Category Archive: Planned Giving
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New Tax Law Extends Charitable IRA Rollover for 2010 and 2011
On Dec. 17, President Barack Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. Included in the package is an extension of charitable IRA rollovers. Here are some important provisions to note:
- Individuals age 70 ½ and older may once again request direct transfers of funds from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) to Landmarks without income tax on gifted funds.
- The funds must be directly transferred from IRA accounts to Landmarks (donors should ask their IRA custodians for special forms to make these requests).
- Each individual is entitled to make a total of $100,000 in gifts to charities each year under this provision.
- If you have not yet taken your IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for 2010, you may partially or wholly satisfy that requirement through an IRA rollover gift made by January 31, 2011.
- These contributions do not qualify donors for an additional charitable income tax deduction as not being taxed on the withdrawal is worth even more than a standard charitable deduction.
- Only standard IRAs and Roth IRA accounts qualify under this law; other retirement accounts such as 401(k), 403(b), SEP, KEOGH, and SIMPLE IRA plans cannot be used to make an IRA rollover gift.
- Donors of IRA rollover gifts must receive no personal benefits from this gift nor are they available for planned gifts such as charitable remainder trusts or gift annuities.
The provision is a significant opportunity for donors who:
- Hold assets in their IRAs that they do not need;
- Would like to make a large one-time gift;
- Are subject to the two-percent rule that reduces itemized deductions;
- Do not itemize; or
- Plan to leave part or all of their IRA to Landmarks at death.
For more information on how the Charitable IRA Rollover may be beneficial to you and Landmarks, please contact our Director of Gift Planning, Jack Miller, at 412-471-5808, ext. 538 or jack@phlf.org.
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Landmarks 2009 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization
Jack Miller
PHLF News
November 12, 2009KDKA Radio and Television personality Larry Richert and more than 300 guests were on hand at the Sheraton at Station Square on November 11 to honor the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation as the region’s 2009 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization.
Landmarks President Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. accepted the award, presented by the Western PA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals as part of the National Philanthropy Day Celebration. In accepting the award, Arthur credited the dedication of Landmarks’ board, staff, volunteers, members and generous donors as the reason for our success.
Despite the fact that Landmarks is not a grant-making foundation, AFP singled out Landmarks for: “its unique record of civic responsibility, spinoff impact on other regional non-profit programs, proactive role in motivating others to take leadership roles toward philanthropy and community involvement, and distinguishing itself by encouraging creative and innovative programs in the advancement of philanthropy in general.”
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Cruise to Honor PHLF Donors
by Jack Miller
PHLF News
August 13, 2009Landmarks’ 2009 Heritage Society reception and cruise will take place on the Gateway Clipper Fleet’s Princess on Tuesday, September 15 from 6:15 – 8:15 p.m.
The event will honor 2008/09 donors of at least $1,000 and individuals who have included Landmarks in their estate plan or as a beneficiary of a planned gift.
If you meet one of these criteria and have not yet received your invitation, please contact Jack Miller at jack@phlf.org or 412-471-5808, ext. 538 as soon as possible.
The 2009 Heritage Society Donor Recognition Event is underwritten by The North Shore Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Great Neck NY, Alan Greenberg, Senior V.P., Financial Advisor, and Matthew A. Thompson, CIMA® Associate V. P., Financial Advisor, for which Landmarks extends its appreciation.
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Greene County Conservation Easement to Protect Farm
By Jack Miller
PHLF News
August 4, 2009Charles Evans Hunnell has donated a preservation and conservation easement to Landmarks that will protect his 136-acre farm located just west of Waynesburg, PA.
The easement will not only help to preserve the farm-related buildings on the century-old farm but also protect its land from commercial development.
Mr. Hunnell also made a gift to endow the monitoring of the easement in perpetuity.
This is the second Greene County farm protected by Landmarks and brings to 10 the number of properties on which Landmarks has obtained a historic preservation and conservation easement in the past four months.
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Act Now to Take Advantage of and to Preserve the Enhanced Federal Tax Incentive for Easements
Any individual who donates a preservation easement to a qualified charity, such as Landmarks, is allowed to deduct the value of the easement as a charitable contribution, provided the donation meets certain requirements specified in the Tax Code. Congress recently increased the incentives for donating conservation easements by raising the deduction limit for charitable donations of conservation easements to 50% of an individual’s adjusted gross income, 100% in the case of certain donations with respect to farmland, and extending the carry-forward period for donations that exceed that limit to 15 years. These enhanced deduction limits are set to expire on December 31, 2009. After that date, unless Congress acts, donations of conservation easements will be deductible only to the extent of 30% of adjusted gross income and the carry-forward period for excess donations will be reduced to 5 years.Landmarks accepts donations of preservation easements on historic buildings and farms. To date, Landmarks has received more than twenty preservation easements, protecting a wide range of historic properties including major downtown commercial buildings, unique residential structures, and approximately 1,600 acres of farmland.If you are interested in donating a preservation easement on your historic home, you need to act by December 31, 2009 in order to take advantage of the increased deduction limit.If you think Congress should encourage historic preservation by making the increased deduction limit permanent, you are not alone. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress to make the enhanced incentives permanent through the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831, and the Rural Heritage Conservation Act, S. 812. To learn more about the enhanced tax incentives for conservation easements and how you can help make them permanent, please visit The Land Trust Alliance’s website at www.lta.org.Any individual who donates a preservation easement to a qualified charity, such as Landmarks, is allowed to deduct the value of the easement as a charitable contribution, provided the donation meets certain requirements specified in the Tax Code.
Congress recently increased the incentives for donating conservation easements by raising the deduction limit for charitable donations of conservation easements to 50% of an individual’s adjusted gross income, 100% in the case of certain donations with respect to farmland, and extending the carry-forward period for donations that exceed that limit to 15 years.
These enhanced deduction limits are set to expire on December 31, 2009. After that date, unless Congress acts, donations of conservation easements will be deductible only to the extent of 30% of adjusted gross income and the carry-forward period for excess donations will be reduced to 5 years.
Landmarks accepts donations of preservation easements on historic buildings and farms. To date, Landmarks has received more than twenty preservation easements, protecting a wide range of historic properties including major downtown commercial buildings, unique residential structures, and approximately 1,600 acres of farmland.
If you are interested in donating a preservation easement on your historic home, you need to act by December 31, 2009 in order to take advantage of the increased deduction limit.
If you think Congress should encourage historic preservation by making the increased deduction limit permanent, you are not alone. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress to make the enhanced incentives permanent through the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831, and the Rural Heritage Conservation Act, S. 812.
To learn more about the enhanced tax incentives for conservation easements and how you can help make them permanent, please visit The Land Trust Alliance’s website at www.lta.org.
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Landmarks Honored By Association of Fundrasing Professionals
The Western PA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals has named Landmarks its 2009 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization for its exemplary record of civic responsibility in support of philanthropic causes; its demonstrated generosity to substantially impact regional non-profit programs; for encouraging and motivating others to take leadership roles toward philanthropy and community involvement; by distinguishing itself by encouraging creative and innovative programs; and by its advancement of philanthropy in general.The award will be presented as part of the National Philanthropy Day Celebration on Wednesday, November 11, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Ironically, the awards ceremony and reception will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Station Square, a facility that would not exist today without Landmarks’ foresight.If you would like to purchase tickets to the event, please contact Jack Miller at jack@phlf.org for additional information.by Jack Miller
PHLF News
July 30, 2009The Western PA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals has named Landmarks its 2009 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization for:
- its exemplary record of civic responsibility in support of philanthropic causes;
- its demonstrated generosity to substantially impact regional non-profit programs;
- for encouraging and motivating others to take leadership roles toward philanthropy and community involvement;
- by distinguishing itself by encouraging creative and innovative programs; and by its advancement of philanthropy in general.
The award will be presented as part of the National Philanthropy Day Celebration on Wednesday, November 11, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Ironically, the awards ceremony and reception will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Station Square, a facility that would not exist today without Landmarks’ foresight.
If you would like to purchase tickets to the event, please contact Jack Miller at jack@phlf.org for additional information.
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Donor Magazine Format to Change in Cost-Cutting Move
by Jack Miller
PHLF News
May 15, 2009Landmarks has announced that it will discontinue publishing the hard copy version of its estate planning magazine, Landmark Legacies. Instead, the magazine will be posted in a pdf format at http://plannedgifts.phlf.org/newsletters.php. The move is expected to free up $2,000 annually that can be applied to mission-related programs & projects.
The move follows a salary freeze and voluntary pay cuts for higher compensated employees to help lower operating costs during the recession.
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Historic Harmony Donates Preservation Easements – Eight Properties Under Protection
By Jack Miller
PHLF News
April 20, 2009The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) has announced that Historic Harmony (HH) has donated preservation easements to PHLF that will ensure the preservation of eight historic HH properties located in Butler County.
All of the protected properties are in Harmony Borough or Jackson Township in the faster growing areas of Butler County according to recent census statistics.
Three of the protected properties, the main Harmony Museum Building at 218 Mercer Street (1809, with 1816 addition), the Wagner House museum annex at 222 Mercer Street (c. 1807 -1812), and the Harmony Society Cemetery at 831 Edmond Street (1805 – 1815) are within the Harmony National Historic Landmark District. The Harmony Society-Ziegler-Wise Barn at 303 Mercer Road (1805, with c. 1850 modification) is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Vineyard Hill, with George Rapp’s Seat carved into a rock outcrop at 1 Evergreen Mill Road, the likely Harmony Society log house museum annex at 245 Mercer Street, the Mennonite Meetinghouse & Cemetery at 114 Wise Road (1825 and 1815, respectively) and Bishop John Boyer’s House at 295 Perry Highway (1816) are architecturally or otherwise significant historic properties.
A preservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement made between a property owner and an authorized preservation organization to preserve an historic site in perpetuity and recorded as such with the property’s deed.
While granting a preservation easement on a historic property limits what an owner may do with that property, granting the easement provides several benefits. The first and most obvious is that the property owner has protected the historic property in perpetuity from destruction, inappropriate alteration, or development. Another is that an individual or corporate easement donor may be entitled to claim a federal income tax charitable contribution deduction equal to the value of the preservation easement if certain conditions are met.
For example, without the charitable deduction and federal tax credits associated with the restoration of historic properties, projects like the Bedford Springs Resort, Heinz Lofts and the Armstrong Cork Factory Apartments might have never have been developed.
Under terms of its easements, HH will continue to be responsible for the maintenance, upkeep and presentation of its protected properties, and PHLF will be responsible for monitoring the properties in perpetuity to assure compliance with conditions of the easements. No changes can be made to the exterior of any of the sites without PHLF’s prior approval and any changes would have to conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. These requirements will also apply to the Bishop Boyer House, which has always been a private residence and was sold by HH to a private party on the third of April.
“Historic Harmony and PHLF are to be roundly commended for working together to create such a progressive and thoughtful preservation strategy for these significant properties,” said Bill Callahan, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission’s Bureau for Historic Preservation Western Pennsylvania representative. “What they have accomplished here may well be looked upon nationally as a model for many preservation organizations.”
HH President John Ruch noted that “Harmony was the first home of the communal Harmony Society of German Lutheran Separatists, which founded Harmony in 1804 and organized formally as a Christian communal society in early 1805. George Rapp (1757 – 1847) was its founder and spiritual and organizational head. Designation in 1974 as Western Pennsylvania’s first National Historic Landmark District was recognition of Harmony’s significance in development of the nation’s heritage and culture as the Society’s founding home.
“Many Western Pennsylvanians are familiar with PHMC’s Old Economy in Ambridge,” said Ruch, “but the extraordinary Harmony Society, which became 19th-century America’s most successful communal group, began right here in Harmony.”
“One of the properties now protected by an easement includes the isolated carved rock hilltop seat to which George Rapp would retreat to mediate.”
The idea to place preservation easements on all of HH’s historic properties grew from a proposal to sell the Bishop Boyer House while assuring its preservation.
“The home of Harmony’s first Mennonite bishop, or pastor, was donated to Historic Harmony in 2003 by the late Lillian Frankenstein of Zelienople who entrusted its preservation to us,” Ruch said. “We approached the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to explore how we could protect the house even if we no longer owned it. They suggested using a portion of sale proceeds to endow easements that would protect not just the Bishop Boyer House, but all of our historically significant properties.”
As required by HH’s bylaws, the proposal was posed to the organization’s members, who subsequently voted to accept PHLF’s proposal to hold the easements and assume responsibility for their enforcement and defense. All easements were recorded on April 3 when the Bishop Boyer House was sold to Nancy Wilson.
“This is a win-win situation,” said PHLF President Arthur Ziegler. “Historic Harmony is able to honor its commitment to its donor while generating funds to maintain its other historic buildings. We are able to assure the protection of eight architecturally and historically significant properties, and Western Pennsylvanians have guaranteed access to a tangible part of their past.”
PHLF holds nearly 50 preservation easements and deed restrictions on Western Pennsylvania properties, including one it obtained on the 23rd of March on The Carlyle, formerly the Union National Bank Building in downtown Pittsburgh.
“PHLF’s easement initiative has played an important role in protecting historic and architecturally significant properties throughout Western Pennsylvania,” said PHMC’s Bill Callahan.
“While the Harmony easements constitute a highly commendable preservation solution for Historic Harmony and, indeed, the region,” said Callahan, “even more significant is that the action was initiated by a group of citizens passionate about their roots and willing to find a way to assure that their past will always be a part of their future.”
Historic Harmony is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1943. Its mission is to preserve and promote public knowledge of the Harmony area’s history and heritage through its Harmony Museum and outreach activities, foster tourism in southwestern Butler County in cooperation with other organizations and agencies and encourage preservation of historical resources in support of educational, quality of life, economic development and associated community objectives. More information can be found at www.harmonymuseum.org.
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1964 whose mission is to identify and save historically significant places; revitalize historic neighborhoods; preserve historic farms and historic designed landscapes; and educate people about the Pittsburgh region’s rich architectural heritage. More information can be found at www.phlf.org.
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