Legacy Giving

Legacy Fund

In 2007, New Covenant established an Endowment Fund that has provided members and friends the opportunity to make charitable gifts that became part of a permanent fund to support ministries, growth, and opportunities for others to worship long into the future. Under the guidance of a new sub-committee of the Finance Committee, the name has been changed to Legacy Fund in 2023. The Legacy Fund says that your church believes in its future and wishes to be guided in stewardship by the belief that all we have is from God and wants to create a legacy for future generations.

Legacy Giving

It takes a lifetime to build your assets and establish your ideals and culture of Christian stewardship.

When you make a Legacy Gift to benefit New Covenant United Methodist Church through a bequest in your will, retirement assets, life insurance, real estate or an income producing gift, you let others know how much you value the work and results of the ministries of New Covenant.

The future of New Covenant’s ministries will remain viable and beneficial because of your generosity and willingness to participate in its future growth and continuance.

Planned Gifts

  • A simple way to give to the church is to include the church in your will with a gift of a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your estate.

  • A charitable gift annuity provides the donor with an immediate tax deduction and a fixed income for life. Upon the death of the donor, the corpus of the annuity goes to the designated charitable beneficiary.

  • Transfers of stocks or mutual funds may be made directly from your brokerage account to New Covenant United Methodist Church. These gifts are tax deductible at the full market value subject to some limitations. The gain is not subject to taxation since the appreciated securities are be- ing donated to charity.

  • Many times families have paid-up life insurance policies that were originally taken out to cover mortgage expenses or pay for college. If these reasons are no longer an issue, a paid- up insurance policy can be a wonderful way to make a gift to the church. The tax deduction is equal to the replacement value or the donor’s cost in the policy, whichever is less. The church will have the option of retaining the policy or taking the current cash surrender value.

    Donors may also make a significant deferred gift to the church by designating New Covenant as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan.

  • A charitable remainder trust provides an income benefit to the donor and a gift to the church after a specified time period or at the time of the donor’s death.

  • A lead trust can be established to provide income to the church for a specified term of years. After the term of years, the assets in the trust revert back to the donor or the donor’s heirs. Cash, securities and some types of real estate can be used to fund the trust. There is no income tax deduction for this type of gift, but there is an estate tax savings.

  • One can make a gift of personal property to New Covenant United Methodist Church to help support church outreach. Items can include antiques, works of art, coin or stamp collections as well as other valuable assets. These items are generally taxed at a higher capital gains rate if sold. However, they are generally tax-deductible at their base cost and not their fair-market value.cription

  • A gift of real estate will generate a tax deduction for the full appraised fair-market value. Like securities, the capital gain is not taxable to the donor or the church. Donors who prefer to give a gift of real estate to the church at some future date can set up a “retained life estate” whereby they designate the ownership of their home to the church but retain occupancy during their lifetime.

    Planned Gift Giving to the Legacy Fund is in- vested to help ensure the church can continue its ministry, services, facilities and missions beyond our lifetime.

Legacy Donors

Donors to the Legacy Fund of at least $10,000, in life or upon death, are recognized as being part of the Legacy Society. These donors are gratefully acknowledged, if they so desire, with an engraved plaque on our “Giving Tree” located in the gathering area.

Gifts of any size are always welcome and are considered a tax-deductible donation. Cash, insurance policies and publicly-traded securities may be gifted without restriction.

A 401(k) and IRA are excellent vehicles since a noncharitable heir would be taxed at regular income tax rates (and possibly estate taxes as well) whereas a charitable beneficiary would not be subject to either tax. Closely-held secu- rities, real property, intangible personal prop- erty and other types of property may be gift- ed in accordance with the “Gifts Acceptance Policy.”

Some gifts to the Legacy Fund require advanced planning and donors should seek the advice of an attorney, financial advisor or tax advisor before making a gift.

Make a Gift

Contribute to the Legacy Fund

For more information or to pick up a Legacy Donor Declaration form, please contact the New Covenant Finance Manager, Linda Stubits, by phone (352-750-4529) or by email using the button below.

Note

The purpose of this webpage is to provide general gift giving information. New Covenant is not engaged in rendering legal, financial or tax advisory assistance or advisory service. Florida state laws govern wills trusts and charitable gifts given in a contractual agreement. For advice and assistance in specific cases, the services of an attorney or other professional adviser should be obtained.