When you give back to your community through the United Way, you are making a real difference. The impact of your time or financial contribution is seen in the many programs we fund – from helping children who cannot help themselves, to seniors by bringing meaning back into their lives.
Individual Giving
As an individual, you can donate to the United Way in one of several ways:
- by participating in one of our fund raising events advertised in your community (click on the Events Calendar for more details);
- by participating in your annual United Way workplace campaign through payroll deduction. If a campaign does not exist in your workplace, encourage your employer to introduce one. We can help with advice and the necessary support material;
- by sending a cheque or money order to us payable to Renfrew County United Way (click here for our mailing address) or by completing a donation form and paying by Mastercard or Visa (click here to download a donation form or to complete it online);
- or electronically by means of United Way of Canada/Centraide Canada’s secure donation form (click here to make a donation online) (automatic income tax receipt will be issued by e-mail);
- or electronically via PayPal
- through planned giving such as transferring securities and mutual funds, taking out an insurance policy, creating a charitable remainder trust, or making a bequest are other ways you can make an investment to change lives and build futures (scroll down to find out more);
- by making a contribution to a United Way Endowment Fund managed by your Community Foundation; and
- by making a donation to the United Way in memory of or to honour a special individual who has touched your life (click here to print a memory card or recognition card).
Your contribution will go a long way with the United Way. Donations raised in Renfrew County stay in Renfrew County.
When you make a personal donation of $1,000 or more, you will be recognized as a Leadership Donor (click here to find out more about leadership giving).
All donations are eligible for a tax receipt. Income tax receipts for donations below $10 will only be provided when requested. For more details on rules regarding donations, visit the Canada Revenue Agency donor page. ( http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html )
Due to tax savings, your donation doesn’t cost as much as you may think!
Tax Benefits
For more information please visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/dnrs/svngs/clmng1b2-eng.html
Planned Giving
Note: The purpose of the following information is to provide general information, not to render legal advice. Any changes in tax legislation may affect the examples listed below. You should consult your lawyer or other professional advisor as to how this may apply to your situation.
Creating a Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder trust is an arrangement whereby a person places money into an irrevocable trust and chooses a charity as beneficiary. When the trust is established, the donor receives a tax receipt for the approximate future value of the trust. Income from the trust is paid to the donor for the duration of his/her life. When the donor passes on, the trust terminates and the principal goes to the charity.
When the estate is settled, the charitable remainder trust is placed in a United Way Endowment Fund or Strategic Priorities Fund. Here it will generate a stable source of investment income to support the United Way’s on-going work in the community.
A charitable remainder trust provides the following benefits:
• an annual income for you, your spouse or someone else you designate;
• a tax credit at the time the trust is created;
• estate tax savings when assets placed in your trust are removed from your taxable estate;
• a permanent legacy when your trust is placed in a United Way Endowment Fund.
Your financial advisor can guide you through the process of creating a charitable remainder trust. If you don’t have a financial advisor, contact your lawyer or bank manager.
Making a Bequest
A bequest in a will is fully revocable during your lifetime. It is yours to control. Your bequest can be as simple as a sentence or two in your will. For example, your bequest may specify:
• a certain sum of money: “I give to Renfrew County United Way the sum of $ ________,”;
• a particular asset: “My shares of XYZ stock,”;
• a portion of your remaining estate after other bequests have been paid: “50 per cent of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate,”;
• RRSPs, RRIFs and insurance policies may be left directly to Renfrew County United Way by naming it as beneficiary.
Should your wishes or circumstances change, you can easily make revisions at any time, simply by adding a codicil to your existing will or drafting a new will.
Remember, all these options will provide tax benefits for most people. Upon your death, your estate is entitled to a donation receipt for the full value of your bequest. This provides a significant tax credit, which may be used on your final tax return. For example, if you leave $10,000 to Renfrew County United Way and the remainder to your spouse or children, your bequest results in tax savings of up to $4,650.
If you write a will, you have power. Power over the distribution of the wealth and worldly possessions – large or small – you’ve accumulated during your lifetime. You determine how you will provide for your loved ones. Your decisions help ease the transition of your passing for the family and friends you leave behind.
When you include Renfrew County United Way in your will, you are using that power to create opportunities for a better live life for everyone. It is a gift from the heart that will continue to support the United Way’s efforts for generations to come.
Bequests to the United Way are invested in a United Way Endowment Fund or Strategic Priorities Fund. When you decide to make a bequest to Renfrew County United Way, we are ready to help. At your request, a United Way representative will meet with you – and your lawyer if you wish – to discuss your intentions.
Once you have completed your will and included a provision for Renfrew County United Way, please let us know so that we can express our gratitude.
With your permission, and as a way of encouraging others to consider a bequest, we will list your name among those who have left gifts to Renfrew County United Way as a member of our Legacy Circle. Or, if you prefer, we will keep your intentions confidential.
Making a Gift of Life Insurance
A gift of life insurance is an affordable way to make a generous gift to your favourite charity. A gift of life insurance to Renfrew County United Way enables you to effect more positive change in your community than perhaps you ever thought possible.
Your gift of life insurance will be placed in a United Way Endowment Fund or Strategic Priorities Fund. Here it will generate a stable source of investment income to support our on-going work in the community.
You may retain ownership of your life insurance policy and designate Renfrew County United Way to receive all or a portion of the proceeds at the time of your death. Or, you may transfer ownership of your policy to Renfrew County United Way, thereby relinquishing all your rights. The choice is yours.
Option 1 – United Way as Benefactor: The simplest way to give a gift of life insurance is to name Renfrew County United Way as the beneficiary of the policy. At the time of your death, the United Way will receive the proceeds. Although this will not yield any tax credit during your lifetime, the amount of death benefit paid by the policy to Renfrew County United Way would be treated as if it was a bequest made in your will. A donation receipt could be claimed in your final tax return. For example: Ms. Smith named Renfrew County United Way as beneficiary of her $100,000 life insurance policy. Upon her passing, the United Way would receive the $100,000 gift, and Ms Smith’s estate would receive a $100,000 donation receipt and a tax savings of $45,000.
Option 2 – Transferring Ownership to the United Way: You can reduce your current income taxes if you give a gift of life insurance to the United Way. Simply transfer ownership of the policy to Renfrew County United Way and you will receive a donation receipt for any cash value of the policy, which is creditable on your current year’s tax return.
If premiums are still due on your policy and you continue to pay them, you will also receive donation receipts for each additional premium paid. For example: Mr. Smith donates a paid-up live insurance policy with a face value of $100,000 and a cash value of $40,000. He will receive a $40,000 donation receipt and an $18,000 tax credit (assuming a provincial/federal tax rate of 45 per cent).
By harnessing the power of time, you can make small, regular payments on a life insurance policy that will grow over the years to produce a truly major gift to Renfrew County United Way.
Charitable giving and life insurance make a good match. They involve similar considerations: your immediate financial requirements, your future financial needs, and the emotional satisfaction of being able to help those you care about most – even after you are gone.
Remember, a gift of life insurance, with Renfrew County United Way as owner or beneficiary, is made outside your estate. It will not diminish the legacy to your family and friends. You can show generosity without compromising your family’s financial security.
Making a Gift of Appreciated Securities
Donating securities is one way you can help to change lives. Thanks to changes in federal tax laws in 2006, you can donate appreciated securities without paying any capital gains tax, and you receive a tax receipt for the full, fair market value of the shares at time of transfer. Furthermore, transfers can be made at any time, including in your will. The receiving charity will pay no tax on the sale of the securities.
Gifts of the following securities will benefit:
• shares, debt obligations and rights listed on a prescribed stock exchange;
• shares of the capital stock of a Canadian public mutual fund corporation;
• units of widely held Canadian mutual fund trusts;
• interests in related segregated fund trusts; and
• prescribed debt obligations.
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