Ways to give

Leave a lasting legacy by naming Common Ground as a beneficiary of your qualified retirement plan asset, profit-sharing pension, or donor-advised fund. This allows you to accomplish your charitable goals while realizing significant tax savings for your estate. You can designate Common Ground to receive all or a portion of your remaining account balance simply by updating your plan's beneficiary designation form.

A general bequest is one of the easiest ways to make a lasting impact. When creating or updating your will, you can choose to leave a specific gifts such as cash, stocks, real estate, or personal property to Common Ground. This flexible giving option allows you to support our future work while maintaining full control of your assets during your lifetime.

You can support Common Ground while securing a reliable income stream for your own retirement. By establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity, you can trade lower-yielding assets—like cash, CDs, or underperforming stocks—for a lifetime of fixed quarterly payments. This allows you to make a deeply meaningful gift to our mission today, enjoy immediate tax savings, and rest easy knowing you have predictable, guaranteed income for life.

If you are 70½ or older, you can make a powerful impact today directly from your Traditional IRA. By transferring funds straight to Common Ground, your gift bypasses your personal income altogether. While you won't receive a separate charitable deduction, you completely avoid paying income tax on the transfer. It’s an incredibly smart way to see your generosity in action today using pre-tax dollars.

Charitable trusts are powerful financial tools that allow you to care for your family, secure your retirement, and make a transformative investment in Common Ground. Depending on your personal and philanthropic goals, you can choose a trust structure that aligns perfectly with your timeline:

• Charitable Remainder Trusts: Provide you or your chosen beneficiaries with a steady stream of income for life or a set term, with the remaining assets eventually passing to Common Ground.

• Charitable Lead Trusts: Provide immediate, annual payments to Common Ground to fund our vital work today, with the remaining assets eventually passing back to your heirs with reduced estate taxes.

If you manage a Donor-Advised Fund through a sponsor like Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, or a local community foundation, you hold a powerful tool for change. You can put those pre-tax assets to work for Common Ground in two impactful ways:

• Make a Grant Today: Instruct your fund administrator to distribute a grant directly to Common Ground to fund our current, vital programs.

• Secure Our Future: You can designate Common Ground to receive all or a portion of your DAF’s remaining balance as a succession beneficiary. When the fund terminates, your legacy will instantly step in to sustain our mission.

Looking for a way to make a major impact without affecting your daily budget? An unneeded life insurance policy is an incredible giving tool.

• Maximum Impact, Low Effort: Naming Common Ground as a beneficiary takes just minutes and requires no modifications to your will.

• Instant Tax Deductions: Gifting a paid-up policy to us today allows you to claim a charitable income tax deduction for its current cash value.

• Flexibility: You can choose to leave the entire policy or just a percentage to support our work.

Transforming your tangible assets into a legacy is a powerful way to support Common Ground. By donating appreciated property—such as a home, vacation land, artwork, or valuable collections—you can make a transformative impact. Like stock donations, these gifts allow you to claim an income tax deduction for the full fair market value today, bypass capital gains taxes, and reduce your estate tax burden in the future.

Donating appreciated stocks, bonds, or mutual funds is one of the most tax-efficient ways to support our mission. When you transfer securities directly to Common Ground, you can claim a charitable deduction for their full market value and completely avoid paying capital gains tax. It’s a powerful way to make your investment go further for the cause you care about.