Securing the Future

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Supporting the Center for Christian Study for years to come.

Planned giving can be a powerful way to help your most cherished organizations thrive. Through planned gifts, you can avail yourself of various tax advantages that would help you, your family, and your favorite charities. Planned gifts are vitally important in helping organizations, like the Center for Christian Study, serve future generations.

Why participate in Planned Giving?

Creating a will that reflects your values will offer peace of mind, blessing to your family, and long-term sustainability for the organizations you care about. A planned gift also provides tax advantages, particularly for gift of appreciated stock and real estate. The total income, estate, and capital gains tax savings, as well as the savings on probate expenses, can be substantial.

  • 1. Get a Will. When people start adding up the value of their home, life insurance, retirement accounts, and other property, they begin to see that even with a modest middle class estate, a plan is needed that provides for their families and the charities they love.

    2. Reduce (or eliminate) unnecessary taxes and court costs. A Will can help you reduce probate hassles and costs, avoid certain taxes, and decrease other administrative expenses – freeing up more resources to your heirs and charitable work.

    3. Decide who will manage your stuff after you die. Without a Will, a court decides how to distribute your estate. On the other hand, when you name your own representative in your Will, you decide who will distribute the money and assets entrusted to you.

    4. Decide who will take care of your kids. If you have minor children, a Will allows you to name the guardian of your children and a Trustee of the assets to provide for the children. If a court is left to make these decisions for you, your spiritual values may be disregarded.

    5. Include “ministry” in your family. Your Will can be powerful testimony to family and friends. Including your extended “family” in your Will – namely your church and favorite organizations – is a wonderful way to express your values for generations to come.

  • These 10 life events might indicate it’s time to consider updating your Will:

    1. Marriage or divorce

    2. New baby, adopted children, or stepchildren

    3. Moving to another state

    4. Changing your mind about heirs

    5. Major changes in property ownership or financial assets

    6. Changes in estate planning and estate tax law.

    7. Death or disability of someone named in your Will

    8. Children have reached the age of 18

    9. You would like to provide for a ministry organization

    10. It has been three years or more since you have reviewed your Will.

 
 

Indicating Your Wishes

If you have already included the Center for Christian Study in your estate plans, please tell us more about your gift by printing and mailing back a Letter of Intent, or by filling out our online form. We would like to honor you through enrollment in our Beacon Society.

Letter of Intent PDF
 

A valid will is typically written, dated, and signed by you and two legal witnesses. The probate court oversees the administration of a will at death to carry out your wishes. The court charges probate fees to administer an estate and all documents and proceedings are public record. View sample bequest language.

A revocable living trust replaces a Will as the primary document that directs the distribution of your property. The trust is created while you are living, and the power to change and revoke it can be retained. A living trust allows assets to pass to heirs and organizations, like the Center for Christian Study, outside of the probate process, potentially saving probate fees, and keeps your affairs private. 

A beneficiary designation is a straightforward way to jumpstart your planned giving approach. Through the administrator of your IRA, 401k, 403b, other retirement accounts or insurance plans, you can name the Center for Christian Study as your beneficiary with an updated Beneficiary Designation Form. 

  • Charitable Gift Annuities

    CGAs are a simple arrangement that involves a charitable gift and an annuity. You simply make a gift (part of which is tax deductible), and receive fixed annuity payments each year for the remainder of your life. At the end of your life, the charitable gift goes to support our work.

    Stock Giving

    Did you know appreciated stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in a taxable investment portfolio can be transferred as gifts to support Kingdom work? Giving stocks provides a significant opportunity to avoid capital gain tax, receive a deduction and simplify your giving.

    Charitable Trusts

    A charitable trust allows you to bless a ministry you care about while still providing an income for you or your heirs. With a charitable lead trust, money is paid first to the ministry of your choice for a specified amount of time. Then at the end of the trust period, the balance goes to a designated beneficiary. A charitable remainder trust reverses that order, paying your heir first.

    Retirement Assets and IRA Giving

    Designating a ministry as the beneficiary of your retirement account offers a number of tax advantages. Unlike individual beneficiaries, ministries are not required to pay income tax on withdrawals from these accounts, plus the sum you give will not be included in your adjusted gross income.

    Gifts In Kind

    Gifts in Kind refer to the practice of giving actual goods or services to a ministry versus donating the money to buy them. These types of gifts can be as creative as the person giving them!

    Real Estate Gifts

    Properties that can be given to us include personal residences, vacation homes, commercial property or land. Many people like to give gifts of real estate because the inherent value of the property far exceeds that of any other single asset. It’s very popular because even individuals with modest estates typically own real estate.

    Point of Death Transfers

    POD Transfers are a way of designating beneficiaries to receive your assets automatically at the time of your death, without having to go through probate court. They also allow you to specify the percentage of assets each person or entity will receive.

    Donor Advised Funds

    One of the simplest ways to give real estate, stocks, mutual funds or commodities is through a Donor Advised Fund. This is an account you create directly with us for setting aside money or assets, receiving immediate tax benefits and allowing you the flexibility to distribute gifts over time. It’s like having your own charitable giving account.

 


Planned Giving Guide

For more information about different types of gift planning, we recommend you visit the UVA Gift Planning page or consult with your attorney or financial planner.

 

The Center for Christian Study is incorporated as d/b/a University Christian Ministries, Inc. , Tax ID is 51-0192618.

The Beacon Society is a collection of friends of the Study Center who are committed to seeing the gospel flourish at the University of Virginia for years to come.

For more information on The Beacon Society, contact Stuart Hornsby at stuart@studycenter.net.

  • A man with a shaved head and light skin, wearing a black collared shirt, standing outdoors in front of dense green foliage.

    Stuart Hornsby | stuart@studycenter.net

    Director of Development and Parent & Alumni Relations

    (434) 531-2302.

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