteenbergen@sunsetmanor.org
616.214.4505