The Gratiot County Community Foundation offers a variety of giving tools to help you achieve your charitable goals. You can make gifts of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets to the Community Foundation. Most charitable gifts qualify for maximum tax advantages under state and federal law.

Cash

You can make a gift of cash by check, credit card, or online through our Network for Good contribution tool.

Real Estate

Making a charitable gift of real estate through the Community Foundation can help you turn your property gains into community good.

The value of your real estate may exceed that of any other asset you own.

With the help of the Community Foundation, you can utilize it to fulfill your charitable interests and receive financial and tax benefits.

Appreciated Stock

Everybody wins when you make a gift of appreciated stock to the Community Foundation. Your gains are put to good use. Your gift of stock is reinvested in our community, and it qualifies for an immediate tax deduction based on the full market value. By giving stock through the Foundation, you can avoid capital gains taxes that would be due as a result of its sale. With gifts of appreciated stock, your stock market earnings translate into community impact by benefiting the local causes and organizations you care about most.

Bequests

Including a charitable bequest in your will or trust is a simple way to make a lasting gift to your community.

When you make this gift through the Foundation, your gift benefits the community forever and becomes your personal legacy of giving.

Bequests are not the only means for supporting the Gratiot County Community Foundation in your estate plan.

Other planned giving instruments can provide a life income stream to the donor and/or heirs, transfer assets from one generation to the next, and provide a charitable tax deduction at the time of the gift. Our staff can explain all these other means of supporting the Gratiot County Community Foundation.

Those who have chosen to support the Foundation through a planned gift are recognized by membership in the Legacy Society. If you have already included the Foundation in your estate plans, please let us know so that we can thank you now for your generous and thoughtful support.

If you are interested in discussing options for your own gifts to the Gratiot County Community Foundation, whether outright or through planned giving, please contact us at 989-875-4222.

Life Insurance

Life insurance provides a simple way for you to give a significant gift to charity and establish your legacy, with tax benefits that you can enjoy during your lifetime.

You can make a gift when life insurance is no longer needed for personal financial wealth replacement by either giving a paid-up policy or continuing to pay premiums. You may receive a number of tax benefits, including reduced estate and income taxes.

And, if you choose to continue paying premiums through the Foundation, you will be entitled to a charitable contributions deduction of up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income.

Charitable Gift Annuity

Giving through a Charitable Gift Annuity allows you to arrange a generous gift to your community, while providing yourself a new income source you can count on for the rest of your life.

We set up a contract with you that combines immediate annuity payments with a deferred charitable gift. You receive a stream of income that is fixed, regardless of market conditions. Upon your death, we set up a charitable fund on your behalf.

A Charitable Gift Annuity reduces estate assets and may in turn reduce estate taxes. Plus, it is easier to set up than a charitable trust and is backed by the general assets of the Community Foundation.

Charitable Beneficiary Designation

Naming the Community Foundation as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, IRA, or life insurance policy is not only easy to do, it is a way to make a lasting gift to your community that may not be possible during your lifetime.