Difference-Makers
The Loras Fund

Every contribution makes a difference in the lives of students and helps maintain and enhance the community of active learners and responsible contributors. 

As a member of the Loras community, we want to thank you for your involvement and support to our students. Our past successes would not have been possible without the dedication and generosity of people like you.

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For all other giving, call us at 563-588-4966

As we continue to advance Loras College in the areas of endowment, faculty development, student research, academic programs and facilities, we continue to ask alumni and friends to consider significant and challenging gifts which make an impact on our students, above and beyond your annual support to the Loras Fund.

Various giving strategies allow you to:

• Increase your current income.
• Avoid taxes.
• Make a generous gift to Loras College.

Click on a link below to learn more about the giving option.
Cash Pledges
Securities
Personal Property
Real Estate
Retained Life Tenancy
Life Insurance
Life Income Plans
Charitable Remainder Trust
Charitable Gift Annuity
Gifts Through Your Will By Bequest
Retirement Funds
Charitable Lead Trust

Cash Pledges
A gift of cash payable over a period of time is the most simple, convenient and immediate way to make a gift. Gifts of cash offer:

• An direct impact on our campaign.
• An income tax charitable deduction.

Securities
Gifts of appreciated securities, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds, are another way to make gifts. Using appreciated securities that have been held longer than a year to fund a creative gift offers you:

• An income tax charitable deduction for the full market value of the security.
• No capital gains tax on the appreciated portion of the gift.

Personal Property
A gift of personal property is another way to make a significant impact the College. Property such as antiques, artwork, jewelry and automobiles—to name a few—could allow you:

• An income tax charitable deduction for the full market value of the property in most cases.
• No capital gains tax in most situations.
• A reduction of your taxable estate.

Real Estate
Real estate gifts can be a great way to support Catholic education, while also talking advantage of tax and income benefits. Gifts of residences, vacation homes, rental properties, farms, commercial property and undeveloped or unimproved land could allow you:

• An income tax charitable deduction for the full market value of the property.
• The avoidance of capital gains tax.
• A reduction of your taxable estate.

Retained Life Tenancy
Another option to explore with gifts of real estate is a retained life tenancy. In this case, you can deed your home, farm or vacation home to the College and retain the right to use the property during your lifetime and the lifetime of your spouse. This provides an immediate income tax charitable deduction to you and benefits the College upon your death.

Life Insurance
A gift of life insurance to the College can also allow you to make a substantial future gift. Perhaps you have existing policies no longer needed to provide for young children or family members that can be assigned to the College. There are several ways to make gifts of life insurance. You can:

• Donate a life insurance policy that is not completely paid up.
• Donate a fully paid policy.
• Purchase a new variable, whole life or universal life policy and name Loras College as the beneficiary and owner.

Life Income Plans
Life income plans use strategies for you, as the donor, to receive regular income for life and tax benefits. In so doing, you, or the person you name, are the first to receive the income. After your lifetime, the remaining asset then becomes a gift to the College.

Examples of life income plans include charitable remainder trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable gift annuities, and other options. The following pages give a brief outline of how these various plans can benefit both you and Loras College.

Charitable Remainder Trust
With a charitable remainder trust, you transfer property to Loras College with income retained for you or someone you choose. This income is set at a fixed sum (at least 5% of the initial value) and is payable at least annually to someone other than the College, again, either you or someone you choose.

A charitable remainder trust allows you to make a gift to the College without the loss of income. For example, you could fund the gift with low dividend yielding stocks and actually improve your cash flow. You would also be allowed a current income tax charitable deduction for the future gift to the College, with the value based on the current market value of the gift without triggering taxable capital gains that was discussed earlier. The income received would be determined by you and Loras at a desired percentage and the College would receive the capital gift at your death.

To establish a charitable remainder trust, you begin by:

1. Creating an individual trust agreement.
2. Selecting beneficiaries, which could be you.
3. Deciding on the amount and duration of income to be paid.
4. Transferring the property to the trustee, or Loras, in this case.
5. Deducting the present value of your gift from your income taxes, which is the fair market value less the value of the income stream.

In addition, you may also choose to set up a charitable remainder unitrust, with the difference being that the annual amount of trust income will be based on a percentage of the annual value of the trust. The difference with a charitable remainder unitrust is that the fixed percentage, for example 5%, is based on the annual value of the trust. So, if
the principal increases, you receive more money since the 5% amount would be greater.

Charitable Gift Annuity
Another life income gift plan you may want to consider is a charitable gift annuity. In this case, the gift is not put into trust, but is simply a life annuity that will be acquired directly from the College.

With a charitable gift annuity, you make an irrevocable gift contract with the College that provides a fixed annual payment for the lifetimes of one or two people based in part on your age at the time of the gift. A charitable gift annuity may be immediate, where annuity payments begin within one year of the gift date, or deferred, where annuity
payments begin more than one year after the gift date.

Through a charitable gift annuity, you can:

• Secure high income generated by using investment earnings and part of the principal spread over your lifetime.
• Receive an income tax charitable deduction.
• Make a significant contribution to the College upon your death.
• Pay no estate taxes.

Gifts Through Your Will By Bequest
While life income gifts can be very beneficial for both you and Loras College, there are also many ways to consider making creative gifts to our cause through a bequest in your will.

You can direct a percentage or a fixed amount of your total estate to the College through your will. Keep in mind it is important to remember the many assets that make up your total estate, including cash, stocks and bonds, personal property, real estate and life insurance. These combined assets may allow you to make a significant contribution to the College through a bequest.

By including Loras in your will, you can:

• Reduce your estate taxes.
• Change your bequest at any time.
• Make a significant contribution to the College upon your death.

Retirement Funds
You can also use retirement funds for a bequest to the College. Qualified IRAs have not been taxed before distribution, so upon death, balances are included for estate taxes and also taxed as income to your beneficiaries. If you fund a charitable bequest to the College with IRA funds, you can prevent the IRA from becoming a liability of your estate, and the gift is made with pretax dollars.

The bequest does not become a liability of your estate, and your heirs avoid the income taxes on the charitable gifts and can inherit other assets that are generally free of income tax.

Another option is to consider a charitable retirement plan IRA rollover, which allows your spouse to receive income distributions for life after your death. Then the College receives the assets after the passing of your spouse.

Charitable Lead Trust
A charitable lead trust is similar to the charitable remainder trust except the donor and the charity switch places. In other words, you still set up a trust with the College, but the trust payments are made annually to the College for a term of years, and the remainder is payable to your heirs at a discounted tax value at the end of the trust agreement. This, too, can help to reduce estate taxes in many cases.