Planned giving happens when someone includes Smith in her estate plans, as Sophia did when she created the college in her will. A planned gift doesn’t need to be as monumental as Sophia’s, however, and can be accomplished in various ways – large or small. Regardless of your means, planned giving can be individually tailored to your specific goals, including tax objectives. And with whatever way you choose, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve helped future Smithies and our alma mater itself. Through a thoughtful planned gift, often with no current cash disbursement, we can take pride in supporting Smith beyond our lifetimes.
Smith’s Office of Gift Planning can help to match a donor’s financial profile and charitable intentions to the right type of donation – ranging from outright testamentary gifts by will or payable-on-death beneficiary designation, to gifts that pay you income and save on taxes, to gifts that protect assets for you or your family. Director Sam Samuels and his staff always welcome your call at 800.241.2056 (option 4). Smith’s planned giving website (https://smith.plannedgiving.org) is also easy to navigate and full of suggestions in sorting out the possibilities. Or you can always contact the ’69 Planned Giving Co-Chairs, Edie Dinneen (EdieDinneen@aol.com) or Debbie Franczek (DebbieFranczek1971@gmail.com).
Smith honors planned giving donors with an invitation to join The Grécourt Society (named after the Grécourt Gates in front of College Hall). Grécourt members wear a “mystic blue” ribbon in the Alumnae Parade in recognition of their commitment and contributions to future generations of Smithies. If you have included Smith in your estate plans in any amount, please notify the Office of Gift Planning so that you can be acknowledged.
Joining is easy and can be done online: https://smith.plannedgiving.org/legacy-society-form. There is no minimum amount required; it costs nothing now; Smith may be a primary or just a contingent beneficiary; no documentation is necessary; and if a donor’s situation changes, a gift can be modified or canceled. Joining The Grécourt Society can be that simple, and should not have any effect on what you may want to do in terms of a current annual gift. Spouses also qualify for Grécourt membership. At our 50th and 55th reunions, our class won the prize for having added the most new Grécourt members, and as of June 2024, had a total of 115 members. May we add your name to the list?
For certain types and amounts of planned gifts, there is also a way in which they can boost our 60th reunion class gift. For purposes of that gift total, Smith will include 60% of all non-contingent testamentary bequests and beneficiary designations of $10,000 or more (known as “bequest intentions”). That means our reunion total would be increased as if the donor had given $6,000 (or whatever higher amount the 60% might be) as a current cash gift. Smith also counts a full 100% of all charitable gift annuities of $10,000 or more and remainder trusts of $100,000 or more. But in order for any of these qualifying gifts to be counted for reunion credit, the donor must inform the Office of Gift Planning and provide some particulars.
Thanks to a relatively new federal law, this may be an opportune time to consider using a required minimum distribution from an IRA, without having to pay any tax on it, to create a charitable gift annuity with Smith. Your money went into the IRA tax-free, and wouldn’t it be good to have it come out of the IRA still tax-free? That can now happen on a one-time basis for up to a maximum of $53,000 (subject to annual increases for inflation) if the money goes directly to Smith to fund an immediate, non-deferred annuity – which, as of August 2024, would pay a 77-year-old donor 7.4% annually for her lifetime (or an even higher rate if she were older).
For our reunions in 2019 and 2024, all types of planned gifts and bequest intentions accounted for about 67% and 78%, respectively, of our award-winning class reunion totals. Planned gifts do matter!
