Deferred or planned gifts provide needed support for all of the ICA’s work: timely and celebrated art and exhibitions, compelling performances, innovative education programs, and cultural and civic leadership. Planned gifts can be used to endow specific interests and advance the mutual goals of donors and the ICA. Above all, they are a permanent legacy of those who have championed and worked for the institution.
For more information about Planned Giving at the ICA, please contact the Development Office at 617-478-3147 or jspsociety@icaboston.org.
James Sachs Plaut Society
The James Sachs Plaut Society was formed to honor ICA friends who have made a planned gift to the museum, donated artwork, or maintained a membership for over 25 years. In gratitude for their thoughtful planning and generosity, James Sachs Plaut Society members receive a wide range of benefits. If you have already made a provision for the ICA in your estate plans, click here to enroll in the Society, or contact the Development Department at jspsociety@icaboston.org so that you may be enrolled as a Society member.
Read more below about the different ways to include the ICA in your estate plans:
Bequest
A bequest made under one’s will is often the simplest way to make a meaningful gift to the Institute of Contemporary Art. You may write a new will or simply add a codicil to your existing will. Bequests may come in any form—cash, securities, and other personal property, including works of art. Your charitable bequest is 100% deductible for estate tax purposes.
There are a number of ways to structure your bequest so that your gift benefits you and the ICA:
• Outright bequest: a gift by will of a specific sum of money or property, including works of art
• Residuary bequest: a gift of a percentage or all of the remainder of a donor’s estate after specific bequests, debts, taxes, and estate expenses have been paid
• Contingent bequest: a gift that benefits the ICA only if other named beneficiaries predecease the person making the will
Retirement Plans
When you name children or other non-charitable heirs as beneficiaries of your retirement plans, they receive only a small fraction of the plan’s face value, since inherited assets of retirement plans are subject to both estate and income taxes. You may wish to designate the ICA as a beneficiary of all or part of your retirement plan assets and set aside other assets for your family and friends. As a tax-exempt organization, the ICA will generally receive the full amount of the plan’s value, and your estate will receive a charitable deduction for the value of the assets distributed to the ICA.
Life Insurance
You may name the ICA as a beneficiary of all or part of a new or existing life insurance policy. Depending on the type of policy donated, you may receive an immediate income tax deduction and be able to deduct any future premium payments on the policy.
Life Income Gifts
Life income gifts benefit you and the ICA. By making a life income gift, you may increase your income, receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction, eliminate or reduce capital gains taxes, and reduce estate taxes. In addition, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your gift will provide much-needed support for the ICA.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
When you establish a charitable remainder trust, you made an irrevocable gift which is placed in the trust. You determine the payout rate, structure, and who oversees your trust, as well as how your trust is managed. Income from the trust is paid to one or more beneficiaries designated by you for a period of years. At the end of the trust term, the trust principal is turned over the ICA to be used as you set forth in the trust document. When you fund a trust gift, you not only receive an income stream for the life of the trust, but you also qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction, avoid any capital gains tax on the transfer, and reduce your taxable estate.
Charitable Lead Trusts
With a lead trust, you donate assets to a trust that makes payments to the ICA for the term of the trust. When the trust terminates, the assets are transferred back to you or directly to your heirs, as pre-designated by you. If the trust assets revert to you are the end of the trust term, your gift entitles you to an immediate income tax charitable deduction. If the trust assets are transferred to someone other than you at the end of the trust term, you enjoy a substantial reduction in estate and gift taxes on the future transfer to your heirs.
Tax-free IRA Rollover Gifts
If you are 70½ or older, you can make a gift to the ICA directly from your IRA. IRA Rollover gifts are not taxed and qualify toward your required minimum distribution (RMD).
The guidelines for making an IRA Rollover gift are simple and the steps to realizing that gift are just as easy!
Guidelines:
- You must be 70½ or older at the time the gift is made.
- Gifts from both traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs made directly to the ICA are eligible!
- A $100,000 maximum per taxpayer, per year qualifies for the tax-free status.
- Gifts must be made by the calendar year in order to qualify for the current tax year.
To make a gift from your IRA, contact your IRA administrator and request a charitable distribution to the ICA.
Once you have decided to make the gift, let us thank you for your generosity! Inform the ICA of your intentions by contacting the Development Team at development-mailbox@icaboston.org or at 617-478-3183.
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston recommends that you discuss your gift plans with your own legal and financial advisors. Members of the ICA staff will be happy to work with you and your advisers on ensure that your gift meets your goals and the ICA’s needs.
To provide our visitors with broader and more lasting experiences, the ICA established a permanent collection in 2006. The core of the museum’s collection is work by contemporary artists featured in ICA exhibitions, many at critical moments in their careers. A diverse overview of national and international artworks in a range of styles and media, the collection represents the very best art being made today and provides an important resource for contemporary culture in Boston.
Each year, the ICA grows its collection through both purchases and gifts of art:
Acquisitions Circle
To support the purchasing of artwork, the ICA introduced the Acquisitions Circle in 2015. Members of the group meet twice a year and vote on works to purchase for the collection.
Donating Artwork
Gifts of art often come from dedicated collectors who want to ensure that the art of our time be available to all. By donating a work of art to the Institute of Contemporary Art, you create a lasting legacy to both the museum and contemporary art. Artwork can be donated during your lifetime or by bequest. Donors of artwork are generally entitled to claim an income-tax charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the property (up to 30% of AGI with a five-year carryover).
For more information about making a gift of art or joining the Acquisitions Circle, please contact the Development Team at acquisitionscircle@icaboston.org or 617-478-3183.
