What is a planned gift? It’s a term that, quite simply, means you are making plans now to give a gift to the IEEE at a later date, through your will. Best of all, you can make a planned gift regardless of your income level.

Planned gifts offer a number of benefits. For instance:

• You can receive income for life in exchange for a planned gift.
• Some assets can benefit you more if you give them away.
• Some planned gifts enable tax savings that mean you can pass more of your estate on to your heirs.

There are many ways to remember a nonprofit organization—like the IEEE’s charitable partner the IEEE Foundation—in your estate plans, and you may be surprised to discover how inexpensive and convenient most of them are to accomplish. Charitable giving does not require great wealth. What it does require is generosity of spirit—the desire to share what you have for the benefit of others. The ultimate value of your contribution will not be measured in dollars and cents; it’s measured in the difference it makes in the betterment of society.

Below are the top four reasons to consider making a planned gift:

1. You can make a bigger difference than you think.
   Most of your assets are probably not in your checkbook. Planned gifts allow you to take property you do not usually think about and convert it into a generous gift. Visit IEEE Foundation website at ieeefoundation.org/how-to-give or contact Karen Galuchie, IEEE Foundation executive director, at +1 732 562-3860 or k.galuchie@ieee.org to learn more.
2. Your planned gift can be a “back-up plan.”
   Naming the IEEE Foundation as a “contingent beneficiary” in your estate planning means that if some other condition of your plan is not met (such as another beneficiary passing away before you), the gift goes to the charity.
3. You can make a gift that costs you nothing.
   Most gifts through your will, revocable trust, life insurance policy, or retirement account will make a big difference to the IEEE, but will not cost you a thing while you are alive.
4. You can choose to benefit the IEEE or pay the government.
   Many planned gifts are offset by substantial savings in federal or state taxes. This is especially true of gifts from an individual retirement account or similar retirement account.

There are many more compelling reasons for making a planned gift to support the IEEE. For details, visit ieeefoundation.org or reach out to Karen Galuchie at the aforementioned contact points to learn more.

Photo: Unsplash/Micheile Henderson