Covid-Smart Generosity
STEVE NICHOLS
Director of Gift Planning ARP Foundation
stewardship issues for individuals, local Churches, the Denomination and charitable giving in general. Suddenly conventional budgets and many programs are upended. How we give has taken new twists and changing ministry needs require thoughtful re-evaluation of how we can best use our resources. These challenges combined with
T
the unknowns for the future of our economy, give us good reasons to take stock of smarter ways to use of our income, reserves, and assets. Giving assets is gaining fresh atten- tion with important new incentives to lower taxes, provide for our fami- lies and still give generously to the Kingdom. The Great Commission has not changed, but many methods are changing -- at least for this season. Here are several strategies that
may personally benefit your family and church as we work through stay- at-home advisories, or for some, re- entering or restructuring the future of work and business. On-line Giving: Many of our
smaller churches’ weekly cashflows are suffering because they do not
he Covid-19 invasion of near- ly every corner of our lives is raising some unexpected
have on-line
capacity to
help mitigate delays or re- ductions in giving. So far, 25 churches have respond- ed to the Foundation’s of- fer to set-up on-line giving service. Central Service staff have enthusiastically stepped-up to create in- dividualized church ac- counts and quickly process gifts to send cash to the churches. The Foundation Board generously extended the offer through May until year-end to provide service to churches who want help to bridge their giv- ing gap. For details please see:
http://arpchurch.org/no-cost-online-giving- set-up-for-arp-churches/. Creating or Updating your Will: National (on-line) interest in personal Wills
has risen 150%. The likely reasons reflect more time at home and contemplating the realities for planning their family assets and personal affairs. For anyone in the ARP, the Foundation offers a professional, individualized Gift and Estate Design service from a uniquely Christian perspective to members as a ministry at no charge. Gifts of Appreciated assets: Stocks, land, real estate are tax-advantaged al- ternatives to giving from income. Some stocks values have even appreciated significantly over the past few months. The Foundation can facilitate the me- chanics needed to help you make gifts to ministries of your choice, often with significant tax saving that can be diverted to ministry. We can facilitate the sale of gifts of assets not easily divided like real estate, then directed to your church and/or multiple ministries. The Recent CARES Act of 2020: Several recent tax incentives are now in
place that may be of help to your giving decisions in 2020 (for taxes that will be filed in 2021): • CARES allows a $300 above-the-line deduction if you don’t (or can’t) itemize
• The AGI limit is raised from the 60% to 100% on cash donations to qualified charities that may help those who want to make unusually large gifts this year (note: contributions to Donor Advised Funds are not eligible for the higher limit)
• Gifts of IRA’s may still be excluded from gross income even though most retirement plans will waive the required minimum distribution (RMD) in 2020.
Please visit the ARP Foundation website (
www.aprfoundation.org) for an overview of the no-cost services available to members of the ARPC and custom- ized programs for ARP churches or contact me personally Steve Nichols, Director of Gift Planning
snichols@arpsynod.org 918 S Pleasantburg Dr Greenville, SC 29607 864-232-8298, ext. 250
Stewardship Resources for the Kingdom July/August 2020 13
ARP Foundation
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