A cash gift is one of the most common and easiest methods for making an outright charitable contribution.

By making a cash gift by check, credit card, money order, or setting up an automatic transfer from your bank account today, you enable MRC to meet our most urgent needs and carry out our mission to create a media culture in America where truth and liberty flourish. You will have the opportunity to see your generosity in action and receive a federal income tax charitable deduction for the total value of your gift when you itemize.

A payable on death (POD) bank account or certificate of deposit names MRC as the beneficiary of all funds once you, the account owner, pass away. MRC has no rights to the funds until after your lifetime. Until then, you remain in control and are free to use the money in the bank account, change the beneficiary or close the account.

If you decide to leave a gift to the Media Research Center in your will, but you want the flexibility to change your will if life circumstances change, no need to worry, you can do both.

In as little as one sentence, you can complete your gift. Including the MRC in your will or living trust helps ensure we continue our mission for years to come.

Ways you can fund your donation:

1. Cash
2. Appreciated Securities, including Cryptocurrency
3. Real Estate
4. Tangible Personal Property
5. Closely Held Stock

Charitable gift annuities are an excellent way for you to support the Media Research Center and receive dependable income in your retirement years.

With a charitable gift annuity, you agree to make a gift to the MRC and, in return, we agree to pay you (and someone else, if you choose) a fixed amount quarterly for the rest of your life. The balance is used to support our work.

This type of donation can provide you with regular payments for life and allow the MRC to further our mission. You may also qualify for various tax benefits, including a federal income tax charitable deduction if you itemize.

If you have built a sizable estate and are looking for a financial return on investment, consider a charitable remainder trust. A CRT is an irrevocable trust that provides you or other named individuals yearly income for life or a period not exceeding 20 years, with the remainder of the donated assets benefiting the Media Research Center. At the end of the trust term, the balance goes to the MRC.

These types of gifts may offer you tax benefits and the option of income. There are two ways to receive payments and each has its benefits:

1. The charitable remainder annuity trust pays you a fixed dollar amount each year. Your payments stay the same, regardless of fluctuations in trust investments, but additional contributions are not allowed.

2. The charitable remainder unitrust pays you a variable amount each year based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments are revalued annually, and additional contributions can be made. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. However, if the value decreases, so will your payments.

An endowment is a gift of cash or donated property to the Media Research Center invested to financially sustain MRC’s mission long into the future. When you donate to an endowment, you give a gift with immediate and long-term benefits.

A portion of the annual income from the investment is used to address immediate needs at the MRC. The remaining funds are reinvested to ensure indefinite support.

A donor-advised fund, which is like a charitable savings account, gives you the flexibility to recommend how much and how often money is granted to the Media Research Center and other qualified charities. You can suggest a grant or recurring grant now to make an immediate impact or use your fund as a tool for future charitable gifts.

You can also create a lasting legacy by naming the MRC the beneficiary of the entire account or a percentage of the fund. With a percentage, you can create a family legacy of giving by naming your loved ones as your successor to continue recommending grants to charitable organizations. Contact your fund administrator for a beneficiary form.

A word of caution. There have been cases where “woke” donor-advised fund providers denied donor requests to conservative organizations. MRC highly recommends the following providers:

• DonorsTrust
• National Christian Foundation

If you want to make an impact now at the Media Research Center and also provide for your family later, consider setting up a charitable lead trust. You transfer cash or other assets to a trust that makes payments to the MRC for a designated period. When the term is up, the remaining trust passes to your family or other selected beneficiaries.

There are two ways charitable lead trusts make payments to the MRC:

1. A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to the MRC and is more attractive when interest rates are low.

2. A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year to the MRC based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust’s assets go up in value the payments to the MRC go up as well.

Appreciated securities such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds that have increased in value and been held for more than one year are popular assets to use when making a gift to the Media Research Center. Making a gift of appreciated securities offers you the chance to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself.

You can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer when you donate appreciated securities in support of our mission. You may also be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the securities’ fair market value at the time of the transfer.

Appreciated securities are often used to support MRC’s work as an outright gift. When you donate securities to the MRC, you receive the same income tax savings that you would if you wrote a check but with the added benefit of eliminating capital gains taxes on the transfer, which can be as high as 20 percent. By placing a transfer on death* designation on your brokerage or investment account, that account will be paid to one or more persons or charities after your lifetime.

Not everyone wants to commit to making a gift in their wills or estates. Some prefer the increased flexibility that a beneficiary designation provides by using:

• IRAs and Retirement Plans
• Life Insurance Policies
• Donor-Advised Funds
• Commercial Annuities

It is very simple to name the Media Research Center as a beneficiary. Start by requesting a change-of-beneficiary form from your policy administrator or download the form from your provider’s website. Make your desired changes and return the form to establish your gift.

How to Fund Your Donation:

1. Retirement Plan Assets
2. Life Insurance
3. Donor-Advised Funds
4. Commercial Annuities
5. Bank Accounts, Certificates of Deposit or Brokerage Accounts

Want to make a gift to the Media Research Center without touching your bank account? Consider donating real estate, such as a personal residence, vacation home, farm, commercial property, or undeveloped land. Such a generous gift helps MRC continue our work for years to come. And a gift of real estate also helps you. When you give the MRC appreciated property you have held longer than one year, you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction, and you may minimize or eliminate the capital gains tax. Additionally, you no longer have to deal with that property’s maintenance costs, property taxes, or insurance.

You don’t have to hassle selling the real estate. You can deed the property directly to the MRC or ask your attorney to add a few sentences to your will or trust agreement.

You can give real estate to the MRC in the following ways:

When you make a gift of real estate you have owned longer than one year, you qualify for a federal tax charitable deduction equal to the property’s full fair market value. This deduction allows you to reduce the cost of making the gift and frees cash that otherwise would have been used to pay taxes. By donating the property to the MRC, you qualify for a federal charitable tax deduction.

A gift of real estate through your will or living trust allows you the flexibility to change your mind and the potential to support our work with a larger gift than you could during your lifetime. In as little as one sentence, you can ensure that your support for the MRC continues after your lifetime.

Perhaps you like the tax advantages a gift of real estate to our organization would offer, but you want to continue living in your personal residence. You can transfer your personal residence or farm to the MRC but keep the right to occupy (or rent out) the home for the rest of your life. Your only obligation is to continue paying the real estate taxes, maintenance fees, and insurance on the property. Even though the MRC would not take possession of the residence until after your lifetime, since your gift cannot be revoked, you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction for a portion of your home’s value.

Are you tired of the hassles of maintaining your property, such as paying taxes, utilities, and repair bills? Consider donating the property to the MRC in exchange for reliable payments to you (and someone else, if you choose) for life. When you arrange a charitable gift annuity, you receive a federal income tax charitable deduction in the year you set up the gift annuity, when you itemize on your taxes. If you use appreciated real estate to make a gift, you can usually eliminate capital gains tax on a portion of the gift and spread the rest of the gain over your life expectancy. A gift of unmortgaged property to fund a deferred gift annuity is preferable and generates the greatest tax benefit.

When you make a bargain sale, you sell your property to our organization for less than it is worth. The difference between the actual value and the sale price is considered a gift to the MRC. A bargain sale can be an effective way to dispose of property that has increased in value. It is the only gift that can give you a lump sum of cash and a charitable deduction (when you itemize) simultaneously.

You can contribute any type of appreciated real estate you have owned for more than one year, provided it is unmortgaged, in exchange for an income stream for life or a term of up to 20 years. The donated property may be a residence (a personal residence must be vacant upon contribution), undeveloped land, a farm, or commercial property. Real estate works well with certain variations of charitable remainder trusts. Your estate planning attorney, who will draft your trust, can give you more details.

The charitable lead trust benefits the MRC and transfers appreciated real estate to your family tax-free. You should consider funding the charitable lead trust with real estate that is income-producing and expected to increase in value over the term of the trust.

A gift of real estate may be a perfect way to honor your loved one in perpetuity. When you make an endowed gift of real estate, your contribution is invested with and becomes part of our endowment. An annual distribution is made for the purpose you designate, and because the principal remains intact, the fund will also generate support in perpetuity.

When you transfer real estate to your donor-advised fund, you avoid capital gains taxes and qualify for a federal income tax deduction based on the property’s fair market value when you itemize.