Wentworth Douglass Hospital

Cash Gifts
Cash or gifts of cash equivalents are the most common asset for charitable giving. Cash may be used for outright gifts, retained interest gifts, and bequests. A gift of cash may be made as either a one-time contribution or as a pledge to be paid on a schedule determined by the donor.

Credit Card Gifts
Credit Card gifts are a convenient way to make a gift to the Foundation. Your gift, placed on Visa, MasterCard or American Express, benefits the Hospital and may have added bonus for you if your credit card has an incentive program such as frequent flier miles or purchase rebates. Of course, your gift made by credit card is 100% tax deductible.

Publicly Traded Securities
Publicly Traded Securities that have appreciated in value are a popular way to donate.

These include stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares. The full market value is recognized for gift purposes and potential capital gains taxes are avoided. Unless the Foundation’s Board of Directors determines that there is a reason to hold specific gifts of securities, all securities will be sold upon acceptance. The value of a gift of stock (for the donor’s income tax purposes) is based on the fair market value on the date of the donor’s gift. Please contact the Foundation Office beforehand to make sure that the transfer is done safely and correctly.

A $5,000 cash gift and a gift of $5,000 in appreciated securities both generate the same charitable deduction. But if you use publicly-traded stocks or bonds to make your gift, you will receive an additional tax benefit: the IRS allows you to make your transfer to the Foundation without recognizing capital gains on the appreciation. You can thus leverage a larger donation than you could make with cash and receive a larger tax deduction. Click here to request a brochure.

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Real Estate
Whether a personal residence, a vacation home, a farm, undeveloped land, or commercial property, real estate can provide a number of benefits as gifts, including income tax savings and avoidance of capital gains taxes.

Real Estate can be donated to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation as an outright gift; bargain sale (described below) or as a retained life estate. More information on Retained Life Estate.

With the charitable bargain sale, you sell your personal residence or other property to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation at less than its fair market value. The transaction gives you cash that you can use to purchase your next home or as the entry fee for a retirement facility, plus a charitable income tax deduction for the discount you took from the market value.

We mutually agree on the purchase price for your property, and on whether we will pay you in a lump sum or through an installment note.

The bargain sale is the only gift plan that can give you both a lump sum of cash and a charitable deduction. Click here to request a brochure.

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Life Insurance
Life INSURANCE policies that are no longer needed for family or business purposes can be transferred to the Foundation. Transferring ownership during your lifetime enables you to claim a charitable deduction equal to the surrender value. Click here to request a brochure.

Have you reached a point in your life where you do not need your life insurance any more? The insurance coverage you have developed over the years may now be valuable enough to cause some large estate taxes, which, if you still own the policy, will be expensive to your heirs. A gift of a life insurance policy provides a particularly appealing way of making a substantial gift to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation. It allows us to acknowledge and recognize the donor now, it allows the donor to make a larger gift than would normally be possible from current income, and it puts to good use assets that are becoming less important to you. To make this gift deductible, it must be irrevocable and the Foundation must be named the owner and beneficiary of the policy. If your gift is of a paid-up (there are no additional premiums to be paid) life insurance policy, you will receive an immediate income tax deduction generally equal to the sum of the premiums you have paid. If it is a policy on which you are still paying premiums, your deductions will be different but still very advantageous.

Another important use of Life INSURANCE is Wealth Replacement. If you make a substantial gift to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation, you are often reducing the amount of your assets that will go to your heirs. Increasingly, donors are using some of their tax savings (from their charitable deduction) to purchase an insurance policy on their own life and make their heirs the owners and beneficiaries of that policy. When properly constructed, this wealth replacement strategy can permit both a larger gift and a larger legacy for your heirs. Click here to request a brochure.

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Retirement Plans
Retirement plans make excellent charitable gifts at the time of death. The Foundation can be named to receive all or a portion of company pension plan, an IRA, a 401(k), or a Keogh plan. Retirement plan assets are often subject to extremely high estate taxes and the income is fully taxable when received by an individual beneficiary. Making a charitable gift may be a better use of these assets.

By naming the Foundation as the beneficiary of a retirement plan you maintain control over the assets during your lifetime, but at your death the plan passes to the Foundation free of both estate and income taxes for the use you have specified at the Hospital. When creating your estate plan you may wish to consider leaving heirs other assets, such as cash and securities that are not as highly taxed and naming the Foundation as the beneficiary of your plan.

Retirement Plans seem to be the best kept secret in gift planning. Gifts from these assets often make better financial sense to the donor than gifts of cash, securities or property. In the years since IRAs and 401(k)s and other personal retirement plans were established, many people have deposited significant funds which have grown rapidly as the financial markets have set records. Your retirement funds may well be a very significant part of your estate now. In your estate, those funds will be taxed more heavily than others, and it may make good sense to commit those to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation instead of other assets. In some estates, retirement funds can face taxes as high as 80%, leaving little for heirs. Click here to request a brochure.

Personal Property
Personal property such as art, books, antiques and collections can be given to the Foundation. In order to ensure that your wishes can be carried out, all gifts of tangible personal property must first be approved and accepted by Wentworth-Douglass Hospital & Health Foundation Board of Directors. Please call the Foundation at 603-740-2687 to discuss your plans.

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