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Planned Giving

Invest in new Mexico Communities

Become a member of the Legacy Circle by including NMCF in your Estate Plan

Become a member of our Legacy Circle by including NMCF as a beneficiary of your estate planning. NMCF has professional staff available to help you make complex giving simple. Whether you have highly appreciated stock, real estate, insurance assets, or closely held stock we can help craft a philanthropic strategy to meet your needs.

For a financial illustration demonstrating the impact of any of these types of planning, please contact Michael Chamberlain, J.D., Chief Operating Officer by email: mchamberlain@nmcf.org or call 505.820.6860

We look forward to meeting with you and your financial planner to discuss your philanthropy opportunities through NMCF planned giving.

Gift through a Will or Living Trust

Gifts through your Will or Revocable Living Trust are direct and simple to accomplish. If it is time to review your Will or Trust, consider using one of the following approaches. If your Will or Trust is otherwise up to date, consider contacting your advisor to add a codicil amendment.

General Bequest
A general bequest is considered primary in your Will, so it is virtually certain to be fulfilled. You may simply include a general bequest such as “$100,000 dollars to the New Mexico Community Foundation for its permanent unrestricted endowment fund.”

Percentage Bequest
35% of my estate to the New Mexico Community Foundation
An alternative to a general bequest, this approach makes a gift of a pre-determined percentage of your valued estate. This preserves the gift value to New Mexico Community Foundation as the value of your estate increases.

Specific Bequest
500 of shares of Coca-Cola stock
You may wish to give a particular asset to the Foundation, such as a particular stock or a certain piece of real estate. Note: that if the asset doesn’t exist in the estate, no gift will be made.

Residuary Bequest
The rest and residue (or a %) of my estate to the NMCF
This approach makes a gift of everything or a percentage of everything after all costs, general bequests, and specific bequests are satisfied. It often is a good planning tool, since it ensures that primary bequests will be satisfied ahead of the secondary bequest.

Contingent Bequest
If my spouse is not living at the time of my death, then a gift to NMCF
A gift would come to the Foundation depending on whether the “triggering” event had occurred. For example, this approach is used to ensure that a bequest goes to a living spouse, but in the case where the spouse is pre-deceased, then the gift would pass to the Foundation.

Testamentary Trust
Income to my nephew until he reaches the age of 30, then to NMCF
A trust can be established for a term of years, or for the lifetime benefit of a loved one, then the “deferred bequest” comes to the Foundation.

Testamentary Lead Trust
Income to the New Mexico Community Foundation from the Trust for 5 years then to my nephew
This gives a gift from the income from a lead trust to the Foundation, then after a specified period of time the trust begins to work for the beneficiary.

Life Insurance

If there is a life insurance policy in force, either paid-up or still requiring premium payments, but is no longer serving its initial purpose, then a gift opportunity exists. Many of these forgotten policies also have accumulated cash value which makes them even more attractive as a gift.

Gift Opportunities Using Insurance

  • Making NMCF the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of the policy. No charitable deduction is available, just a thoughtful gift.
  • Making NMCF the owner of the current policy. The greater of the accumulated cash value or premiums paid to date is deductible, as are any future premiums paid.
  • Taking out a new policy with NMCF as the owner. Premiums are deductible.

Life insurance is also a potent planning tool when considering a planned gift, since it can often be used to “replace” assets placed in a charitable trust.

Life insurance purchased by an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) may also serve to protect assets by shifting otherwise taxable assets out of the estate.

Pension Plans

Qualified plans are sometimes the worst gift to leave to heirs, since there can be both estate tax consequences and income tax (income in respect of the decedent is taxed). It is worth careful planning so that both estate and income taxes can be avoided.

However, with the recent extension of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 donors have new opportunities to make a strategic gift directly from their IRA to NMCF. A number of restrictions apply, most notably that the the gift may not be contributed to a donor advised fund. NMCF has a number of field of interest funds that qualify.

Gift of Appreciated Assets or Real Property

Preserve the Full Market Value of the Asset By directly funding a gift to NMCF with appreciated property, such as stocks or real estate held more than one year, the full gift value is preserved for NMCF who would sell the asset without incurring tax. There is no capital gain tax to the donor.

Enjoy both a State and Federal Income Tax Deduction for the Full Market Value. The full gift value is deductible for taxpayers who itemize. In the case of appreciated property, deduction is limited to 30% of adjusted gross income in the year of the gift, but excess deduction can be used in the subsequent 5 years as a carryover.

Life Income Trust

Using highly appreciated property such as stock or real estate to create a Charitable Remainder or Annuity trust is a potent gift planning strategy. In both cases, the donor (and spouse) receives income for life from the trust investments and at death NMCF receives the corpus of the trust. There are important income and estate tax advantages that are available.