Planned Giving:
Leave a Legacy While Helping Your Community
Planned giving creates opportunities for both the donor and the Task Force For the Homeless. We depend almost exclusively on donations from the public to accomplish our work. Becoming a donor will help to end homelessness in Sonoma County and better our community.
Several options are available for donors that want to plan for future gifts. The following are just a few of those options. Consult your attorney and/or tax advisor for other available options.
The following information is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Please consult your own attorney when planning gifts within your estate.
Gifts by Will or Living Trust:
The benefits of gifting through your Will or Living Trust include maintaining control of your assets during your lifetime, having the ability to change your bequest should your desires or circumstances change, directing exactly how you want your bequest used, and the ability for your estate to claim an estate tax deduction for the charitable gift.
Should you choose to make a gift through your Will or Living Trust, please use the following language:
“to the Sonoma County Task Force For the Homeless located at
3315 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa, California 95403.”
Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts:
A Charitable Remainder Trust is a trust that provides for a specified distribution, at least annually, to one or more beneficiaries for life or for a term of years, with an irrevocable remainder interest to be held for the benefit of a charity. The two types of Charitable Remainder Trusts are the Annuity Trust and the Unitrust, the difference being found in the calculation of the specified distribution.
An annuity trust requires that the distribution be a “sum certain” that is not less than 5 or more than 50 percent of the initial net fair market value of the trust assets. Therefore, an annuity trust is advantageous for a donor who wants the income beneficiary to receive a fixed amount during the term of the trust. Your named beneficiary(ies) will receive the fixed annuity annually for the term of the trust with the remainder going to your named charity. The income beneficiary or beneficiaries can be any individual(s) you name, such as yourself, your children, etc.
Another advantage is found in tax savings. The donor receives an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of the amount contributed to the trust. Also, the amount contributed to the trust would not be counted as part of your estate for estate tax purposes.
Charitable Remainder Unitrusts:
A Charitable Remainder Unitrust works basically that same way as the Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust. However, the unitrust requires that the specified distribution be a “fixed percentage” that is not less than 5 or more than 50 percent of the net fair market value of the trust assets determined annually. This is therefore the preferred vehicle to protect against inflation because the annual distribution to the income beneficiary(ies) is determined annually by the value of the trust assets.
Another difference between the annuity trust and the unitrust is that the unitrust allows the donor to make additional contributions after the trust has been established.
The great thing about Charitable Remainder Trusts is that the donor gets to enjoy the benefits now while benefiting their named charity later.
Charitable Lead Trusts:
A Charitable Lead Trust is just the opposite of a Charitable Remainder Trust. It is an irrevocable trust that provides an income interest to a named charity for a term of years while the remainder then goes to a named individual(s). The named individual(s) can include the donor, the donor’s children, etc.
As with Charitable Remainder Trusts, a lead trust also enjoys the benefits of income tax, estate tax, or gift tax charitable deductions.
Charitable trusts are a great way to help your community while enjoying benefits yourself. Talk to your attorney today about planned giving and help Task Force For the Homeless improve the lives of individuals in your community.
CommunitySmart (merchant support)
Ending homelessness in Sonoma County requires investments from all of us, in vision, openness, time, money, and energy. These are truly investments in a healthy community, since enduring such a high level of homelessness costs us so much in all these ways and more, and solving the problem will enrich our community and all our lives.
We know what works to bring about and support long-term change among those who are already homeless or are threatened with homelessness. Our community is home to exemplary housing, shelter, and service programs and we are collaborating together with the help of the Task Force and others to fill service gaps and make existing efforts even more effective.
Now we must apply our collective resources to developing and maintaining these solutions.
Give as you shop!
Here are two ways merchants and restaurants will give to the Task Force at no cost to you!
For Local Shoppers:
CommunitySmart: Local Sonoma County merchants, restaurants, and businesses give when you swipe your community card, designating your favorite school or nonprofit as the beneficiary. To get your card, just visit
For Online Shopping:
Shopping Can Be a Gift for the Task Force!
You can make searching and shopping for that perfect gift for yourself or your loved ones even more perfect! Use iGive.com, where with every transaction a portion goes to benefit the Task Force for the Homeless. Raise a penny (or more) per search and generate donations from any of the 730+ stores listed with iGive.com, ranging up to 26%. Just designate the Task Force as your recipient agency.
