40% off! -- gifts made during lifetime v. gifts made at death

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40% off! If this sign were up at your favorite store, it would definitely get your attention. Charitable gifts made during lifetime are generally preferable to charitable gifts made by will, for fairly simple tax reasons. A charitable bequest…

What I am doing this Friday. How about you?

I work with Iowa nonprofits, and the donors who fund them -- more here. But today, Friday, is perhaps a particularly good reminder about the importance of charities and charitable giving. My favorite hour of the week happens on Friday -- from…

Gifts of grain

For farm operators, gifting grain directly, rather than selling the grain and making a gift from the proceeds, may provide very significant tax savings. Five keys: Contributing grain allows Donor to avoid sale of the commodity as income, while…

Life insurance & charitable giving

Here are four ideas for using life insurance as a charitable tool: 1.  Name Charity as the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy Donor can name Charity as beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy. Simple! Also, it’s revocable;…

3 reasons today's Supreme Court case is important

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court case The United States Supreme Court ruled today, by an 8-1 margin, for an expansive reading of antidiscrimination law, holding Abercrombie & Fitch can be sued for failing to hire a Muslim woman who came to…

Even LeBron James can't do this.

Let's say you are LeBron James. And you/Lebron, volunteer often for your favorite charity. Can you deduct the value of your services? No, not even a superstar athlete can deduct the value of his services. The IRS does not allow a charitable…