Major Gift Opportunities

Other Gift Opportunities

Donor Recognition

Ways of Giving

Planned Gifts

Planned gifts, also known as deferred gifts, are gifts that will benefit the College at some future time. Like outright gifts, planned gifts may take many forms. Generally, these gifts include bequests, life insurance and life income gifts such as charitable remainder annuity trusts and charitable remainder unitrusts.

Bequests may take several forms--a specified amount of cash, specific pieces of property, a residuary estate after all expenses, debts, taxes and specific bequests are satisfied, a percentage of the residuary estate or a contingency bequest (when named beneficiaries are deceased or disclaim their bequests).

Life insurance may be given to the College in two ways. The donor may make the College the owner of the policy, thus allowing the donor an immediate income tax deduction. Or the donor may name the College the beneficiary of a policy. Because the latter designation is revocable, it cannot be counted for any immediate tax savings. However, at the time of the donor's death, the executor may take a federal estate tax charitable deduction for the entire amount.

Life income gift opportunities available at UK include charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, and charitable lead trusts. The donor can create a charitable remainder annuity trust by the irrevocable transfer of cash, securities or property to a trust for the College's benefit. In exchange, the donor and the donor's beneficiaries receive a fixed dollar amount, at least annually, for life or for a fixed term of up to 20 years. At the time of the donor's death, the death of the donor's beneficiaries or the end of the fixed term, the trust terminates and the assets are transferred to the College.

A charitable remainder unitrust is quite similar to the annuity trust, with one major difference. Where a charitable remainder annuity trust pays a fixed amount of income determined at the time of the creation of the trust, the unitrust pays the donor or donor's beneficiaries a percentage of the trust assets, as revalued annually.

A charitable lead trust offers a way for donors to support the College of Engineering and at the same time transfer substantial assets to beneficiaries (children or grandchildren, for instance) with the potential for significantly lowered gift and estate taxes. With a charitable lead trust, property, such as real estate, securities, bonds, etc., is transferred to a trust. The trust pays an annual amount (a fixed amount or a percentage of the trust principal as revalued annually) to the College for a specified period. After this specified period of time expires, the property returns to the donor or a non-charitable beneficiary--usually a family member. The property has generally appreciated and transferred with significantly reduced gift or estate taxes.