¾Gifts to Charities - Individual Donor's Page

If you are an individual donor reading this page, you have found the  ideal means of leaving gifts to domestic and international medical, humanitarian, environmental and service organizations, particularly those that are exclusively supported by private donations.  The GRANDgift SYSTEM is ideal for these 10 reasons:

  1. You may leave small gifts, from $100 to $1,000 per year. 

  2. You may leave gifts over several years, from 10 to 25 years. 

  3. You may have a personal note added to each gift-check, saying something like, "Please use this gift to help another young cancer fighter, in the name of my granddaughter, Melissa White, with hers and our deep appreciation". 

  4. You may do this simply, without changing your will, using a trust or placing a burden on your executor

  5. The cash for your gifts is guaranteed to be there because it's funded with life insurance, even if you pass away prematurely, before paying all premiums.

  6. Your premiums are income tax deductible when following the guidelines of most institution.  We, as does your institution, always recommend consultation with your personal tax advisor.

  7. Premiums are designed to be affordable, beginning as low as $14 per month.  A cost/benefit analysis for, as an example, a 40-year old female arranging gifts of $1,000 per year for 10 years to her local hospice group shows that her total gift-checks paid out will be $10,000.  If she lives and pays all premiums until the policy is paid-up in five years, her total premiums paid in will be $3,414.  Her gifts paid out will exceed her premiums paid in by $6,789.  If she passes away during the five-year premium payment period, the policy will be instantly paid-up, no more premiums will be due, and her full $1,000 gift checks will be distributed each year for the next 10 years as planned.

  8. No agent will be in your home because the idea is simple, the policy is small ($15,000 maximum), and the procedure to apply is uncomplicated.  Instead, the preferred way of conducting business is by phone, mail or email for the GRANDgift Planning Center in Austin, TX--a process you initiate with an inquiry. For more information, click here.

  9. Equitable Life & Casualty Insurance Company created the program, underwrites the policy, and mails your gift-checks to your school with the same care and sensitivity you would use, if you were still here, writing them yourself. For more information on Equitable, click here.

  10. You may become a small part of a large strategy of Gift-Source Diversification for your charity.  Particularly for privately funded institutions, future financial soundness is a function of gifts to their endowment, foundation or reserve funds.  Historically, these gifts have come from major donors.  By relying on planned gifts from smaller donors to augment gifts from major donors, an institution is less vulnerable to a significant fiscal setback in the event of a bust in the next oil, real estate, or dot.com boom.

A gift suggestion: gifts in the name of someone else. ¾Whether funding gifts of $100 or $1,000, few gifts would be as meaningful to your loved one as having his or her name published by the organization that has meant so much to them, and to you--now among new donors, and later, year after year, among legacy donors.  ¾In many cases, few gifts would bring as much pleasure as seeing their name published if it means encouraging others to give.  ¾And--most importantly--few acts of generosity would touch the lives of so many, for so long, as providing funds to help those in the future needing financial assistance.

You may find the following examples of interest if one of these organizations has impacted your life, you hope it will influence the lives of others, and you wish to continue your support with gifts designated for:

l Children's Camp for fees, food, bedding, equipment or counselors

l Church for VCB materials, annual missions' goals or Easter lilies

l Church K-12 School for scholarships, books or band trips

l Fine Arts for exhibits, guest conductors or children's programs

l Hospice for catheters, beds, wheel chairs, walkers or training

l Hospitals for pediatric ICU cribs or critical-care nurses break room

l College/University for scholarships, tutors or semesters abroad

l Schools for Gifted Children for field trips, glasses or lab equipment

l Schools for LD Children for diagnostic evaluations or computers

l Societies for Animal Care for treats, flea guard, spaying or neutering

l Societies for Honoring Fallen Police and Firemen for family support

l Research for fighting cancer, stroke, SIDS, Crohn's or Alzheimer's

l Seminary for scholarships, child care or seminary food bank

For more information about GRANDgifts, click here.  For more information about Equitable, click here.

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