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Planned Giving

Your Gift Matters

Make a Big Impact with a Future Gift

Generosity comes in many forms, and it’s often the best way to support important causes that matter the most to you in your life. When you give to Orange County United Way (501c3), you help create brighter futures for everyone in Orange County, today and for generations to come.

Your investment in our work helps mobilize our community to address our county’s most pressing needs. You help strengthen local resilience, expand opportunities for our youth, empower families to build financial stability, ensure access to safe and stable housing, and connect our vulnerable residents to crucial health and human resource services. You help uplift Orange County so that everyone has the support they need to reach their full potential.

You have giving options

We will work with you to find a charitable plan that lets you provide for your family and support United Way. Your gift could be anonymous or announced as part of our Legacy Circle.

Choose your way to give:

Income Gifts

Charitable Gift Annuities

Support Orange County United Way and feel confident that you have dependable income in your retirement years.

How it works

This type of donation can provide you with regular payments and allow us to further our work.

Tax benefits

If you fund your gift annuity with cash or appreciated property, you qualify for a federal income tax deduction if you itemize. In addition, you can minimize capital gains taxes when you fund your gift with appreciated property.
And now, you can fund your gift using your IRA assets. If you are 70½ and older, you can make a one-time election of up to $54,000 to fund a gift annuity. While your gift does not qualify for an income tax deduction, it does escape income tax liability on the transfer and count toward all or part of your required minimum distributions.

Income Gifts

Charitable Remainder Trusts

A good option if you have built a sizable estate and are looking for ways to receive reliable payments.

How it works

At the end of the trust term, the balance in the trust goes to Orange County United Way.

Tax benefits

The annuity trust pays you, each year, the same dollar amount you choose at the start. Your payments stay the same, regardless of fluctuations in trust investments.
The unitrust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments is redetermined annually. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. However, if the value decreases, so will your payments.

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Estate Planned Gifts

Wills and Living Trusts

Adjustable

A great option if you want to leave money to Orange County United Way in your will, but also want the flexibility to change your will in the event that life circumstances change.

Easy

In as little as one sentence, you can complete your gift. This type of donation to Orange County United Way (in your will or living trust) helps ensure that we continue our mission for years to come.

Percentage options

You also have the option to designate a percentage amount versus a dollar amount gift.

Estate Planned Gifts

Beneficiary Designations

Provides increased flexibility by using

IRAs and retirement plans
Life insurance policies
Commercial annuities

Three simple steps to name Orange County United Way as a beneficiary

Contact your retirement plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution for a change-of beneficiary form.
Decide what percentage (1 to 100) you would like Orange County United Way to receive and name us, along with the percentage you chose, on the beneficiary form.
Return the completed form to your plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution.

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Other ways to give

IRA Charitable Rollover

How it works

You can give any amount (up to a maximum of $108,000) per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity, such as Orange County United Way, without having to pay income taxes on the money. Gifts of any value ($108,000 or less) are eligible for this benefit and you can feel good knowing that you are making a difference.
This popular gift option is commonly called the IRA charitable rollover, but you may also see it referred to as a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD for short.

Other benefits

Your gift will be put to use today, allowing you to see the difference your donation is making.
Beginning in the year you turn 73, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD).
You pay no income taxes on the gift. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions.
Since the gift doesn’t count as income, it can reduce your annual income level. This may help lower your Medicare premiums and decrease the amount of Social Security that is subject to tax.

Other ways to give

Memorials and Tribute Gifts

If you have a loved one who has been impacted by Orange County United Way, establishing a memorial or tribute gift is a meaningful way to honor your loved one or celebrate a special occasion, such as a birthday, while supporting the work of our mission. This lasting tribute to your loved one will make a difference in the lives of those we serve.

Other ways to give

Real Estate

Benefits

Support Orange County United Way without touching your bank account.
When you give appreciated property you have held longer than one year, you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction. This eliminates capital gains tax. And you no longer have to deal with that property’s maintenance costs, property taxes, or insurance.
Avoid the hassle with selling the real estate. You can deed the property directly to United Way or ask your attorney to add a few sentences in your will or trust agreement.

Multiple ways to give

An Outright Gift
A Gift in your Will or Living Trust
A retained Life Estate
A Deferred Charitable Gift Annuity
A Bargain Sale
A Charitable Remainer Unitrust
A Charitable Trust
A Memorial or Endowed Gift
A Donor Advised Fund

Other ways to give

Endowed Gifts

Immediate & future gifts

When you make a donation to our endowment, you give a gift with both immediate and long-term benefits.

Endowment donations are invested

A portion of the annual income from the investment is used to address immediate needs in our community. The remaining funds are reinvested to ensure indefinite support.

Other ways to give

Donor Advised Funds

DAF overview

A donor advised fund (DAF), which is like a charitable savings account, gives you the flexibility to recommend how much and how often money is granted to Orange County United Way and other qualified charities.

Immediate or future gifts

You can recommend a grant or recurring grants now to make an immediate impact or use your fund as a tool for future charitable gifts.

Other ways to give

Charitable Lead Trusts

Benefit from the tax savings that result from supporting Orange County United Way without giving up the assets that you’d like your family to receive someday. There are two ways to do this.

Fixed pay

A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to United Way and is more attractive when interest rates are low.

Variable pay

A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year based on the value of the assets in the trust. If the trust’s assets go up in value, the payments to United Way go up as well.

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Estate Planning Resource

FreeWill

Use this free estate planning resource to write a legal will at no personal cost, and include the necessary language to create your legacy with Orange County United Way!