The
Many Ways to Support East Palo Alto Unit 472
Unit
Fund Raising
Ways to Contribute
Membership
eScrip
Direct Financial Donation
Planned Giving
Donating
in General
IRS
Tax Publication 557
Resources Concerning
Donating |
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Membership
Membership is the foundation
on which the programs of the American
Legion Auxiliary is built.
Are
you eligible to belong?
Answer the questions below to find
out.
1 . Are you
the mother, wife, daughter, sister,
granddaughter, great granddaughter,
or grandmother of a current member
of The American Legion?
2 . Are you
a female veteran who served during
any of the conflicts listed below?
3 . Are you
currently a female member of The
American Legion?
4 . Are you
the mother, wife, daughter, sister,
granddaughter, great granddaughter,
or grandmother of a deceased veteran
who served during any of the conflicts
listed below? (Eligibility applies
to step-relatives.)
If you answered yes to any of the
four questions above, you are eligible
to belong to the American Legion
Auxiliary. Your membership is vital
to the efforts of the ALA in several
ways. As a member your dues supports
the Congressional lobbying efforts
of the American Legion and the American
Legion Auxiliary to provide veterans
and their families with the promised
support of our government. Through
your work at the Unit level, you
impact your community in positive
ways.
Click here
to get more information about joining
the "The World's Largest
Women's Patriotic Service Organization" |
eScrip
This fund raising program
costs no money and is for anyone (member
or nonmember) wanting to support American
Legion Auxiliary programs! It's called
eScrip. You register your cards
of choice (debit, credit, store club)
with eScrip - online. When you make
purchases using the cards at the participating
merchants, a percentage of your purchase
goes into the special East Palo Alto
Unit 472 account at eScrip. They
will turn around and send 85% of that
amount to the Unit. All the
funds are to be used for children
and youth programs. If you want to
register (or just get more information)
go to www.escrip.com
. Click on the sign up
link. Use our ID #500003765 to make
sure that East Palo Alto Unit 472
gets the credit. |
Direct
Donations
If you would like to
make a tax deductible donation to
East Palo Alto Unit 472, the following
information will assist you. A tax
receipt will be mailed to you indicating
the organization's tax exempt number
for your tax files.
| Donations
by PayPal - Payment
Center |
Checks
should be made payable to:
American Legion Auxiliary, East
Palo Alto Unit 472 |
| On
the memo line of the
check, indicate the program
to which the donation should
be applied. If no program is
indicated, the funds will be
deposited into the General Fund. |
Mail
the check to:
ALA Unit 472
2121 Crosspoint Avenue
Santa
Rosa CA 95403 |
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Planned
Giving
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A
Planned Gift to East Palo Alto Unit 472
ensures that the organization can continue
to provide the programs of support to
veterans, their families, and our communities.
Planned
giving integrates a donor's charitable
gift with his or her overall financial,
tax, and estate planning goals to maximize
benefits to both the donor and the American
Legion Auxiliary. Planned gifts typically
come from a donor's assets rather than
income, and can be either outright or
deferred. Some types of gifts include:
It
is highly recommended that donors consult
with their own tax or legal advisors prior
to making a planned gift. |
|
Options
Wills
Giving through
Retirement Plans
Giving through Living
Trusts
Giving through
Life Insurance
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The
information on this page is not intended
as legal, tax or investment advice. For
such advice, please consult an attorney,
tax professional or investment professional.
|
Bequests
in Wills and Living Trusts
A bequest in your will or living trust is
an uncomplicated way to support the work
of the ALA. A bequest may take several forms.
It can be specific sum, a percentage of
your estate, or the remainder of your estate
after expenses and gifts to loved ones.
Bequests can include cash, securities, real
estate, houses, and personal property such
as valuable collections, art, or jewelry.
Living trusts are a popular choice because
the terms of a living trust, unlike a
will, can be put into effect immediately
upon your death, bypassing probate and
keeping the terms private.
For
more information about leaving something
to East Palo Alto Unit 472 in your will
or living trust, please contact an estate
planning attorney.
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Retirement
Plans
An individual retirement account can be
a great way to provide for your future and
insure the continued work of the American
Legion Auxiliary. Your retirement account
(IRA) may expose your individual heirs to
an unnecessary federal income tax liability.
Instead of a charitable bequest, consider
making these distributions through your
IRA. This will preserve more of your estate
for family and friends.
Through
charitable gift annuities and trusts,
you can potentially increase current income.
Opportunities exist for both younger and
older individuals by increasing income
productivity, compounding growth through
deferment of income and by taking advantage
of other tax savings. Many times, life
insurance can become part of this plan
to help replace the eventual gift for
individual heirs.
Please
consult your attorney or other financial
adviser to review the deductibility of
any gifts or other planned giving ideas.
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Life
Insurance
Gifts of Life Insurance can enhance our
efforts to further develop programs aimed
toward supporting veterans - actively serving
and retired. Life Insurance creates an opportunity
for an individual to target a large gift
with limited cost. Many individuals have
contributed these gifts in the name of loved
ones. The face value of the policy will
assure that your targeted amount is met.
Life
Insurance offers a simple and private
way for you to contribute toward the mission
of the American Legion Auxiliary. It can
be as simple as naming East Palo Alto
Unit 472 as a beneficiary to your policy.
In order to have available a charitable
deduction, the ownership of the policy
would have to be changed to American
Legion Auxiliary, East Palo Alto Unit
472.
Annual contributions that can cover the
cost of the policy may qualify as a charitable
deduction.
Planned
Giving can create opportunities for increased
income and added tax savings. These benefits
can be applied toward purchasing life
insurance intended to help replace a gift
for your heirs. With proper estate planning,
the life insurance can be separated from
your estate.
Please
consult your attorney or other financial
adviser to review the deductibility of
any gifts or other planned giving ideas.
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IRS
Tax Forms
Publication 557
Chapter 4 - Other Section
501(c) Organizations 501(c)(19)
-- Veterans' Organizations
A post or organization of past or
present members of the Armed Forces
of the United States may file Form
1024 to apply for recognition of
exemption from federal income tax.
You should follow the general procedures
outlined in chapter 1. The organization
must also meet the qualifications
described in this section. Examples
of groups that would qualify for
exemption are posts or auxiliaries
of the American Legion, Veterans
of Foreign Wars, and similar organizations.
To qualify for recognition of exemption,
your application should show:
—That the post or organization
is organized in the United States
or any of its possessions,
—That at least 75% of the
members are past or present members
of the U.S. Armed Forces and that
at least 97.5% of all members of
the organization are past or present
members of the U.S. Armed Forces,
cadets (including only students
in college or university ROTC programs
or at armed services academies)
or spouses, widows, or widowers
of any of those listed here, and
—That no part of the net earnings
benefit any private shareholder
or individual.
In addition to these requirements,
a veterans' organization also must
be operated exclusively for one
or more of the following purposes.
—To promote the social welfare
of the community (that is, to promote
in some way the common good and
general welfare of the people of
the community).
—To assist disabled and needy
war veterans and members of the
U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents
and the widows and orphans of deceased
veterans.
—To provide entertainment,
care, and assistance to hospitalized
veterans or members of the U.S.
Armed Forces.
—To carry on programs to perpetuate
the memory of deceased veterans
and members of the Armed Forces
and to comfort their survivors.
—To conduct programs for religious,
charitable, scientific, literary,
or educational purposes.
—To sponsor or participate
in activities of a patriotic nature.
—To provide insurance benefits
for its members or dependents of
its members or both.
—To provide social and recreational
activities for its members.
Auxiliary unit.
An auxiliary unit or society of
a veterans' organization may apply
for recognition of exemption provided
that the veterans' organization
(parent organization) meets the
requirements explained earlier in
this section. The auxiliary unit
or society must also meet all the
following additional requirements.
It is affiliated with, and organized
in accordance with, the bylaws and
regulations formulated by the parent
organization. At least 75% of its
members are either past or present
members of the U.S. Armed Forces,
spouses of those members, or related
to those members within two degrees
of kinship (grandparent, brother,
sister, and grandchild represent
the most distant allowable relationship).
All of its members either are members
of the parent organization, spouses
of a member of the parent organization,
or related to a member of such organization
within two degrees of kinship. No
part of its net earnings benefit
any private shareholder or individual.
Trusts or foundations.
Trusts or foundations for a veterans'
organization also may apply for
recognition of exemption provided
that the parent organization meets
the requirements explained earlier.
The trust or foundation must also
meet all the following qualifications.
The trust or foundation is in existence
under local law and, if it is organized
for charitable purposes, has a dissolution
provision similar to charitable
organizations. (See Articles of
Organization in chapter 3 of this
publication.)
The corpus or income cannot be diverted
or used other than for:
The funding of a veterans' organization,
described in this section, Religious,
charitable, scientific, literary,
or educational purposes or for the
prevention of cruelty to children
or animals, or An insurance set
aside.
The trust income is not unreasonably
accumulated and, if the trust or
foundation is not an insurance set
aside, a substantial portion of
the income is in fact distributed
to the parent organization or for
the purposes described in item (2)(b).
It is organized exclusively for
one or more of the purposes listed
earlier in this section that are
specifically applicable to the parent
organization.
Tax treatment of donations.
Donations to war veterans' organizations
are deductible as charitable contributions
on the donor's federal income tax
return. At least 90% of the organization's
membership must consist of war veterans.
The term war veterans means persons,
whether or not present members of
the U.S. Armed Forces, who have
served in the U.S. Armed Forces
during a period of war (including
the Korean and Vietnam conflicts,
the Persian Gulf war, and later
declared wars). |
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