Giving through your estate plan

Giving through your estate plan Kalamazoo Community Foundation

Love where you live Here in Kalamazoo County you can enjoy a leisurely day on a sandy beach or a hike in a lush forest. You can run a marathon, visit a farmers’ market, cheer on professional athletes, play a round of golf, or take in a concert or play.

You can sample a tasty offering at a locally-owned winery, brewery or restaurant; discover a new artist at a monthly art event or annual art fair; or explore an award-winning nature center, museum or library.

Kalamazoo County is home to farms that feed people around the country, greenhouses that beautify communities near and far, and companies that make medicines and devices people the world over count on every day.

Kalamazoo County also is home to the first public high school in the state, nationally-recognized universities and colleges, a revolutionary scholarship program, and an education initiative that is creating a community-wide culture of learning.

But you know all that. It’s why you love living here.

You also know our community has needs. We believe, by working together, we can make Kalamazoo County a place where every person can reach full potential. A place where we all love to live.

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Cover Photo: Brady Township

Kalamazoo Community Foundation | 402 East Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo

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Kalamazoo Transportation Center | 459 North Burdick Street, Kalamazoo

Make an impact A bequest or other planned gift to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation is a simple way to make an impact. It could even enable you to give far more than you ever thought possible.

We offer a variety of ways for you to leave a legacy and show your love for our community. We can help you design a fund that will support a particular community need or specific organization. We also can help you establish a fund that can adapt to help address Kalamazoo County’s ever-changing needs.

Your planned gift will become part of a permanent endowment, protected and invested to help our community forever. Your gift will grow and be used to address needs that are important to you now and in the future.

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What you can do Here are some options for you to consider for your planned gift.

Bequest When you include us in your estate plan, you may reduce your estate taxes while supporting our community. This can be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or what remains after other bequests are made. No bequest is too small.

Retirement Assets Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) or other qualified retirement plans are often the best types of assets to leave to charity. When you leave retirement plan assets to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, 100 percent of the gift will support your charitable interests. If you’re age 70 1/2 or older, you and your spouse can each transfer up to $100,000 from an IRA to an Unrestricted, Designated, Field-of-Interest or Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation tax-free.

Real Estate You can turn your property’s value into community good by making a gift of real estate. Your real estate gift can be your primary residence or vacation home, or even rental property, farm land, commercially developed land or vacant land. If you would like to continue to live in or otherwise use the property, we can help you create a retained life estate. When you create a retained life estate, you deed the property to the Community Foundation, continue to use it during your lifetime, and enjoy a tax deduction for the value of the remainder.

Insurance Policies Many people find in later years they don’t need all the insurance they did when they were younger. Giving a gift of life insurance is an inexpensive way to make

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a substantial contribution. You can name the Community Foundation as a beneficiary of an insurance policy or donate the policy outright and receive a current income tax deduction.

Charitable Gift Annuity A charitable gift annuity guarantees you income for life and provides immediate income tax benefits. The annuity payment depends on the annuitant’s age: the older you are, the higher the payment. If you choose, you can receive an income tax deduction now and defer receiving the annuity payments until a future date you choose. After you receive annuity payments for life, the Community Foundation will use the remainder to address the community needs most important to you.

Charitable Remainder Trust A charitable remainder trust provides payments to you or another beneficiary for life or a specified number of years. At the end of the trust term, the remainder is distributed to the Community Foundation to benefit the organizations or community needs you specify. You may set up a charitable remainder trust during your lifetime or through your estate plan.

Charitable Lead Trust With a charitable lead trust, you donate income from the trust to the Community Foundation and retain the principal. Through the trust, you determine how much will be paid to the Community Foundation and for how long. When the trust terminates, the principal is returned to you or distributed to others you designate. The trust assets pass to the recipients at a reduced tax cost — sometimes even tax-free.

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What you can expect Here’s what you can expect when you make a planned gift to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

Stability We have been honoring the intent of our donors since 1925 and we will continue to do so forever.

Knowledge We have an unparalleled base of knowledge built through nearly a century of community involvement. We use this knowledge to ensure your gift is used the way you want it to be used, and that the issues, causes and community you care about are supported.

Leadership We lead through collaboration and partnerships. This enables us to better leverage resources and achieve more than if we work in isolation.

Impact We give grants to Kalamazoo County nonprofits addressing immediate community needs, as well as those collaborating with others to create long-term, transformative change.

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Barn Theatre | 13351 M-96, Augusta

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Food Dance | 401 East Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo

How we can help Whether you have a crystal clear concept of what you hope to accomplish with your planned gift, or only an idea that is just beginning to take shape, we can lend a hand. We are here to help you leave a legacy that will make Kalamazoo County a place where every person can reach full potential. A place where we all love to live.

It only takes a simple phone call or email to set up a time to talk with a member of our Donor Relations team. We are happy to welcome you to our office in downtown Kalamazoo or meet you somewhere that is convenient and comfortable for you. To get in touch with our Donor Relations team, you can: Call 269.381.4416 Email donorrelations@kalfound.org Visit www.kalfound.org/ourteam

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402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888 269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org

Photography Robert Neumann | Robert Neumann Photography | Big Event Studios

2016