If you are the owner or partial owner of a business, here are some of the ways you can make the most of tax efficient giving opportunities:

Give and Hold Strategy
Learn how you can give a portion of your ownership interest into a CCFSF Giving Fund, enjoy tax benefits and increase your charitable giving

Open a Giving Fund For Your Company and Employees
Do you have a generous heart, and want to inspire your employees to become generous givers, too? Your company can establish a CCFSF Giving Fund, allowing you and your employees to make donations into the Fund. Actually, anyone can give into the Fund, so you may choose to encourage partners, customers and vendors to join in, too. (Each person would receive tax benefits based on their individual contribution, which can be made in “installments” throughout the year, or through a one-time contribution of cash or non-liquid assets.) Then, an employee committee can come together to review giving opportunities and recommend grants from the Fund, including when to recommend the grant, the value of the grant, and the ministry or non-profit organization designated to receive the grant. The result: employees “pool” their charitable contributions to have a greater impact, and they are part of the powerful process of deciding which organizations their gifts will support.

“We had planned to set up our own charitable foundation, until we took a hard look at what was involved in the management and operation. It quickly became clear that working with the CCFSF is a huge advantage because of their depth of resources and expertise,” Darrick said. “The CCFSF was very professional in helping us understand the advantages of donating a portion of our company's stock to a CCFSF Giving Fund.”

Working with the CCFSF, the Gockerells have realized their goal of tithing corporately while enjoying substantial accounting benefits, too. For instance, they recommended a grant to a local ministry working with troubled youth. The ministry used the grant for a much needed new roof, and the company was able to “donate” the roof without negatively impacting its corporate financial statement, which could affect margins for bonding and banking.

“It's a smart business decision to transfer partial ownership of a company into a CCFSF Giving Fund because of the tax savings. Being able to direct those savings to support Kingdom work is an amazing advantage,” Darrick added.

 

Al and Patsy Merritt donated a portion of their company to their CCFSF Giving Fund because over time they plan to give away much more than ten percent of the value of the company. Planning ahead now means that they enjoy a tax deduction against their current income, allowing the couple to give charitably today, while laying the foundation to be able to do more charitable giving in the future.

Using the expertise of the CCFSF to handle non-cash assets such as marketable securities and stock in privately owned companies, the Merritts were able to donate stock in their company to their Giving Fund. “As a result, we will not pay capital gains tax when the stock is eventually liquidated, providing even more funds for grants that we can recommend throughout our lifetime,” Al said.

“As a family, we want to support charities with our time, abilities, and financial resources. Partnering with the CCFSF gives our children an opportunity to be involved, too,” he continued. “We have focused our giving on the ministries we believe make a difference in a person's life, such as programs for youth development with summer camps and outdoor adventures. We also continue to support our church with its local outreach and mission trips to Port Antonio, Jamaica.”

“Al and I have been very impressed with the professional knowledge and personal service from the staff at the CCFSF, as well as the assistance and guidance we've received from the National Christian Foundation,” Patsy added. “We recommend their solutions for charitable giving to our friends wholeheartedly.”