Partnering to Transform Global Cancer Care

The International Cancer Expert Corps has a range of planned giving options to help you customize your gift of cash or other assets to suit your personal financial circumstances and that may enable you to make a more substantial gift than you thought possible.

Planned giving refers to any major gift that involves financial or estate planning. These gifts can provide important benefits both to you and to ICEC. Different types of planned gifts may include bequests, securities, charitable trusts, donor advised funds, life insurance policies, retirement plan assets, and gifts of personal property.

The most common forms of giving are direct gifts of cash and securities, but there are other types of assets that may be donated and many planned giving options that have advantageous financial and tax benefits. Planned giving contributions are critical to the ICEC’s stability and future success.

We have provided an overview of various ways of giving, highlighting some of the potential financial benefits, however, this information is not intended to provide specific advice about the legal or tax implications of charitable giving. Before making a gift to ICEC, you should consult with your financial, tax, and/or legal advisors for a thorough analysis of your individual situation to decide which of these ways of giving might work best for you.

For more information on Planned Giving options, or to make a gift to ICEC, please contact ICEC at the Office of Outreach and Development at Development@iceccancer.org

A cash gift is the simplest and most popular way of supporting ICEC. Gifts of cash are ordinarily tax deductible up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in the year of your contribution.

Readily marketable appreciated securities are the assets most commonly donated. When you donate appreciated securities, you generally do not incur any capital gains tax. You also may be eligible to receive a federal income-tax charitable deduction for the securities’ full fair market value if you have held them long term. If the donated securities were held short term your deduction may not exceed your cost basis. Because a gift of appreciated securities generally avoids capital gains taxes, this type of gift may have a lower after-tax cost to you than an equivalent gift of cash. In addition to stock, you may donate bonds and mutual fund shares to ICEC.

A charitable bequest is simply a distribution from your estate to a charitable organization through your last will and testament. Bequests are the most popular type of planned gift. Whether you wish to provide general operating income for ICEC to use wherever it is most needed (which provides the most flexibility for ICEC) or to support a specific program at the ICEC, your bequest expresses your lasting commitment to ICEC. A bequest to ICEC may also help you meet your financial and estate-planning goals since an estate-tax charitable deduction for the entire amount of the gift is allowed. While your will (or codicil) should be prepared by your attorney in consultation with your advisors, the ICEC’s Office of Outreach and Development is available to discuss these various giving opportunities with you.

Charitable remainder trusts allow you to make a customized gift to ICEC and at the same time retain a benefit from the assets you give. To establish a remainder trust, you make an irrevocable contribution of cash, securities, or other property, which is placed in trust. The trust pays an income stream to one or more named beneficiaries (which can include you) for life and/or for a set term of years, and the ICEC receives the right to principal as a remainder interest. Because charitable remainder trusts (like an IRA or 401(k)) are tax-exempt, this deferral feature can make them a useful retirement planning tool if you are willing to defer your receipt of an income stream. Charitable remainder trusts are typically funded with assets worth $100,000 or more. Establishing such a trust generally entitles you to claim an immediate income-tax charitable deduction. Consult your financial, tax, and legal advisors for more information on charitable remainder trusts as they pertain to your individual needs.

A charitable lead trust is the reverse of a charitable remainder trust; the gift to ICEC is the income stream from the trust, not the remainder. Charitable lead trusts enable you to provide an income stream to the ICEC immediately for a set term of years or for a term measured by one or more lifetimes after which the trust assets pass to you or your estate or to your heirs. Leaving the asset to heirs can significantly reduce the gift or estate tax that would otherwise apply. If you think a charitable lead trust could be a useful way to structure a gift to ICEC, you should review the alternatives for structuring the trust with your financial, tax, and legal advisors.

Assets in qualified (tax-deferred) retirement plans may represent a large portion of your total assets and therefore may be an important factor in planning bequeathed charitable gifts. Retirement assets generally considered suitable for charitable gifts include such plans as IRAs, Keoghs, pension plans, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and stock ownership plans. These assets are subject to income tax and may also be subject to estate tax and generation skipping transfer tax when left to family members or friends. Because of this potential double layer of tax, retirement plan assets may be particularly attractive as an asset to leave to ICEC. If you are thinking about donating retirement plan assets to the ICEC, you should discuss the details with your advisors.

Naming ICEC the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy that is no longer needed to provide for dependents offers a simple way to support ICEC. Since you are the policy owner, the value of the policy will be included in your estate, but an offsetting estate-tax charitable deduction will generally be allowed. You may also be able to assign an existing whole life policy to ICEC, irrevocably making the ICEC the owner and beneficiary, and claim an income-tax charitable deduction for the lesser of either your basis in the policy or its fair market value in that year. If additional premium payments are due, you may donate cash or the equivalent to ICEC to pay the premiums each year and claim a full tax deduction for the gift. Lastly, you may be able to purchase a new policy naming ICEC as owner and beneficiary, pay the annual premiums (through ICEC), and claim the premium amount as a charitable contribution. If you are considering donating a life insurance policy to ICEC, consult your advisors about the possible state law restrictions on such a gift and about the amount of the charitable deduction you can expect to receive.

Personal property, such as books, artwork, jewelry, antiques, and the like, may be donated to ICEC during your lifetime or by bequest. The ICEC will give consideration to such gifts before it accepts them. If you are contemplating donating personal property to the ICEC, please contact the Office of Outreach and Development.