Ensuring Sustainability for the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge

Leave a legacy by making a gift for the future that costs you nothing today. Including the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge in your estate plans through your will, trust, charitable gift annuity, life insurance policy or other means is a great way to become a vitally important partner in the future of our mission. A simple provision in your will or estate plan could provide important benefits to your estate and ensure that our church will be able to continue showing up for social justice.

By making a planned gift, you can establish a tradition of giving that will continue to provide benefits long after you’re gone.

Various tax and estate benefits can be realized by making a planned gift, including a charitable tax deduction and avoidance, in some instances, of the estate and capital gains tax. Additionally, some gifts can provide income to you and your spouse for a term of twenty years or a lifetime.

Gifts that Provide Income

Securities and mutual funds that have increased in value and been held for more than one year are one of the most popular assets to use when making a gift to the church. Making a gift of securities or mutual funds offers you the chance to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself.  When you donate appreciated securities or mutual funds you have held for more than one year to us in support of our mission, you can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer.

Tax-Saving Ways to Give

If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to benefit the church and receive tax benefits in return. You can give any amount up to $100,000 per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as our church without having to pay income taxes on the money. This popular gift option is commonly called the IRA charitable rollover, but you may also see it referred to as a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD for short. If you are 70½ or older, you can make use of your IRA to make a gift to the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge. There’s a quick and easy way for you to make your gift! All it takes is one form, available to download here.

Plan Your Gift Today to Sustain Our Church Tomorrow

Unrestricted gifts allow the most flexibility in meeting the needs of the church.  If gifts are restricted, we encourage that they be designated for one of our reserve funds:

• Worship & Arts
• Faith Formation & Programming
• Building & Technology
• Justice & Outreach

Contact Our Generosity Team

Have a question about making a planned gift to the church? Our Generosity Team will be happy to help. Contact Donna Yelverton, Planned and Legacy Giving team leader at membership@unitarianbr.org.

Legacy Society

We are establishing a Legacy Society to recognize and encourage planned gifts to the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge. Through planned giving, donors can ensure that their gift will create a lasting legacy for future generations.

If you have already made a provision for the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge in your estate plans, you are eligible for membership in the Legacy Society. The Legacy Society has been established to recognize and honor those individuals who have named the church in their will or as the beneficiary of a planned gift. You will receive a pin to affix to your name tag, and we urge you to wear it as an example for others. 

We encourage you to pick up a brochure and complete a Legacy Society Form that is available to download below, or at the Member Services Table or from Donna Yelverton. She or team members Nancy Rabalais and Tam Le can also provide on behalf of the Generosity Team information on will preparation and confidential information about planned giving and endowment fund opportunities available at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge.