Making a Difference with a Cash Gift and/or Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
Support The LeTourneau University Foundation with a gift that fits your financial and tax planning needs. Cash gifts and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from an IRA offer flexible, tax-efficient ways to contribute to our mission, each with unique benefits.
Option 1: Cash Gift
A cash gift is a straightforward way to support The LeTourneau University Foundation. A cash gift typically is deductible from your income tax and can be an excellent way to make an immediate impact on the programs you care about.
- Immediate Tax Deduction: You can claim an income tax charitable deduction in the year of your gift for the full amount of your cash gift, subject to IRS limitations. You may carry forward any unused deduction for up to five additional years.
- Flexible and Easy: You can make a cash gift as a one-time donation or set up recurring contributions, whichever best achieves your goals.
- Direct Impact: Cash donations provide immediate funding for The LeTourneau University Foundation’s programs.
Option 2: Qualified Charitable Distribution from Your IRA
A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), sometimes called an “IRA Charitable Rollover,” is a tax-smart way to support The LeTourneau University Foundation directly from your IRA.
Benefits
- Avoid Additional Taxable Income: Unlike regular IRA withdrawals, which are taxable, a QCD allows you to avoid income tax on your gift. This is especially valuable if you are looking to reduce your tax burden in retirement.
- Satisfy Your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD): A QCD counts toward your annual RMD, making it a smart choice if you are 73 or older and want to meet IRS requirements while supporting a cause you care about.
- No Need to Itemize: Even if you do not itemize deductions on your tax return, you can still take full advantage of a QCD’s tax benefits.
- Direct Your Impact: You may designate your gift toward a specific program or area of interest within The LeTourneau University Foundation.
How to Qualify
To benefit from a QCD, please ensure that you meet these requirements:
- Age: You must be 70½ or older at the time of your gift.
- Direct Transfer: The funds must go directly from your IRA to The LeTourneau University Foundation.
- Annual Limit: For 2025, your QCD gifts are capped at $108,000.
- Traditional IRA or Inherited IRA: Your QCD gifts must be from a traditional or inherited IRA (inactive SIMPLE IRAs and inactive SEPs are also eligible).
What is a Required Minimum Distribution?
When you are age 73 or older, you must take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA each year. You must include your RMD in your taxable income, which increases your income tax and may have other tax effects, such as increasing the cost of your Medicare insurance. The fraction of your IRA balance that you must withdraw increases each year.
How to Get Started
- To Make a Cash Gift: You can donate online, by check, or set up a recurring gift through our website.
- To Arrange a QCD: Contact your IRA administrator and request a Qualified Charitable Distribution to The LeTourneau University Foundation. This ensures that your distribution is sent tax-free to us. Be sure to let us know your plans, so we can assist and acknowledge your gift.
Consult with Your Advisors
We encourage you to consult your financial and tax advisors to maximize the benefits of your cash gifts and QCDs. Both options provide meaningful ways to support a mission you care about while offering potential tax advantages.
Thank you for considering a generous gift to help sustain The LeTourneau University Foundation.
“Estate and Legacy Planning” – Does it Really Matter?
Think about this: early in the life of Israel we see the Lord repeatedly reminding them about the importance of passing on to “their children and their children’s children” God’s testimony of faithfulness (Deuteronomy 4:9 and following). God went on to tell the children of Israel that He wasn't’t talking directly with their children, but rather with them – because “their eyes had seen” all that the Lord had done (Deuteronomy 11:2-7).
Estate planning, when done with intentionality and by including a narrative of one’s life, can be an incredible means of motivating future generations. Further empowering such planning with
Watch for our next installment where we will purpose to unpack …
- what estate and legacy planning is
- why it’s important
- what it looks like
and most importantly,
- how it can be a compelling motivation for succeeding generations when it is empowered with an integrated level of charitable gift planning
As always, if we can be of service to you in this area, or for any questions you may have, please do not hesitate to email us at leavealegacy@letufoundation.org or call us toll-free at 903-500-2972 and ask for Tom Bevan.
And always a proper disclaimer: When considering what we might point to by way of a benefit to you in any given situation, always assure to consult your legal and tax advisor for what qualifies as the actual tax treatment of that scenario in your unique situation.
Scholarships play a major role in the lives of LETU students. More than 90% of the student body receives financial assistance from scholarships, grants, and loans. But with graduating seniors incurring significant financial debt, it is our goal to lessen the burden and increase our scholarship aid. Endowed scholarships play a vital role in decreasing the debt burden on students.
Why do LETU alumni and friends choose to establish Endowed Scholarship Funds?
- To perpetuate the memory or legacy of a loved one;
- To honor positive role models who have significantly influenced others;
- To invest in today's students who will influence every workplace and every nation for Christ tomorrow.
Endowed Scholarships provide significant impact:
- Equip leaders for tomorrow today;
- Recruit and retain outstanding students seeking the hands-on, Christ-centered education that has for decades been the strength of LETU;
- Recognize and reward outstanding performance by students with demonstrated financial need.
Endowed professorships, chairs, programs and schools are also available. Call 903.233.3833 to establish your endowment today.
Many companies will match their employees' charitable gifts. Some will even match the donations of retirees or employees' spouses! You can make your money double or even triple and at the same time invest in students' lives.
If your company is eligible, request a matching gift form from your employer's Human Resources department. Complete, sign and send in the completed form with your gift- every time you give a gift! Inform your employer of your donation and give them LeTourneau University's mailing address (2100 S. Mobberly Ave. Longview, TX 75607) so they can make the match. We will do the rest.
Giving a cash gift isn't the only way you can support LeTourneau University students. All you have to do is sign up for all the programs below and then let your shopping do the donating. It's that easy! Your normal, everyday shopping will help the LETU Annual Fund provide scholarship aid to deserving students. Thank you!
Give by Shopping
You're going to buy things anyway, right? Here are some ways your purchase can benefit LeTourneau University.
Amazon Smile
Start your shopping at smile.amazon.com, choose LeTourneau University as your selected organization, and the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases.
Kroger
If you are a KrogerPlus member, Kroger's Community Rewards program donates a portion of your eligible purchases to the organization of your choice. Choose LETU! Visit https://www.kroger.com/topic/kroger-community-rewards-3 to enroll with your membership card and choose LeTourneau University (NPO# 84780). Don't forget to re-enroll each year to continue in the Community Rewards program.
Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb's Good Neighbor Program allows customers to direct donation dollars to a favorite church, school or other non-profit organization. Visit the courtesy booth at your local store to link your reward card to our account (use our Charity# 9090).
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