- Charitable Giving Strategies > Charitable Strategies
Charitable Giving Strategies
We are pleased to present excerpts on the charitable giving strategies we most commonly use for our clients. Some provide immediate gifts to charity; others provide for planned gifts that generally create more significant gifts as part of your estate plan. Whatever the case, through integration of your charitable giving goals and dreams in conjunction with the realities of your financial life, we will guide you as to what strategy works best for your personal situation.
What we do know is that you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. Whether you are of modest means or fortunate enough to have significant wealth, you will be able to truly make an extraordinary difference well beyond any preconceived expectations you may have had.
If you believe in giving and wish you could do more, let us show you how....
Cash Donation
Small cash donations are the most common gift. Everyday people will donate on average $200-$500 to charitable causes they believe in each and every year. Gifts of this nature are usually fairly limited as the cash donated is coming right out of income that families are using to pay their day-to-day expenses. More Info..
What about the Children?
Most often, when we raise the subject of charitable giving during our client financial reviews, we generally see a genuine desire to give back. Our clients may have seen loved ones suffer a heart attack or pass away due to cancer; they may have been associated with the needs of a disabled individual; they may want to give back to their local hospital because of a personal health care experience. We find that everyone has been touched by one of these situations or has developed a sincere belief in some other charitable cause they would like to support. More Info..
Cash for Life
Annual cash donations can be transformed into a much larger gift for your chosen charitable cause. Miraculous gifts can be achieved even by those with modest means. Our clients are constantly astounded by what can be achieved. More Info..
Donate for Free
Miraculous but true ... you can donate to your chosen charity or charities for free. More Info..
Bequests
A charitable bequest is a planned future donation that you plan now so that your charity of choice will benefit from it after your passing. Bequests are normally made in your Will. Typically, the bequest could be an item of property, a sum of money, all or part of a life insurance death benefit or a percentage of your estate value. More Info..
Insurance Beneficiary
Individuals can make planned gifts using permanent life insurance. By naming a charity as the beneficiary or co-beneficiary of a permanent life insurance policy on your life, the life insurance company will direct all or part of your death benefit to the charity or charities of your choice at the time of your passing. More Info..
Securities
Publicly traded stocks, bonds, mutual funds and segregated funds are commonly left to charity on a planned basis. Many donors are attracted to the idea of leaving securities because of the preferential tax treatment offered by the CRA. More Info..
Assigning Insurance
Individuals can make planned gifts by transferring the ownership of a new or existing permanent life insurance policy to charity. The charity will then be both the owner and the beneficiary of the policy. The life insurance company will pay the death benefit to the charity at the time of your passing. More Info..
RRSP/RRIF
Many individuals ultimately have leftover funds in their RRSP/RRIF at the time of their passing. Most don't realize that almost half of these funds will be lost to taxes, at the time of their death, even if they name their children as beneficiaries. Charitable giving strategies can help you direct this money away from the tax man to support a cause you believe in. More Info..
Principal Residence
If it is your desire to leave a significant planned gift to charity, your principal residence might provide a good opportunity. Often, at the time of the second passing, of a married couple, their principal residence isn't of any use to their children as they have their own homes. Ultimately, left with this situation, the children are forced to sell the home, at considerable cost, delay, inconvenience and perhaps at a poor time to be selling homes. Under these circumstances, if you have a significant philanthropic goal, gifting your principal residence could be a consideration. More Info..
Charitable Gift Annuity
A charitable gift annuity is often a consideration for those at or beyond retirement age, who are searching for a way to support the charity of their choice now while also "pensionizing" a part of their investment portfolio. Implementation of this strategy is appropriate for those that either want to reduce the risk of their existing investments or look to improve their retirement income beyond that which can be provided by low interest GICs. More Info..
Charitable Insured Gift Annuity
A charitable insured gift annuity is often a consideration for those at or beyond retirement age, who are searching for a way to support the charity of their choice now while also "pensionizing" a part of their investment portfolio. Implementation of this strategy is appropriate for those that want to reduce the risk of their existing investments, improve their retirement income beyond that provided by low interest GICs and leave an inheritance for their children. More Info..
Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder trust strategy may be appropriate for those that plan to leave a significant gift to charity. It is most appropriate for seniors who need income for life, and meaningful tax relief now, but who irrevocably want to leave whatever is left in the Trust after they're gone to charity. More Info..
Endowments
An endowment is an enduring fund that will provide income to a chosen cause you are passionate about in perpetuity. Endowments make it easy to get your whole family involved in giving; you can create a family legacy by naming the fund after yourself or a loved one in memoriam. More Info..
Critical Illness Insurance
At times, individuals are strongly drawn to support a health related charity due to a prior life experience with a particular disease. For instance, there is tremendous support for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Alzheimer's Society, to name a few, because these diseases touch so many in the course of our daily lives. More Info..
