Planned giving makes it possible to support the Society for Advancement of Education in the years ahead while providing valuable future benefits to your family, including ensuring lifetime family income and reducing taxes.

All friends, supporters and alumni who include the Society for Advancement of Education in their estate plans are eligible to join the Dr. Aryeh Geiger Society. This special program enables American Friends of Kidum and the Society for Advancement of Education to acknowledge your thoughtful planning for the organization’s future.

The American Friends of Kidum (AFK) offers a variety of planned giving options, including bequests, charitable gift annuities and gifts of real estate.

AFK can recommend planned giving professionals throughout the country who can work with you and your financial advisers to determine which of the planned giving options are best for your family.

For more information or a personal confidential consultation, contact Larry Geiger, Associate Director, at 914.860.4945 or lgeiger@kidum-us.org.

There are a variety of methods that can be utilized to make a planned gift to the American Friends of Kidum for the benefit of the Society for Advancement of Education.  A brief description of the most common ways to support the Society for Advancement of Education with a planned gift follows.

Charitable Bequests

Bequests are the most common form of planned giving and among the easiest to arrange.  There are no minimum dollar requirements or complex rules. Your bequest can be directed to specific programs or projects or left undesignated, allowing the Society for Advancement of Education to use them where they are needed most.  They can be designed as a memorial or tribute to the donor or an individual you designate.

A charitable bequest qualifies for a 100% charitable deduction for estate tax purposes, which, depending on your circumstances, enables you to make a gift to AFK for as low as 45¢ on the dollar.

For your convenience, here is sample of wording for a bequest in a will:

“To the American Friends of Kidum, a not-for-profit corporation having offices at 59 East 54th Street, Suite 72, New York, N.Y. 10022, the sum of (specify amount), said amount to be used for (specify program).”

Once a bequest is included in a will, supporters often also send us a letter notifying us of their intentions. Besides ensuring that your wishes will be carried out, this bequest commitment letter enables the AFK to recognize your gift currently, to discuss designation of your gift and to enroll you as a member of the Dr. Aryeh Geiger Society.

Charitable Gift Annuities

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is a form of life income gift established by execution of a simple agreement between you and the AFK. In exchange for your gift of cash or marketable securities, the AFK will agree to pay you or your beneficiary a fixed income for life.  The annuity return from the CGA will be, in most cases, higher than that available to you in the marketplace.

Annuity payments are based on the size of the gift, current interest rates and other market factors, and your age or the ages of your beneficiaries at the time the gift is made.  Annuity payments, once established, are fixed and will not be affected by inflation, financial market corrections, or fluctuations in the economy. (Note – we can provide a chart with current annual annuity payments based on age)

Your CGA provides you with an immediate income-tax deduction in the year it is established.  If you fund your CGA with appreciated securities, you will also avoid any capital gains tax resulting from a sale or other transfer of the securities. A portion of each annuity payment is considered a tax-free return of principal. When the contract terminates, usually upon the death of the beneficiary, the assets of the annuity revert to AFK to be used by the Society for Advancement of Education for purposes you specified.

If you are relatively young and more concerned about supplementary retirement income than about financial security for heirs, you might consider a Deferred Charitable Gift Annuity. Under this arrangement, annuity payments are put off to a future date of your choosing.  The deferral increases the charitable deduction in the year the gift is made and each year’s income payment.  The longer the period of deferment, the greater your annual income would be.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) is a lifetime gift vehicle similar to a Charitable Gift Annuity, but a CRT can be tailored to meet your specific requirements, such as special income payout rates and income payment periods The CRT is also a perfect vehicle for those who wish to fund a life income gift with real property or other non-liquid assets.

As with any other charitable gift, you will gain a charitable deduction from your taxes in the year you establish your CRT.  At the end of the term of the trust, the assets revert to AFK and are used for purposes you specified.

Gifts of Real Estate

Almost any type of property—primary residence, vacation home, farm, commercial property, etc.—can become the basis of a planned gift to the AFK. Whether by bequest or lifetime transfer, such gifts provide significant benefits to you and to the Society for Advancement of Education.

Should you gift one of your primary residence or vacation homes, you may opt for what is called a Retained Life Tenancy agreement.  This will allow you and your spouse to live in the house for the remainder of your lives, with AFK taking possession after the death of the last “life tenant.”

Meanwhile, the “life tenant” receives a charitable tax deduction in the year of the gift, avoids capital gains taxes and, usually, incurs lowered estate taxes later.

Gifts of Artworks & Other Collectibles

Valuable works of art, antiques, ancient manuscripts, jewelry, collectibles, and other personal property may also be given to AFK.  They must be accompanied by a letter of appraisal from a bona fide expert. The charitable tax deduction on gifts varies according to whether or not they are related to the educational/research mission of the Society for Advancement of Education.

Charitable Lead Trust

By establishing a Charitable Lead Trust, you provide AFK with income over a specific period. At the end of this period, the lead trust terminates and the principal reverts to your beneficiaries (children, relatives or other heirs). If properly structured, the ultimate transfer of lead trust assets to your beneficiaries can be tax-free.