Planned Giving

Roman Catholic Foundation

We are pleased to have the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri as our Planned Giving partner.

The Foundation’s mission is to inspire giving and connect donors to Catholic ministries, sustaining the local church for future generations. The Foundation assists donors with legacy gifts, from their will, trust, or retirement plan, to the Catholic parish, school or organization of their choice.

Please click the button below to visit their website to learn of the many ways you can create or support a legacy, benefiting the Annual Catholic Appeal.

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Perpetual Light Society

The Perpetual Light Society provides Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Louis the opportunity to support the Annual Catholic Appeal with a gift that will become a legacy of their life’s work and an example for their families. I invite you to consider a bequest or planned gift, and continue your personal or family tradition of faithful stewardship beyond your lifetime. Your faithful stewardship demonstrates your selfless support for the ministries of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson
Archbishop of St. Louis

 

GO BUILD MY CHURCH

Our stewardship begins with our gratitude to Almighty God, who created us from nothing and freed us from the power of sin and death. Members of the Perpetual Light Society demonstrate their thankfulness and continue their support of the Annual Catholic Appeal through this endowment fund. These legacy gifts made through the Society produce income that supports parishes, schools and agencies of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in perpetuity.

“Go build my Church,” were the words of Christ, miraculously spoken to St. Francis of Assisi from the cross. He was awakened to a new zeal and first concentrated his efforts on repairing church buildings near his home in Assisi. Only later did he understand that the rebuilding would mean founding the Order of the Franciscans and a worldwide renewal, building up the universal Church.

Pope Francis invites us to continue the work of St. Francis of Assisi, and of Mary our Mother of Charity. We are called to leave home, and look beyond our own needs, to live in a new way, on a revolutionary path of compassion and love.  

 

GIVING THAT BENEFITS YOU AND THE ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL

When you prepare your will/trust or plan your estate to include charitable giving for the Annual Catholic Appeal,  you will be a perpetual light to those in need through a gift that lives beyond your lifetime. Members receive benefits during their lifetime and may receive tax advantages from certain types of gifts that can be made now, or through a bequest. As a member, you may also be able to:

  • gain charitable tax deductions now
  • reduce or avoid capital gains tax
  • lower your estate taxes
  • protect and potentially increase the size of your estate for your heirs
  • provide a larger, lasting gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal, to benefit
    • senior priests in retirement
    • outreach to the poor through Catholic Charities 
    • parish life and youth programs
    • Catholic education

Membership in the Society is open to anyone who includes the Annual Catholic Appeal in their estate planning. Special recognition is as follows:

  • Members are remembered for generations to come. Each name or family name is inscribed in the hand-painted “Book of Life" on display at the Cardinal Rigali Center.
  • Members are invited to an annual appreciation event.
  • Members are remembered in the prayers of our retired priests at Regina Cleri.
  • Members receive a recognition of membership from the archbishop.
  • Special greetings are sent to members throughout the year from the archbishop.

 

GIFT OPPORTUNITIES

There are many ways to share your gifts through the Perpetual Light Society. A variety of options allow you to demonstrate your stewardship and extend your giving, even beyond your lifetime.

Unless you request otherwise, your gift will be placed in an endowment that will continue your legacy of generosity for generations to come. The benefits for you, your heirs and the Annual Catholic Appeal are many.

Examples of ways to give include:

  •  Gifts of cash or securities often can result in a tax deduction. You may also avoid capital gains taxes with gifts of appreciated securities.
  •  You can determine how your estate is distributed through a will or trust bequest and possibly reduce your estate tax.
  •  charitable gift annuity will provide a fixed payment for life and may result in a tax deduction in the year of your gift. A portion of your payment may be tax-free. Capital gains taxes can be reduced if funded with appreciated securities.

For more information about other ways to give, consult with your professional advisor.

 

HOW CAN WE HELP?

The Archdiocesan Office of Stewardship and the Annual Catholic Appeal personnel has partnered with the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri to meet the planned giving needs of our donors. The Foundation can help you to honor the Annual Catholic Appeal, the ministries it supports, and even your own parish in various ways, such as by naming the Appeal as a beneficiary on your retirement account or insurance policy, or by creating a different type of planned gift.

The trained professionals of the Roman Catholic Foundation welcome the opportunity to offer confidential consultation and assistance. All donors are encouraged to consult with the professional advisor responsible for their estate planning. For more information, please call the Office of Stewardship and the Annual Catholic Appeal at 314.792.7680, or the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri at 314.918.2890.

 

The legal title for leaving a gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal in your will or trust or as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or an insurance policy is: Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri, benefiting the Annual Catholic Appeal/Perpetual Light Society Fund.

 

IRA Charitable Rollover

The federal government has made permanent the IRA Charitable Rollover provision, allowing parishioners to make donations to qualified charities (including Catholic parishes and agencies) directly from their IRA. This provision helps donors who are more than 70 ½ years old and are thus required to take a minimum distribution from an IRA but would prefer to not have the income added to their taxable income. This provision will benefit, for example, donors who do not itemize their deductions, those who exceed deduction limitations, or those impacted by the Alternative Minimum Tax. The gift must come directly from the IRA to the charity, and the donor cannot receive any benefits in return (for example, this cannot be used to pay tuition, purchase a table at a dinner, purchase an auction item, etc.). The donor cannot take a charitable deduction for this gift, because their gift does not count towards their income.

If a donor asks you about this new provision, it is important to not give him or her tax advice, but to suggest that they speak with a tax professional. It is very important that the donor not receive any benefit from the donation (such as tuition), as this could create tax and legal problems for both the donor and your organization. If a donor wishes to make such a donation, you simply must send them an acknowledgement that states that the donation was made directly from an IRA, and that the donor received no benefits other than intangible religious benefits. For questions, please contact the Office of Stewardship at 314.792.7680 or Shared Accounting Services at 314.792.7211. To assist donors with stock transfer instructions, please contact SLAF 314.792.7867.

 

Tax Substatiation Information

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about end of the year substantiation to your donors.

Please assist your donors by providing written acknowledgements by January 31 for charitable gifts made in the previous calendar year.  In particular, if itemizing, donors are required to provide documentation, a bank record and/or written documentation from the charity for any monetary contribution before the donor can claim a charitable contribution on his or her federal income tax return.  For single donations of $250 or more, the donor must obtain from the charitable organization a written acknowledgement before claiming a charitable contribution.

In assisting your donors with their end of the year substantiation, please provide a written acknowledgement that includes:

  1. Name of the Organization
  2. Amount of Cash Contribution
  3. Description but not the value of non-cash contributions (if applicable)
  4. A statement that no goods and services, other than intangible religious benefits, were provided in exchange for this contribution. This is a required IRS disclosure.  Failure to indicate this information on a substantiation letter could result in the contribution being disallowed by the IRS. (See below example.)  
  5. A description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution.

Charitable contributions made to a credit card are deductible in the year the donor makes the charge even if the credit card is not paid until the new year. 

Example:

The [Insert Parish, School or Agency Name] did not provide any goods, or services in whole or partial consideration for the above contributions, or provided only intangible religious benefits.