As a donor to the Sam Houston Area Council, you can use your giving to achieve personal goals, enhance your financial security, and to help shape the future of Scouting. Planned giving includes a number of ways for you to include charitable giving in your total financial plan. There are advantageous tax treatments of gifts under both state and federal law. Planned giving can help you maximize these tax benefits.
Tax advantages can often make it possible for you to provide a greater gift than you thought possible, while also benefiting your family and heirs. Many donors and supporters of Scouting have chosen planned giving as a way to show their interest in supporting Scouting beyond their lifetime, while realizing some tax benefits today.
The type of asset and the way it is given to Scouting determines the actual tax and financial benefits that can result from a gift. Certain planned gift arrangements provide you with an opportunity to diversify your holdings, turn highly appreciated assets into a gift that provides you income, and allow you to enjoy significant tax savings. With careful planning today, you may reduce or eliminate estate, inheritance, or gift taxes, allowing your family and the charities you support to receive the full benefits of your life's work. Certain gift plans actually result in a greater amount of wealth passed on to your family.
As with all financial decisions, a planned gift should be designed with care. A planned giving professional should work closely and confidentially with you to ensure that your gift achieves your individual goals, and expresses your personal vision.
Example Bequest Language
Please feel free to change the numbers or percentages as you desire.
1. Bequest of cash "I bequeath the sum of $10,000 to The Sam Houston Area Council of Houston, TX."
2. Bequest of a percent of the estate "I devise and bequeath 20% of the remainder and residue of property owned at my death, whether real or personal, and wherever located to The Sam Houston Area Council, TX."
3. Contingent Bequest "If my brother John Doe survives me, I devise and bequeath 20% of the remainder and residue of property owned at my death, whether real or personal, and wherever located to John Doe. If John Doe does not survive me, then I devise and bequeath 20% of my residuary estate, whether real or personal property and wherever located to The Sam Houston Area Council of Houston, TX."
More Information
For more information about the endowment programs of the Sam Houston Area Council, please contact: