To ensure a lasting legacy, Schools Plus has established an Endowment Fund. The Endowment Fund provides gift givers with a tax deductible, highly regarded entity for giving. This supports a source of perpetual funding of school-based enrichment programs from income generated by professional management.

The Charitable Remainder Trust

This is a method by which one can contribute to the Schools Plus Endowment Fund. A charitable remainder trust is the legal arrangement that one can use to give to a charity now, while making the gift effective only after the giver or another income beneficiary has received income from the gift for as long as he or she lives. This type of trust has a great advantage over simply making an outright gift, either while one is alive or in a will. That advantage is the present tax deduction one can employ for what is effectively a future gift. A charitable remainder trust allows the benefactor to:

• Give now
• Deduct now
• Deliver the gift later

This delayed delivery allows the benefactor—or another beneficiary—to continue to receive income from the gift during the time before the trustee delivers the trust's assets to the charity.

For the tax year when the trustee makes the gift, the benefactor may deduct the entire present value of the charity's interest in the charitable remainder—the assets the charity will ultimately receive. The benefactor can still take the deduction if the benefactor is also the beneficiary who receives the trust's income during the term of the trust.

To qualify for a deduction, a charitable remainder trust must comply with a number of considerations best outlined by an estate planning attorney and tax advisor.

Other Tax Efficient Gift Options

Schools Plus Endowment Fund allows for the receipt of appreciated assets (securities including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, art, etc.), providing the benefactor a deductible contribution of the present value of the gifted asset.