Types of Planned Gifts

Memphis Theological Seminary welcomes and appreciates gifts of cash, including checks, money orders or bank drafts. If you would like to restrict your gift to a specific program or purpose, please indicate this in the memo portion of your check or in a note accompanying your gift. Gifts by check should be made payable to:
Memphis Theological Seminary

Please mail your gift to:
Office of Advancement Memphis Theological Seminary
168 East Parkway South
Memphis, TN 38104-4395

Endowment funds are invested by the Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Stewardship and only the interest from these investments is used to support the current operation of the seminary. The corpus of the endowment is retained and reinvested to help ensure the future financial viability of the institution.

For as little as $5,000 a named endowment fund can be established. Please contact the Office of the President or the Advancement Office for more details on how you can establish or add to an endowment fund.

Gifts to the Annual Fund or the Endowment are wonderful ways to honor someone special. When submitting the contribution, indicate the name of the person(s) the gift is honoring. The seminary will notify that person, or their family in the case of a memorial gift, by means of a letter identifying the donor and the fund to which the contribution was made.

Gifts of personal property, also known as gifts-in-kind, include:
Automobiles Books Artwork Jewelry

Should you decide to donate personal items, it is best to contact the Office of Advancement at (901) 334-5811 to see how your gift can best benefit those we serve.

Many are experiencing the satisfaction of arranging for future support of the Memphis Theological Seminary through bequests and life income plans. This means of making future contributions is known as planned giving.

Planned gifts include gifts made through wills or life income plans such as, charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities, life insurance, and a variety of other programs. Most people find that the use of these planned vehicles results in a larger gift than was first thought possible, while at the same time enhancing the donor’s stream of lifetime income.

The benefits include:

• the satisfaction of making an investment in life and ministry that will help provide future leadership for the church
• income for life (or, in some cases, a term of years) with the option of providing for a beneficiary as well
• a charitable deduction for income tax purposes in the year of the gift, with carryover privileges for up to five additional years
• reduction or elimination of the capital gains tax when funded with appreciated property held longer than one year
• freedom from investment and management responsibilities
• estate tax benefits
• the avoidance of probate and estate administration expenses

For more information about planned gifts consult your financial advisor or the Office of Advancement, Memphis Theological Seminary. The phone number is 901-458-8232. You may also use the email address: advancement@MemphisSeminary.edu.

Do you want to benefit from the tax savings that come supporting MTS, yet you don’t want to give up any resources that you’d like your heirs to receive someday? You can do both with a charitable lead trust.

There are two types of charitable lead trusts:
A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to MTS and is more attractive when interest rates are low.
A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust’s assets go up in value, for example, the payments to MTS will go up as well.

Here’s how it works: You set up a trust that will make annualized payments to MTS over 15-20 years. At the end of the trust period the assets will revert back to you or your heirs. You will receive an income tax deduction each year for the amount of the annual payment. Your heirs will receive an amount equal to the initial trust deposit. The CLT greatly reduces income tax liability and transfers assets to heirs with ease.

You have the power to strategically invest in the future of Memphis Theological Seminary. How? By making an endowed gift. Your gift is an investment in our future, helping us grow and thrive for years to come. You can select any area you would like to impact. Typically scholarships and operations are the two areas where most often endowed.

If you, or a loved one, has been impacted by Memphis Theological Seminary, consider establishing a memorial or honor-aria as a meaningful way to celebrate your loved one or to celebrate the incredible impact that MTS has made in your life. Your memorial or tribute gift will make a lasting impact for the community of believers that we serve.

When you make a bargain sale, you sell your property to MTS for less than what it’s worth. The difference between the actual value and the sale price is considered a gift. A bargain sale can be a great way to move real estate that has appreciated, and it is the only gift vehicle that can give you a cash payment and a charitable deduction at the same time.

This gift can be a wonderful way for you to benefit Memphis Theological Seminary and simultaneously transfer appreciated real estate to your family tax-free. You should consider funding the charitable lead trust with real estate that is income-producing and expected to increase in value over the term of the trust. A memorial or endowed gift. A gift of real estate may be a perfect way to honor your loved one forever. When you make an endowed gift of real estate, your contribution is invested with and becomes part of our endowment. An annual distribution is made for the purpose you designate. Because the principal remains intact, the fund will generate support for scholarships, operations or any area you chose in perpetuity.

You can contribute any real estate you’ve owned for more than one year, provided it’s unmortgaged, in exchange for an income stream for life or a term of up to 20 years. The gifted property may be a home (a personal residence must be vacant upon contribution), undeveloped land, a farm or commercial real estate.

Are you weary of taking care your property such as paying taxes, utilities and repair bills? Consider giving the property to Memphis Theological Seminary in exchange for dependable payments for life for you (and someone else, if you choose). With a charitable gift annuity, you’re allowed a federal income tax deduction in the year you set up the gift annuity when you itemize on your taxes. If you use appreciated real estate to make a gift, you can usually eliminate capital gains tax on a portion of the gift and spread the rest of the gain over your life expectancy.

When you transfer real estate to your donor advised fund, you avoid capital gains taxes and receive a federal income tax deduction based on the fair market value of the property.

Allows you the ability to change your mind and the potential to support our work with a larger gift than you could during your lifetime. In as little as one sentence or two, you can ensure that your support for Memphis Theological Seminary continues after your lifetime and that your estate will benefit from a federal estate tax charitable deduction. A retained life estate. Perhaps you like the tax advantages a gift of real estate to our organization would offer, but you want to continue living in your personal residence for your lifetime. You can transfer your personal residence or farm to Memphis Theological Seminary but keep the right to occupy (or rent out) the home for the rest of your life. You continue to pay real estate taxes, maintenance fees and insurance on the property. Even though we would not actually take possession of the residence until after your lifetime, since your gift cannot be revoked, you receive an immediate federal income tax charitable deduction for a portion of your home’s value.

When you make a gift today of real estate you have owned longer than one year, you obtain a federal income tax charitable deduction equal to the property’s full fair market value. This deduction lets you reduce the cost of making the gift and frees cash that otherwise would have been used to pay taxes. By donating the property to us, you also eliminate capital gains tax on its appreciation. Furthermore, the transfer is not subject to the gift tax, and the gift reduces your future taxable estate.