The Near East Foundation’s Planned Giving program is designed to help our donors--like you--express your values and generosity while receiving income and making choices about the distribution of your assets. We also hope Planned Giving will be a catalyst encouraging a whole new generation of NEF supporters. This would be in keeping with our particularly strong tradition of continuing financial assistance by generations of the same families through the years since our founding in 1915.

An increasingly important tool for nonprofits like NEF, Planned Giving simply is a gift NEF would receive through or by means of a will, contract, trust or something similar. It takes advantage of particular tax incentives created by the U.S. Congress to promote the private funding of charitable organizations. They include charitable deductions which may be taken against the two major taxes affecting most of us—income and capital gains tax and gift and estate tax.

From these direct tax advantages to the unique characteristics of gift annuities and split interest trusts, Planned Giving offers NEF donors a whole range of options. On the simpler end are bequests and making NEF the beneficiary of life insurance policies. Then there are gift annuities and life estates—the first giving a sum of money in exchange for a lifetime income; the other giving ownership of a home in exchange for the right to live there for a lifetime. Both types of annuities give immediate income tax advantages. Finally, there are the most complex trusts such as pooled income funds, remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts.

Whatever your financial situation and objective, the Near East Foundation’s professional staff is at your disposal for a Planned Giving discussion. We also hope the availability of Planned Giving will permit you to consider making a substantial gift in this our remarkable 90th anniversary year of operation.

In short, Planned Giving is but the latest way you can join in fulfilling the Near East Foundation’s mission of helping the people in the Middle East and Africa build the future they envision for themselves. That’s what it really is all about.