The Many Ways of Giving
· Giving through Membership
· Gifts of Cash or Other Assets and Pledging
· Donating Appreciated Securities
· Corporate Donations and Sponsorships
· Leaving a Legacy or Bequest by Will
USAIMF Inc. is an IRS 501 C 3 Tax Exempt, Charitable, Not-For-Profit Organization Incorporated in the State of Florida
Giving Through Membership
Giving any kind can make you a member of the museum foundation. Whether it be by a cash donation, donating artifacts or assets of reasonable value or even donating your time and talents will qualify you as a member of the USAIMF.
Many organizations require annual or sustaining memberships. Not so with the Foundation. Any donation, though $20+ is suggested, monetary or not will place you on the rolls. This is the General Membership and the first 1,000 are considered Founders. Donations of cash and assets valued at $100 to $999 are Friends of the Museum; $1,000 to $2,499 are Special Friends, $2,500 to $24,999 are Benefactors, $25,000 to $249,999 are Sponsors, and $250,000 and above are Senior Sponsors. Sponsorships may include sponsoring a hall, a hangar, an airplane, a library, a hall of fame, or a part of one. All donations will be appropriately honored and credit displayed.
To make a donation of cash or an asset, merely send it along with your name and address and any past or present airline affiliation to the address on the back of this brochure. You may want to contact the Foundation first for specific instructions. All donations will be acknowledged and are tax-exempt.
Though the tangible benefits of the membership may seem few, they do include an acknowledgement of the donation, a label pin, and the quarterly newsletter, Imprint. The intangible benefit is the deep satisfaction in knowing that you have helped a great and long-past-due endeavor to preserve the heritage of one of America’s most treasured industries.
Giving by Pledging
Pledging a gift to the museum foundation is an expression of your desire to help fund the foundation’s projects in a way that best meets your best intentions. Whether it is a gift of money or a valued asset such as an aircraft, an engine or even a display case, it can be pledged to the foundation. A pledge is nothing more than a formal promise to deliver at a future date. And the foundation’s pledges are non-binding since we believe that a person’s situation is always subject to change. This is all done in writing and may even involve a pledge of payments over time. The Foundation welcomes pledges of all kinds determined by the donor.
Donating Appreciated Assets
As far as the IRS is concerned, there are two types of charitable donations: cash and appreciated assets. An appreciated asset is anything from stocks to a stamp collection or an antique airplane that has gained in value and has been held more than a year. If you donate this you avoid a tax on the capital gain and generally get a tax deduction equal to the fair market value on the day that it is delivered to the charity.
These types of decisions, while best left to your tax or financial advisor, can be easily understood by the following illustration.
For example: Suppose you purchased 100 shares of XYZ Corp. for $10 a share in 1998. Suppose that as of this date it has increased to 150 shares at $65 per share. If these shares were “cashed out”, this increase in value over the purchase price could be fully taxable as a capital gain. However, if these same shares were donated to USAIMF, there would be no capital gain tax and the full fair market value of the shares would be tax-deductible as a charitable donation on your federal income tax return.
Your mortgage interest, taxes, medical expenses and other deductions are generally fixed. The amount and timing of your charitable donations, on the other hand, are completely under your control.
Corporate Donations and Sponsorships
By contributing to the museum foundation, corporations receive certain significant components of recognition. All contributions of $1,000 or more will receive a frame certificate appropriate for you to display at your headquarters. You will also receive choice site selection for your product display at any trade shows held at the Museum. Larger corporate funding will be appropriately acknowledged by possibly sponsoring and naming a hall, hangar, or other part of the Museum after or in honor of someone named by the corporation.
The Foundation will gladly meet with corporate representatives to work out the details to accommodate your wishes.
Leaving a Legacy Gift or Bequest by Will
When developing the terms of their will or legacy, many people consider leaving either personal property, real property, or both to charitable organizations. Without getting into legalities too deeply, suffice to say that a legacy is the same as a bequest which is leaving money or property to someone by a written will.
Also, using your life insurance to make a sizable donation to a charity can benefit your favorite charity and provide you with significant tax savings. Simply by naming a charity as the irrevocable beneficiary will allow these benefits. If there are unpaid premiums you don’t have to keep paying premiums, the charity will make this election and you can deduct an amount slightly higher than the cash surrender value of the policy. If premiums are paid up, you will receive a deduction based on the cost basis or replacement cost, whichever is smaller. Giving the policy away now can provide current income tax benefits by also removing it from your taxable estate without generating a gift tax. By all means, consult your tax advisor.
· Gifts by Will. You can name the USAIMF as a beneficiary.
· Gifts by Beneficiary Designation. An asset for which you can make a beneficiary designation can be bequeathed in part or in whole, e.g. a paid up life insurance policy, an IRA, or US Savings Bond (especially Series HH).
Charitable giving is an American tradition. It has the effect of carrying forward our tradition of preserving our heritage.
Exactly what is the USAIMF?
The U.S. Airline Industry Museum Foundation, Inc. was chartered on January 1, 2000, incorporated in the State of Florida. The document number is N99000007254. The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 59-3614541. The Foundation received a 1045 letter from the Internal Revenue Service granting exemption from federal income tax under section 501©3 of the Internal Revenue Code, dated August 25, 2000. This allows all gifts of property or money to be tax deductible to the donor. The IRS lists all recognized charitable organizations in its Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations. This list can be seen on the Internal Revenue informational web site: http://www.irs.giv/plain/bus_info/eo/eosearch.html. This publication may also be found in public libraries or you can call the IRS exempt organizations hotline at 1-877-829-5500 toll free and ask if the organization is qualified.