Planned Giving
You have spent a lifetime building your legacy and it's important to make decisions as to how it will live on. Planned gifts made to ARCH will outlast your lifetime and touch the lives of future generations.
There are several ways you can support ARCH Hospice through planned giving:
Donations of Estate
ARCH Hospice gratefully accepts gifts of estate. There are several options available for donating estate. Two of the most common methods are:
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Direct donation – occurs when you make an estate donation to a charitable organization outright. This doesn’t activate capital gains tax and results in a charitable tax deduction.
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Bequest – A bequest is not an immediate donation. This occurs when a charitable organization is identified as a beneficiary in the donor’s Will upon his/her death.
Notifying ARCH of your gift allows us to thank you personally, plan for future programs and services, and continue fulfilling our mission to provide quality, compassionate care through end-of-life.
Donations of Securities
Securities can include stocks, mutual funds, segregated funds, bonds, flow-through shares, and employee stock options. You can give now, or as part of your estate and Will planning.
By donating publicly traded securities directly, you eliminate the capital gains (profit from the sale of property or of an investment) tax that you’d have to pay if you sold the securities and then donated the proceeds. You’ll also receive a charitable tax receipt for your donation.
If you are interested in donating gifts of securities, click here.
Donations of Life Insurance
A gift of life insurance is an effective way to make a substantial future donation to your charity of choice by making a modest annual investment.
Charity is Owner of Life Insurance Policy
You purchase the life insurance policy and arrange the terms of payment (often people choose to make donations to the charity and the charity then pays the premiums). The charity then becomes the owner of the policy. As the owner of the policy and the beneficiary of its proceeds, only the charity can change the beneficiary. This ensures your gift goes to the charity when you die, and the proceeds cannot be contested, taxed, or claimed by your creditors.
Your financial advisor can help you take advantage of the tax savings that derive from this type of planned giving. Since the policy is owned by the charity and the charity is the beneficiary, the proceeds pass outside of your estate. Therefore probate fees will not apply to the gift. You are eligible for a tax receipt for all of the premiums you pay after the charity obtains ownership of your policy. You can also receive a tax receipt for the fair market value of the policy if you donate an existing permanent policy.
Donor Remains Owner of Life Insurance Policy
If you prefer to retain ownership of your life insurance policy, the process and outcomes are slightly different.
As the owner of your policy, you remain able to change beneficiaries whenever you want. You also have access to the cash value within a permanent life insurance policy during your lifetime, should you need it. If you choose to designate a charity as the beneficiary, the charity will receive the proceeds of your policy upon your death. The death benefit is received tax-free by the charity.
In addition, in the year of your death the charity will issue a charitable receipt for 100% of the amount paid to the charity. The proceeds of your policy will count as a charitable donation on your final tax return – the one prepared on your behalf.
However, when you retain ownership of the policy, you will not receive tax receipts for the premiums paid during your lifetime.
Bequests and Wills
By remembering ARCH Hospice in your estate plans, you join a very special group of individuals who are helping ensure compassionate end-of-life care – now and in the future.
There are different types of gifts that can be included in your Will:
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Specific bequest: a specified dollar amount, or a specific item of property, that is left to a named beneficiary
Sample wording: I bequest to ARCH Hospice the sum of $_______ to be
used for any purpose(s) approved by the Board of Directors of ARCH
Hospice, unless otherwise agreed upon.
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Residual bequest: a percentage or share of the remainder of your estate after other gifts and liabilities have been paid out
Sample wording: I bequest to ARCH Hospice ____% of the remainder of
my estate.
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Contingent bequest: a percentage or share of your estate paid only in the event that other named beneficiaries have predeceased you
Sample wording: If my husband [name] does not survive me, I give
to ARCH Hospice ____% of my estate.
Gifts of RRSP's and TFSA's
You can maximize a retirement plan’s benefits by naming your charity of choice as a direct beneficiary of your RRSP or RRIF and leaving a legacy that will help continue to support quality, compassionate end-of-life care.
Donating funds from a TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account) is another meaningful option if you are considering leaving a legacy. Similar to RRSPs and RRIFs, you can name your charity of choice as a direct beneficiary.
Choosing to name ARCH Hospice as a direct beneficiary of registered funds or TFSAs means your gift passes directly to ARCH, avoiding probate fees and triggering a tax receipt that can offset other tax owing within your estate.
Gifting of registered funds or funds from a TFSA can be easily accomplished without the assistance of a lawyer. You simply change the beneficiary information on the plan and advise the institution holding the account of the change. Unlike some other types of planned giving, you remain the owner of the RRSP, RRIF or TFSA so you have the ability to change beneficiaries whenever you’d like. You can designate ARCH Hospice as a partial or full beneficiary, providing great flexibility to your legacy gift.
If you are interested in supporting ARCH Hospice with any type of planned gift, it is always a good idea to talk with your financial adviser about your financial goals. Thank you for supporting us in such a meaningful way!