Year-End Gifting: What/why you need to think about YE Gifting now, and how you can prepare for YE Gifting

The earlier the better is always the right mindset to have when thinking about year-end gifting. The fourth quarter of the year is the busiest time of year for most people. Preparation comes in handy when dealing with year-end gifting because it helps everyone involved in the process handle the gifting with the right mindset instead of feeling rushed. So, what can year-end gifts look like? How does the process of year-end gifting look like? How can you prepare for year-end gifting?

Year-end gifts can include any of the following: cash, checks, cryptocurrency, real estate, business interests (LLC's), stocks etc.. Gifts can look different for everyone. There are many options/ways to do a year-end gift.

Because year-end gifts can look different for everyone, the process of year-end gifting will also look different. If someone wants to donate cash for their year-end gift, and someone else wants to sell real estate, the process (time table) looks very different. Depending on what the cash gift wants to go towards, Legacy can typically complete the year-end gifting process for a cash donation in about two weeks (give-or-take). For real estate, this process looks different because there are things that the donor needs to do, as well as Legacy and most likely other parties. Real estate gifting can take up to (roughly) a month or two depending on how quickly people take action (and how busy people are). Remember, the deeper we are in the fourth quarter of the year, the busier it gets for everyone.

So, how can you prepare for year-end gifting? For starters, decide on what your year-end gift is going to look like. If you would like to donate cash, decide what you'd like to do with that cash donation. Do you want to put that cash into your Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) and have that cash investing in your DAF so that you can support bigger projects in the future? Do you want to put the cash in a program fund that is established here at Legacy? Do you have a list of charities that you'd like to give a cash donation to?

Also, if you would like to send cash via ACH, please send Legacy an email (donate@legacyglobal.org) that provides the following information:

-Name of the person or entity making the donation

-Date the donation was made

-Where to send the receipt (email address or mailing address, whichever is preferred)

-Donation amount

-Name of your Fund

The banks often have limited memos and hard-to read descriptions. This will help our team know which fund your donation is supporting as well as provide the information we need to send you a receipt.

If you are wanting to sell real estate, or an item valued at $500.00 or more you are in charge of getting an appraiser and paying for the appraiser. You also need to know that you can not be the appraiser. It has to go through a third party appraiser.

Year-end gifting can come with lots of questions. Please comment below and let us know what your questions/thoughts/concerns are. We are more than happy to help you understand and get you through the process of year-end gifting. And remember, the sooner the better!