Ways to Give

To make a gift in cash, please stop by Catamount Arts at 115 Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The Community Art Center opens daily at 1pm.

To make a gift by check, please make the check payable to Catamount Arts, and send your contribution to:

Catamount Arts
Att: Development
P.O. Box 324
St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

By making a gift of appreciated securities, you can avoid the burden of a capital gains tax assessment and preserve your cash assets. End-of-year donors are encouraged to call their brokers in late November or early December to ensure stocks are transferred by December 31. To transfer a gift of stock to Catamount Arts, please contact Jody Fried at 802-748-2600 ext. 105.

Revenue from corporate matching gift programs is an increasingly vital source of income for Catamount Arts. Thousands of organizations match gifts of employees, directors, and retirees. Please request a matching gift form from your personnel office, mail it with your gift to Catamount Arts. We will see to it that the rest of the necessary paperwork is completed.

You may make a gift anonymously by contacting Jody Fried, Executive Director, at 802-748-2600 ext. 105.

How do you thank those special individuals who inspire and illuminate, stir and motivate? Or people who are friends, when you really need them! Are you having a hard time thinking of a gift for a relative to mark a special birthday or anniversary? Why not make a donation to Catamount Arts in your honoree’s name? You give or mail a card to your honoree explaining the gift, and Catamount Arts sends an acknowledgment to him or her and a tax-deductible receipt to you! You also could coordinate a larger gift from several individuals in order to make a greater impact on both your honoree and the arts community served by Catamount Arts.

Send donations in honor or memory of an individual to: Catamount Arts, Att: Development, P.O. Box 324, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819. Your honoree or their family members will receive word of your gift within a week.

At Catamount Arts, we rely on the support and generosity of friends who believe in our mission and our work. One way to make a difference is by planning a gift. You may want to think of us when you execute a new will. Or maybe you would like to add a codicil to your existing will.

A pledge of cash and securities could have tax advantages for you, since tax laws are written to encourage charitable giving. There are various ways to structure your gift so that it meets your personal philanthropic goals while enhancing your financial, tax, and estate planning. Cash and appreciated securities are used most frequently to fund charitable gifts to Catamount Arts.

Other ways to give include gift annuities, charitable lead trusts, gifts of real estate, and gifts of life insurance. We would be happy to discuss with you in complete confidence the different ways you can choose to support Catamount Arts. For further information, please call Jody Fried at 802-748-2600 ext. 105.

DOWNLOAD GIFT ANNUITY BROCHURE BY CLICKING HERE

At Catamount Arts, we rely on the support and generosity of friends who believe in our mission and our work. A charitable gift annuity is one of the simplest and most popular ways for an individual to make a gift to Catamount and receive a fixed annuity payment for life.

After experiencing three years of declining stock values and portfolio income, many retirees have decided it’s time to restructure the way their retirement assets are invested. Financial planners now recommend that part of an individual’s retirement assets be invested to provide a steady income, no matter what direction the broader stock market takes. As a result, sales of commercial annuities that pay a fixed annual income have skyrocketed. Having an annuity as part of your retirement portfolio means that you will have a steady, reliable amount of income that you can count on every year.

Catamount offers an annuity option that you should consider if you decide to annuitize part of your retirement investments. It’s called a charitable gift annuity. Like commercial annuities, you can choose to have the annuity start payments now or in the future. Like commercial annuities, part of your annual income will not be subject to income tax. Catamount’s gift annuity rates are competitive with those offered by commercial insurance companies.

When you decide to purchase a Catamount’s gift annuity, you receive a few additional benefits. One is that you can use stocks or bonds that have appreciated in value to purchase your annuity, something that you can’t use to purchase a commercial insurance annuity. You also qualify for a charitable deduction from your current income taxes, no matter when you decide to begin your annuity payments. The best result, though, is that whatever remains in your Catamount’s gift annuity account at your death is used to support your favorite charitable cause, rather than to provide profits to a commercial insurance company.

Catamount’s gift annuities can cover one or two lives. Here’s a sample of our rates for a single life, which depend on the beneficiary’s age when payments begin. Catamount accepts CGA donations of $15,000 or greater with a minimum age of 60 for non-deferred annuities.

A charitable lead trust works in the reverse order of life income gifts. While the assets are in trust, the trust makes payments to Catamount Arts. When the trust terminates (usually after a pre-determined number of years), the assets are transferred back to you or your heirs, as decided by you.

Lead trusts can be effective estate planning vehicles, because all the appreciation that occurs within the trust during the trust term passes through to the eventual beneficiary (if other than the donor) free of estate and gift taxes.

There are two types of lead trusts: the grantor lead trust and the non-grantor lead trust.

As a grantor lead trust donor, you contribute assets to a trust, which makes payments to Catamount Arts for the duration of the trust. When the trust terminates, the assets usually revert to you and/or your spouse.

When you create a grantor lead trust, you are entitled to an immediate income tax charitable deduction equal to the present value of the income stream that Catamount will receive during the life of the trust.

You must report on your personal tax return all the taxable income earned by the trust.

As a non-grantor lead trust donor, you contribute assets to a trust, which makes payments to Catamount Arts for the duration of the trust. When the trust terminates, the assets are transferred to someone other than you or your spouse (usually children or grandchildren).

When you create a non-grantor lead trust, you do not qualify for an income tax charitable deduction, but you also do not have to report any trust income on your personal tax return.

You will, however, enjoy a substantial reduction in estate and gift taxes on the future transfer of assets to your heirs.

Live in Your Home and Give!

You can receive a charitable tax deduction for living in your own home. It’s possible to continue to live in your home and claim a federal income tax deduction for donating the home to Catamount Arts. A retained life estate is an irrevocable assignment of your home to charity at your death. You continue to pay the taxes, maintenance, and insurance on the property and enjoy the right to live in and use the property until your death.

Here’s how the retained life estate works:

• You sign an agreement giving property to Catamount Film & Arts at your death.
• You retain the right to live in the property for your lifetime.
• You remain responsible for maintenance, insurance, and property taxes.
• You claim a charitable income tax deduction.

In A Down Market, Donate Alternative Assets!

When the stock market is unstable you may hesitate before giving away stock to charity. Do you own paid-up life insurance that is no longer needed for its original purpose? Perhaps your children are self-supporting or you sold your business? Consider this an asset that is easy to donate to Catamount Arts! You would be allowed a charitable income tax deduction for the cash surrender value of the policy.

DOWNLOAD BEQUEST BROCHURE BY CLICKING HERE

A bequest, a provision in your will that directs assets to an organization or individuals, is a time-honored way to support worthwhile causes. Your gift in support of Catamount Arts expresses your abiding commitment to our mission. Large or modest, all bequests are important, and will have an impact on the future of our work.

A testamentary gift can help you meet your financial and estate planning goals. You can:

• Specify an amount of money or which particular assets, such as securities or tangible property, will be left to Catamount Film & Arts
• Specify an amount of money or which particular assets, such as securities or tangible property, will be left to Catamount Film & Arts
• Designate that a particular percentage of your estate be given
• Detail that your remaining estate, after specific bequest to others, estate taxes, and estate settlement fees are paid, be given to Catamount Film & Arts
• You also could consider making Catamount Film & Arts a beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement fund

While your attorney-in consultation with your tax and financial advisors-will most likely prepare your estate plan, we would be pleased to discuss opportunities for bequest arrangements with you. To find out more, please contact Jody Fried at 802-748-2600 ext.105. Your inquiry will place you under no obligation and will be held in confidence.