At the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), we welcome the opportunity to work with you and your advisors to evaluate your charitable giving strategy. Learn more about the many giving options available, each with certain tax benefits and income potential. Every situation is different, so it’s important to examine your charitable goals, lifetime income needs and family situation.

Together we can begin the process, determine what works best for you, choose the concepts that will help you realize your objectives and put this valuable plan in place. To discuss planned giving options, please contact Tommy Amal, chief advancement officer, at tamal@nacacnet.org.

A Note About Charitable Income Tax Deductions

Many charitable gifts qualify for an income tax deduction. These deductions are subject to limitations based on your adjusted gross income (AGI). For gifts to qualified public charities like ours, those limits are 60% of AGI for gifts of cash, 30% of AGI for gifts of long-term appreciated assets (such as stock or real estate), and 50% of AGI for other non-cash gifts. Excess gift amounts can typically be carried forward for up to five years.
Starting in 2026, there are two new limitations:

1. A new “giving floor.” Only gift amounts that exceed 0.5% of AGI qualify for a charitable income tax deduction. For example, if your AGI is $300,000, only gift amounts over $1,500 are eligible for a deduction.
2. A new cap on deductions for high earners. If you’re in the top 37% tax bracket, the tax benefit of your charitable deductions is limited to 35%.

In addition to these new limits, there is a new deduction for cash gifts. Even if you don’t itemize, you can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint filers) for cash gifts to qualified charities (not including donor-advised funds), making even modest gifts more rewarding.

A Gift in Your Will

A popular and enduring planned gift is a simple gift in your will. This is a powerful opportunity to leave a lasting legacy. When you make a gift in your will, you retain full use of your property during life, so there is no disruption of your lifestyle and no immediate out-of-pocket cost.

In either a new or existing will, simply designate that part of your estate passes directly to us. You have remarkable flexibility in how you make this designation. For example, you can leave:

• a specific asset
• a specific sum of money
• a percentage of your estate
• what remains of your estate after you have provided for all of your other beneficiaries

You can also state exactly how you want your gift to be put to use. Or, you can provide an unrestricted gift that can be used whenever and wherever it’s needed most. Most importantly, you can change your gift whenever you choose—you remain in complete control of the planning process.

Contact us via the form below for more information about making a gift in your will.

Charitable Gift Annuity—Make a Gift, Receive Payments for Life

A gift annuity is an agreement between you and us. When a charitable gift annuity is in place, we agree to pay you fixed payments for your life (and/or the life of your chosen beneficiary). The amount of the annuity is based on the gift amount and age of the annuitant(s) at the time of the gift.

A gift annuity can be established with a modest contribution and provides a number of very attractive benefits. You can:

• fund it with cash or marketable securities
• qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the gift (subject to limitations), and
• potentially spread out any capital gains tax liability.

What’s more, part of your annuity payment may be free of federal income tax for a certain number of years. As a donor, you can select the payment intervals (usually quarterly or annually) and name one or two people as the annuitants.

Those who frequently max out their annual retirement plan contributions may want to consider a deferred gift annuity strategy. Deferred gift annuities start payments at least one year after creation and offer three important benefits:

1. They can be used to supplement qualified retirement plan savings.
2. You qualify for a current income tax deduction now during your high-income years.
3. You can postpone the start of annuity payments until later—usually after retirement begins.

Now is a great time to consider this giving option as gift annuity rates are the highest they’ve been in years.

Sample one-life gift annuity rates, effective since January 2024

Contact us via the form below for more information about charitable gift annuities.