Invest in Farmland Conservation and the Future of Your Community

Planned giving is a powerful way to help ASA protect agricultural lands and provide a future for farming in our region. Your bequest, planned gift, or gift of cash or land may also offer significant benefits to you and your family. We recommend you discuss any planned gift with your attorney, accountant and/or other financial advisors. Below is a summary of options for making a planned gift to ASA and creating a conservation legacy for your community.

Cash

Cash is the simplest and most common way to support ASA’s annual work or its capital needs. You may make a one-time contribution or a pledge over two or three years. Your gift will be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you have decided to make a cash gift, please send your check payable to Agricultural Stewardship Association, 14 Main Street, Suite 100, Greenwich, NY 12834. If you would like to pay your gift over a number of years, please let us know if you would appreciate reminders for your future gifts.

Bequests

When you decide to leave assets in your will to support the work of ASA, you are making a bequest. You may decide to leave a specific amount or a portion of your residuary estate to ASA. We are able to provide your attorney with the appropriate language to include in your will. All bequests can reduce federal estate taxes, and there is no limitation on the size of the gift. Please consult with your attorney and financial advisor regarding your estate tax circumstances.

Gifts of Land

The Agricultural Stewardship Association is delighted to accept gifts of land. If the property you give has conservation value, you will receive a tax deduction for its unrestricted value. This will maximize your charitable income tax deduction. In these cases, ASA will then place a conservation easement on the land before it is sold, and then allocate the sale proceeds to benefit our work.

Giving Land While Continuing to Live On It

If you are a landowner, you can donate your land and continue to live on it. This is known as a gift of remainder interest, or a gift of land with a “reserved life estate.” After you die, full title of the property automatically transfers to ASA. Inmost cases, ASA will sell the land after protecting it with a permanent conservation easement.

A Remainder Interest Gift

A remainder interest gift usually entitles you to an income tax deduction for the “present value ”of ASA’s remainder interest. Also, the land is not subject to estate taxation. You continue to enjoy the property during your lifetime, and you have the satisfaction of knowing your land will pass to good hands in the future. To increase the income tax benefit, you can combine a donation of a conservation easement with a gift of remainder interest to ASA.

Other Personal Property and Tangible Gifts

These gifts can be a wonderful opportunity for both you and the Agricultural Stewardship Association. Provided ASA used the item as part of its exempt purpose, a donation of tangible personal property can usually be deducted at its full market value, and may be exempt from capital gains tax. An appraisal may be necessary, so please discuss this with us.

Retirement Accounts

Many people today discover that some of their greatest assets are in their retirement accounts. They also learn that passing these assets on to their heirs can burden the beneficiaries with significant income taxes and sometimes even estate taxes, which can consume as much as seventy-five percent of the retirement account. Naming ASA as the beneficiary of a portion of your retirement accounts can help you to make a significant future contribution, ensure that your beneficiaries receive the maximum value from the funds you pass on to them, and maintain your current financial security.

Life Insurance

You can name ASA as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, and/or you can transfer ownership of the policy to the Agricultural Stewardship Association during your lifetime. These gifts avoid estate taxation on the life insurance death benefit after your passing—and they may, in some cases, create a present income tax deduction as well.

Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, and Other Publicly Traded Securities

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other publicly traded securities are easily donated, and can often provide you with exceptional tax savings. When you donate appreciated securities to ASA, you will usually receive the benefit of a fair-market value income tax deduction, and your gift will be exempt from capital gains tax. Please check with your financial advisor before deciding on the best way to make a gift of this type and call Renee Bouplon at 692-7285 for information that will make giving easy for you and your broker. Note: In order to realize potential tax benefits, you should donate securities directly to ASA, rather than selling them yourself and giving ASA the proceeds.