AES/newspost <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

As I recall, there are 2 or 3 investment management
companies in the country that specialize in handling these
accounts for smaller charities and colleges. One of them
~might~ be TIAA/CREF, but I don't recall the names for sure.

Since there are fiduciary and investment advisory functions
connected to this kind of activity, I suspect that it would
be "dangerous" from a liability perspective for a small
charity to engage in direct management. There might also be
state/local securities licensing issues to consider.

MTW

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AES/newspost <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

I don't remember all the details, but in addition to a
charitable remainder annuity trust, there is also something
called a charitable remainder unitrust. I believe that a
single unitrust can be used for multiple contributors, so
you can get effeciencies of scale that way.

It looks like all contributors to a unitrust will have to
take the same percentage return, though I'm not certain
about that.

Stu

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AES/newspost <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

Unless your "society" is a 501(c)3 organization, or a church
or school, I think you are chasing the wrong thing. Setting
up a CRT for only $1000 sounds rather inefficient.

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Some major universities, other nonprofits, offer packaged
charitable remainder trust plans (or some variation of same)
to donors: send us $XXXXX (usually in low five figures or
above); we take care of all the paperwork; you get a
lifetime annuity income and an immediate benefits-adjusted
tax deduction; we get the principal in the end.

I've heard it said that plans of this type need to have
minimum donations of $5K or above to be "management
efficient", and that sounds reasonable.

I'm involved with a small tax-exempt professional society
which is wondering if it could set up something similar but
simpler, involving minimum donations in the $1K range, which
would be closer to what our members are likely to be able to
afford, and non-cash lifetime benefits.

Basic idea would be, at or around your retirement date send
us $1K (or some similar number); we put your donation into
our endowment fund in some form of trust (the society has a
legally separate foundation); give you in return a special
"lifetime membership" with standard member benefits for life
(annual dues are otherwise in the $50 to $100 range); you
get immediate valued-adjusted deduction; we get the money
free of trust eventually. Benefits for the society are
simplied bookkeeping and maybe prolonged member loyalty and
participation; benefits for the members are similar.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any reactions to the tax
and financial implications of this idea, or pointers to it's
being implemented anywhere else?

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