Planned Gifts

What Is Planned Giving?

Planned giving allows donors to maintain access to income during their lifetimes, provides estate and tax planning tools, and builds permanent wealth for our state’s charities, nonprofit organizations and local community foundations.

Each individual, family, or organization we work with has unique charitable interests… and unique financial circumstances. We help you make the most of both, so you receive the greatest return on your community investment.

Planned gifts may produce significant tax savings. They often help a donor avoid or stretch out payment of capital gains taxes, earn federal and state income tax deductions, reduce the size of the donor’s estate, and, if given to a Montana endowment, may be eligible for the Montana Endowment Tax Credit.

The Montana Endowment Tax Credit allows donors to pay less in Montana state income taxes when they give a qualifying planned gift to a qualified Montana charitable endowment. The incentive is 40% of the gift's federal charitable deduction, up to a maximum $10,000 tax credit, per year, per individual, and a credit of 20% of a direct gift by a qualified business, up to a maximum of $10,000 per year.

This page summarizes the different kinds of planned gifts we manage. You can run different scenarios for most of these gift instruments using our Planned Giving Calculator.

Gift Annuities

Charitable Gift Annuity. Your client can make a gift of cash or property to the Montana Community Foundation now, get immediate tax benefits, and ensure that they or a loved one receive fixed quarterly or annual income payments for life.

Deferred Gift Annuity. The same instrument as a Charitable Gift Annuity, except that the annuity payments are deferred to the maximum age allowed by the IRS, which creates greater tax savings. This is the gift instrument we recommend most often for clients who want to take advantage of the Montana Endowment Tax Credit.

Charitable Trusts

You can place cash or property in a trust that pays annual income to you (or another named beneficiary) for life. After death, the remainder of the trust transfers to the Montana Community Foundation and is placed into a charitable fund. Donors receive income tax benefits the year they establish the trust. When designated to benefit a permanent endowment at the Foundation, this gift allows donors to take advantage of the Montana Endowment Tax Credit. These are the different types of trusts we manage:

Charitable Remainder Unitrust. The unitrust pays a fixed percentage of its value, determined each year, to you or others you name for life or a term of years. The remaining assets then go to charity.

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust. The trust pays a fixed dollar amount each year to you or others you name for life or a term of years. The remaining assets then go to charity.

Charitable Lead Unitrust. The unitrust pays a fixed percentage of its value, determined each year, to charity for a term of years or one or more lifetimes. The accumulated assets then go back to you or others you name.

Charitable Lead Annuity Trust. The trust pays a fixed dollar amount each year to charity for a term of years or one or more lifetimes. The accumulated assets then go back to you or others you name.

For more information about establishing a charitable trust at the Foundation, please contact us.

Estate Gifts

Bequest by Will. You can designate a gift or portion of your estate to establish or give to a fund at the Montana Community Foundation and, in some cases, receive a substantial reduction in federal gift and estate taxes.

Retained Life Estate. Donors can deed their home or farm to charity, but retain the right to live in it for the rest of their lives, a term of years, or a combination of the two.

For more information about estate gifts, please contact us.

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