Charitable Gift Annuities
The Gift That Pays You Income
Higher charitable gift annuity rates now available!
Receive lifetime income for your lifesaving gift.
There’s a way for you to help us improve and save lives with a special gift arrangement that benefits you while you help others. A Charitable Gift Annuity is one of the most popular and simple giving opportunities that will pay you income for life in exchange for your gift.
Establishing a charitable gift annuity with the American Heart Association allows you to provide a gift today with the peace of mind that you will receive dependable income for your lifetime. There are many ways to fund a charitable gift annuity, including from your IRA assets if you meet the age requirements. Depending on how you fund your gift, you can also qualify for a variety of tax benefits.
After making lifetime payments to you, the remaining funds go to the American Heart Association in support of our lifesaving mission. It’s a tax-savvy way to increase your financial security during your lifetime and make a big impact on the future of heart health.
Benefits
- Receive fixed payments for life for one or two people in exchange for your gift.
- A portion of the income received may be tax-free as well as provide a current income tax deduction.
- You may be able to fund a gift annuity tax-free using a qualified minimum distribution from your IRA, which could lower your income tax liability.
- If funded with appreciated securities, you may be able to lower or defer capital gains tax.
- You may be able to defer payments until a later date, such as when you reach retirement.
- Have the satisfaction of making a gift now that benefits you and supports our lifesaving mission.
How It Works
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An Example from an American Heart Association Donor
Meet Anita and learn how you can receive benefits and honor loved ones while helping provide more of life’s precious moments. Anita generously supports the American Heart Association through special arrangements that provide her with tax benefits and income in return.
Deferred Gift Annuity
Just like a standard charitable gift annuity you can support our fight against heart diseases and stroke, secure your future finances, receive an immediate tax deduction, and receive fixed income payments for life. But, with a deferred gift annuity you start receiving fixed payments at a set date later in life. Delaying payments until a later date allows for you to benefit from higher rates of return that continue to increase the longer you defer them.
Resources to Help You Make Your Gift
Calculate Your Benefits
Achieve Your Goals
The Legacy IRA Act
The Legacy IRA Act, as part of the SECURE Act 2.0 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which passed in December 2023, creates new charitable gift planning opportunities for donors starting at age 70½.
The Legacy IRA Act expanded the definition of qualified charitable distributions to include certain distributions to create life income gifts, specifically charitable gift annuities (CGA) and charitable remainder trusts (CRT).
The bill allows IRA owners to make a one-time distribution of up to $50,000 for a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust. Although it is not limited to a single gift, it must be completed in a single year and only once during the lifetime of the IRA owner.
Donor Spotlight: Bill and Lois Keagan
Although Bill Keagan and his sister, Lois, live in Las Vegas, they are not willing to take a gamble with what happens to their life savings once they have passed. The siblings, who are more like best friends, have no natural heirs and they knew they needed to figure out a game plan. After each making sizable profits on the sale of their homes in other states and seeing profitable returns on many stocks they owned, giving some of that money to charities felt like a logical choice. At the bowling alley Bill frequents weekly, his buddies asked why him and Lois were giving their money away. “We have the greatest faith in charities,” Bill said. “Why not give while we are alive and can see the impact we are making,” said Bill.
The siblings have given to many nonprofits over the years, but the American Heart Association is the first and only so far that they have supported through a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA), a gift that provides fixed life-long income to individuals. As adults, Bill and Lois experienced heart disease directly as their father suffered multiple heart attacks and strokes before he eventually passed from a heart attack in his sleep. It was Lois who first began giving to the American Heart Association, feeling a natural connection to the mission, eventually getting Bill involved as well. Their support had been primarily through cash donations until Bill decided to cash in several stock accounts he held to create their CGAs. “We’re no longer on a budget,” Bill said of the payments they now receive from the CGAs. “We don’t have to worry as much about inflation, we live a comfortable lifestyle.” Thanks to the lifetime income that CGAs create, Bill and Lois know they will live the remainder of their lives not worrying about money, and with the satisfaction that they are making a difference for the causes they champion.