Making a Planned Gift to The Ark

The Ark’s intimate, state-of-the-art listening room has been a favorite of artists and audience members since 1965. You can make a lasting gift to support The Ark into the future while providing you and your beneficiaries with significant tax benefits.

Planned Giving Options

Presenting over 300 shows each year featuring the finest contemporary and traditional musicians in folk and roots traditions, The Ark is renowned as one of the top music clubs in North America.

The Ark’s planned giving options include:

Charitable Bequests
IRAs
Appreciated Securities and Mutual Funds
Insurance Policies
Payment on Death and Transfer on Death Accounts

What is a “Planned Gift?”

A well-crafted estate plan that includes planned gifts will allow you to distribute your assets in a way that satisfies both your heirs and your philanthropic wishes.

What are the benefits?

Planned gifts can:

  • Help leave the philanthropic legacy you want
  • Assure that heirs and charities benefit from your estate as you intend
  • Help protect and manage your assets
  • Provide significant tax benefits to you and your heirs

 

Charitable Bequests

Please consider naming The Ark as a beneficiary in your estate plan. There are several ways to do this:

Bequests
By including The Ark in your will, you can specify that some or all of your assets come to us after your lifetime. If you are drafting a will or codicil or establishing a trust, please review the sample language below that can be used in making a specific contingent or residuary bequest to The Ark. We encourage you to consult your attorney or financial advisor in preparing any bequest or other estate planning documents. These bequests may be included in any new will or trust that you establish. Your estate planner may also draft a codicil to your existing will or an amendment to your existing trust to provide for a charitable contribution.

Specific Bequest
A specific bequest is a provision in your will or trust that allows you to gift to The Ark a specific dollar amount or percentage of your estate. It will be satisfied before distributions are made from the remainder (also known as the residue or residuary) of your estate.

Contingent Bequest
A contingent bequest is a form of specific bequest that is made only when certain conditions are met. For example, if the named primary beneficiary (the first named recipient of your gift) does not survive you, you may indicate the contingent beneficiary (the alternate recipient of your gift) using a contingent bequest.

Residuary Bequest
A residuary bequest is honored after all specific bequests have been made. In this case, The Ark would receive your gift after any other named beneficiaries received their gifts by way of specific or contingent bequests.
 

Make a Gift with your IRA

Gifts from your IRA are a tax-wise way to help The Ark. There are two ways to make a gift with your IRA, an IRA Rollover and naming The Ark as a beneficiary.

IRA Rollover
If you’re age 70 1/2 or older, a charitable IRA rollover is a gift option that enables you to transfer any amount up to $100,000 directly from your IRA (or IRAs) to The Ark each year. You won’t need to recognize the transfer as taxable income on your tax return. By the same token, this transfer may not be claimed as a charitable income tax deduction.

Benefits
When you make a gift through a charitable IRA rollover:

  • Your gift will be put to work at The Ark today, allowing you to enjoy the difference your gift is making.
  • You can count the amount of your rollover toward your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year.
  • You can avoid additional taxable income, which may allow you to avoid taxation at a higher tax bracket.
  • This can usually be accomplished with a simple form. Contact the manager of your IRA plan for information about how to make this gift.

Name The Ark as a Beneficiary of your IRA
IRAs are usually the best source of charitable distributions at death. Naming The Ark a beneficiary of your IRA or other retirement assets is typically straightforward: fill out a designated beneficiary form through your employer or your plan administrator. Most banks and financial services firms also have beneficiary forms, or they can provide you with suggested language for naming beneficiaries to these accounts. Once the designated beneficiary forms are in place, the retirement assets will generally pass directly to your beneficiaries (including charities) without going through probate.

Why Consider this Gift?

  • Distributions from IRAs to charities upon your death avoid income tax and estate tax. The combined federal income/estate tax can be as high as 80 percent when the assets finally pass to your children.
  • Charitable gifts from IRAs at the owner’s death avoid probate. After your death, distributions of your assets to The Ark will qualify for an estate tax charitable deduction.
  • You can name a charity like The Ark as the beneficiary of your IRA, regardless of the size. You can also change the beneficiary of your IRA rather easily, versus revising a trust or will, which requires help from an attorney.

 

Gifts of Appreciated Securities and Mutual Funds

Gifts of securities can be made to The Ark in your will. Gifting appreciated stock and mutual funds is one of the most effective means of tax savings available. The benefits of gifting appreciated stock include:

  • The satisfaction of knowing your money is invested in The Ark, a cause important to you.
  • You will avoid capital gains taxes on the stock.
  • You will be eligible to receive an income tax charitable deduction for the full fair-market-value of the stock at the time of the gift.
  • To qualify for these special tax advantages, the security must have been held for at least one year.

Making a gift of securities or mutual funds to The Ark offers you the chance to support the organization’s future while realizing important benefits for yourself and your family.

When you donate securities to The Ark, you receive the same income tax savings that you would if you wrote us a check, but with the added benefit of eliminating capital gains taxes on the transfer, which can be as high as 20 percent.
 

Life Insurance

Name The Ark a Beneficiary of your Policy
This gift is as simple as updating your beneficiary designation form with the policy holder. You can designate The Ark as the primary beneficiary for a percentage or specific amount. You can also make The Ark the contingent beneficiary so that the organization will receive the balance of your policy only if your primary beneficiary doesn’t survive you.
 

Payable on Death and Transfer on Death Accounts

You can set up a Payable on Death (POD) account, also known as a Totten Trust, and name The Ark as a beneficiary. The service is available at a number of banks, credit unions and savings and loan institutions.

In most cases, there is no cost associated with this procedure. You fill out a simple form, identify the bank accounts you wish to have tied to the POD account, provide the contact information for The Ark, and sign the form. In the event of death, The Ark will have full access to any savings and checking accounts specified on the form.

You may name The Ark as a beneficiary by placing a Transfer on Death (TOD) designation on your brokerage or investment account. By placing a TOD designation on your brokerage or investment account, that account will be paid over to The Ark after your lifetime.

David and Linda Siglin Heritage Society Membership

A planned gift is an easy and meaningful way to make a lasting and significant impact on The Ark and help ensure the music will be enjoyed by future generations. Supporters who have made a commitment to provide for The Ark in their estate plans are recognized as members of The David and Linda Siglin Heritage Society. For 40 years, former Program Director Dave Siglin and his wife Linda were instrumental in shaping The Ark into the renowned music community it is today. The Society named for them honors those who, by making a planned gift, demonstrate a similar enduring commitment to building community around the enriching experience of live music at The Ark.

The Siglin Heritage Society:

  • Is for anyone who designates The Ark as a beneficiary in their will or estate plan.
  • Does not require a minimum gift. Every gift makes a difference.
  • Can be anonymous.
  • Provides recognition, if desired, in our Annual Report and The Ark newsletter.

 

Next steps

  • Always consult a financial advisor or attorney about a will and other planned giving options and their benefits. We recommend that you encourage your advisors to talk with our development office to assure we understand your plans.
  • Call our development office (contact info below) if you would like to discuss inclusion of The Ark in your estate plan.
  • Or, if you have already included The Ark in your estate plans, let us know; we would like to acknowledge and show our appreciation for you as a member of The Siglin Heritage Society!

With your help, The Ark will be welcoming music devotees through its doors for many, many generations to come!

For more information on The Ark’s Planned Giving Program, contact:

Charlotte M. Csicsila
The Ark
316 S. Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734)761-1800