donate to ECF using an IRA Rollover

If you’re age 70-1/2 or older, an IRA Charitable Rollover is a great option for expanding your giving options. 

If you’d rather not pay taxes on your entire IRA Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), you can transfer up to $100,000 from your IRA to charity each year and exclude the amounts transferred from taxable income.

benefits

An IRA Charitable Rollover Gift may be of benefit if you:

  • don’t need your full RMD to supplement other retirement income
  • will be bumped into a higher federal income tax bracket by taking the full RMD as income
  • you’re nearing the 50% annual limitation on charitable gifts
  • wish to make a significant gift without using cash from other sources of retirement income

The transfer gift can be directed to the ECF unrestricted endowment funds, the Annual Fund, board directed funds or organizational endowments. You might consider establishing an endowed fund to benefit Evanston for years to come.

guidelines

An IRA Charitable Rollover Gift can be made if the donor meets the IRS guidelines including:

  • the donor must be 70-1/2 years old or older
  • the IRA transfer must go directly from your IRA to ECF
  • IRA rollovers cannot be directed to a donor advised fund, or used to establish a donor advised fund
  • each individual in a married couple can donate up to $100,000 from individual IRA accounts
  • the gift would not be eligible for an additional charitable income tax deduction
  • this gift opportunity is only available for rollovers from IRAs

process

As always, please consult with your tax advisor and/or financial consultant to review your specific situation. If you have questions about directing an IRA rollover to ECF as a gift to our Annual Fund or one of our endowments, or if you’d like to use a charitable rollover to establish an endowed fund at ECF, please call our finance officer, Jan Fischer, 847-492-0990. The process of implementing a charitable rollover contribution begins with your IRA provider.