How to Give

HOW TO GIVE

Lifetime Gifts
If you would like to support JA, the simplest way to donate is with a cash gift. Lifetime gifts of marketable securities and IRA charitable rollovers also allow you to help JA during your lifetime while receiving a tax benefit.

Appreciated Securities
You may transfer appreciated marketable securities that you have owned for more than one year to JA and receive a charitable income tax deduction based on the fair market value of the securities on the date of the transfer rather than on their original cost. You will not pay any capital gains tax on the appreciation in the value of the stock

Charitable IRA Rollover
Through a special provision that was made permanent in 2015, IRA owners age 70 ½ and older may be able to make distributions from their IRAs to qualified charities of up to $100,000, and the distribution will satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution and be excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes. Although you will not be entitled to a federal income tax deduction for the gift, you will save taxes if the charitable gift is in lieu of a required minimum distribution that would otherwise be taxable to you.

Deferred Gifts
If you would prefer to retain the use and control of your assets during your life, you can make a gift to JA that will cost you nothing today. You can support JA's mission in the future in any number of ways:
Leaving a bequest to JA in your will or revocable trust;
Naming JA as a beneficiary of your IRA, retirement plan, or life insurance policy; or
Creating a charitable trust or other life income gift.

Bequests
A bequest is a gift from your estate in a will or a gift from your revocable trust (also known as a "Living Trust") that is made at your death. You can make an outright bequest to JA of a specific dollar amount or asset (securities, real estate, tangible personal property). You also can make a residuary bequest, which directs that all or a portion of your estate be distributed to JA after all other distributions have been made. The gift can be for JA's unrestricted use or for a specific purpose that you designate in your will or revocable trust. Following is sample language for making a bequest:

(1) Distribution of a specific dollar amount:

"I hereby give the sum of $___ to Junior Achievement of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, for its unrestricted use [or to be used for {a specific purpose}]."

(2) Distribution of specific property:

"I hereby give [description of property] to Junior Achievement of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, for its unrestricted use [or to be used for {a specific purpose}]."

(3) Distribution of a share or all of the residue of estate:

"I hereby give all [or state a fraction or percentage] of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to Junior Achievement of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, for its unrestricted use [or to be used for {a specific purpose}]."

You also can specify that the bequest be made to JA only if certain beneficiaries do not survive you:

"If my spouse does not survive me, I hereby give the sum of $___ to Junior Achievement of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, for its unrestricted use [or to be used for {a specific purpose}]."

Retirement Benefits
Retirement plan assets (including pension plans, profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, Keogh plans and individual retirement accounts), unlike most other assets left to individual beneficiaries, are subject to income taxes if given to an individual beneficiary. Therefore, leaving these assets directly to JA by naming JA as a beneficiary on the plan's beneficiary designation form can reduce or eliminate the substantial income (and, perhaps, estate) taxes that otherwise could be payable on such plan benefits at the death of the plan participant while benefiting JA. JA will not pay income taxes on the property received.

JA may be named as the primary or contingent beneficiary of retirement plans, and it is as simple as filling out a new beneficiary designation form. The provisions of the Internal Revenue Code regarding the taxation of retirement benefits are extremely complex, however, and donors are encouraged to consult with an attorney or tax advisor before naming JA as a beneficiary of a retirement plan.

Life Insurance
You can make a gift of life insurance to JA by naming JA as the primary or contingent beneficiary of a life insurance policy. As with a gift of a retirement plan, it is as simple as filling out a new beneficiary designation form. It also is possible to make a gift of a paid up policy to JA or to make JA the irrevocable owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

There are many different ways to give. You can donate your services, time, or give with an actual donation. For more information on donation options outside the scope of planned giving, please visit our donor page.