Support & Involvement > Make a Gift > Current Gifts

Cash Gifts by Phone, Check or Credit Card Appreciated Securities Real Estate Closely Held Stock Tangible Personal Property

Make a Gift Now!

Writing a check is the time-honored and straightforward way of making a gift. It provides an immediate benefit to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and a tax deduction for you. But there may be greater advantages in considering giving property when significant sums are involved.

In fact, any property can be contributed: stocks and bonds, land, other real estate, works of art, mineral rights and life insurance, to name only a few.

Besides the outright tax deduction for your gift, giving appreciated property avoids capital gains tax. This double savings may allow for diversification of your holdings (or moving up the cost basis of the present portfolio) at very little more cost than making an outright gift of cash.

Likewise, a residence or farm can be contributed and capital gains avoided, perhaps avoiding the burdens of managing a distant property or having to deal with it as part of an estate liquidation. In short, most outright gifts of property have secondary benefits that are worth considering.

Tangible personal property, such as works of art, book collections and furnishings that are used in keeping with the Seminary's tax-exempt purposes are also deductible as gifts at full market value. But special rules apply to tangible personal property that is not used for the Seminary's purposes, and if such a gift is contemplated, we suggest some further discussion with counsel.

Cash

The majority of gifts to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary have come, so far, in the form of cash. Such gifts entitle you to an income tax charitable contribution deduction of up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. Where cash gifts exceed 50 percent of your adjusted gross income in any year, you may carry over these excess contributions for up to five additional years.

Make your gift now by phone, check or credit card.

Gifts Online: Make a gift using your Visa, Discover, or MasterCard - Here

Gifts by Phone: Make a gift to Louisville Seminary using your Visa or MasterCard by calling the Seminary Relations Office at: 1.800.264.1839

Gifts by Checks: Make a gift by sending a personal check or money order payable to Louisville Seminary. Checks can be mailed to:

Louisville Seminary
Office for Seminary Relations
1044 Alta Vista Road
Louisville, KY 40205-1798

Appreciated Securities

Contributions of long-term appreciated securities eliminate paying a capital gains tax on securities and entitle you to an income tax charitable deduction equal to the fair market value of the securities at the time of the gift. Because you avoid the capital gains tax, it is usually more advantageous to contribute appreciated securities directly than to sell them and give the net proceeds to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. When you give long-term appreciated securities, your income tax deduction is limited to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income for that year. However, you may carry over any excess contributions of long-term appreciated property for up to five additional years, subject to the 30 percent limitation rule.

You may make gifts of securities by electronic transfer, by mail, or liquidate the stock and send the proceeds to the Seminary. To assure proper crediting and distribution of your gift, or to have your questions answered regarding gifts of securities, please contact:

Dale Melton
Office for Seminary Relations
1044 Alta Vista Road
Louisville, KY 40205-1798
1.800.264.1839, ext. 347
Fax: 502.895.1096
E-mail: dmelton@lpts.edu

There are three ways to make a gift of securities to Louisville Seminary. The first is most commonly used and considered the most expedient, but any of the three is acceptable.

1. You can ask your bank and broker to wire securities to the Seminary's broker in Louisville. This is the fastest and most efficient way. A bank usually requires a letter of instruction from the donor, and other brokers who are in the DTC system have an Account Transfer Form for authorization. A bank or broker can wire a gift of stock to Louisville Seminary using the information below:
   
   J.J. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc.
   4801 Olympia Park Plaza Suite 1000
   Louisville, KY 40241
   1.502.420.1400 or 1.800.395.5966
   
   Account Executive: DeWitt Ivins
   Account #53598385
   DTC #0768
   Louisville Seminary's Tax I.D. is #61-0444768
   
   
2. You can send the stock certificate directly to the Seminary. Obtain a separate stock power from your broker. Endorse the stock power (which has the same information as the reverse side of the certificate). Mail the certificate in one envelope and the "stock power" in another envelope to:
   
   Office of Seminary Relations
   Louisville Seminary
   1044 Alta Vista Road
   Louisville, KY 40205-1798
   
   DO NOT ENDORSE THE CERTIFICATE! If it is lost or stolen, it is negotiable.
   
   
3. You can have your broker liquidate the stock and send the proceeds to Louisville Seminary. Have your broker call Mr. Pat Cecil, Vice President for Finance, or Dale Melton, Associate Vice President for Seminary Relations. The Seminary will establish an account with your broker and give instructions on the disposition of the stock. The Seminary will have to give the sell order to protect the deductibility of the gift for the donor.

The first two methods save Louisville Seminary brokerage fees through our agreement with Hilliard Lyons in Louisville for discount fees.

The stock will be valued at the average price of the day it reaches our account for gift valuation purposes. Any loss or gain, as well as any commission, will be borne by the Seminary.

The donor should also advise by letter as to the purpose of the gift.

Real Estate

Some donors have made gifts of real estate to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, with significant tax benefits.

Gifts of real estate can consist of almost any type of property -- a personal or "recreational" residence, a farm, a commercial building, subdivision lots or an undeveloped parcel of land. The gift can be the entire property or an undivided fractional interest in the property (25 percent, for example).

There are several methods of giving real estate, determined primarily by the donor's needs and goals. The Seminary Relations staff of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will be happy to work with you in determining which method is best for your needs.

FAQs about gifts of real estate

Closely Held Stock

If you give closely held stock to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, you avoid the capital gains tax on the appreciation of the stock and obtain an immediate income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the gift. This deduction is limited to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income in that year.

However, you may carry over, for five additional years, excess contributions that qualify for the 30 percent limitation rule.

Often a gift of closely held stock will be followed by an offer for the corporation to redeem, or buy, the stock from the Seminary. This redemption may be for cash, future earnings on an installment basis, or appreciated property.

Tangible Personal Property

In planning your gift to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, you should remember that valuable collections and works of art may be subject to estate taxes. By accelerating contributions of such items so that they occur during your lifetime, you not only reduce your taxable estate, but also reduce your taxable income in the year of the gift.

Because of the wide variety of its physical needs, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has a number of distinct gift opportunities that would involve tangible personal property.

These possibilities can be discussed in detail.

For such a gift of tangible property, you are entitled to an income tax charitable deduction amounting to the object's full fair market value (determined by an independent appraisal), provided the use of the object is directly related to the Seminary's tax-exempt function. If the gift is not used directly by Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary for it's tax-exempt purposes, your charitable contribution for tax purposes is the object's original cost plus 60 percent of its appreciation.

Back to Top