Making a Difference

A Gift That Gives Back

Imagine making a gift to us that gives back to you and/or a loved one. A charitable gift annuity does just that, positively impacting our work while providing you with a steady stream of income for life. This may be an option that works well in helping to accomplish both charitable and retirement goals.

A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a contract between you and us under which you make a gift of cash or property (typically appreciated assets like stock), and we agree to pay a fixed amount for one or two individuals for life. 

We benefit because your gift furthers the important work we do. You also benefit from this gift in a few different ways:

• You can utilize an immediate income tax deduction for the gift portion of the CGA if you itemize.
• You receive periodic income payments (typically annually or semiannually) that are partially free of federal income tax.
• If you fund the CGA with appreciated assets, you owe no immediate capital gains tax—instead, a portion of each payment is taxed as capital gains, spreading this liability out over an extended period of time.
• You remove the transferred assets from your estate for federal estate tax purposes.

Let’s look at two reasons CGAs have been particularly popular over the last couple of years.

1. CGA rates are higher than they’ve been in 17 years! The high rates of 2024 were reconfirmed for the start of 2025, meaning that now is a great time to create a CGA. Other factors that can increase your payment amount include your age (higher age = higher payment amount), the size of your gift (larger gift = higher payment amount), and when you begin taking the annuity payments (longer deferral = higher payment amount).
2. You can fund a CGA directly from an IRA. This is a relatively new one-time option for IRA owners age 70½ or older to make a gift directly from an IRA into a CGA. There is no income tax deduction for the gift, but the full amount (up to $54,000 in 2025) counts toward your required minimum distribution (RMD) if one is due (typically starting at age 73). This is a great option if you don’t need your taxable RMD. Annuity payments under this gift option can only go to you and/or your spouse and are taxed as regular income. Spouses may combine distributions from individual IRAs into a joint-life CGA if they wish. 

Read more about charitable gift annuities.