The fundamental reason for charitable giving should be to support a cause which you believe in. The Southwestern Oregon Community College Foundation is a tax exempt 501 (c) (3) public foundation organized exclusively for the purpose of supporting higher education in connection with Southwestern Oregon Community College. The Foundation was incorporated in 1962 and currently assets of close to $3 million including endowments, temporarily restricted funds, and unrestricted funds.

The Foundation is managed by a team of salaried professionals and controlled by a volunteer board. It is actively involved in building endowments that will continue in perpetuity as well as funding specific short term projects. Activities that have been or are currently funded by the Foundation include the Family Center playground; construction of the Hales Center for the Performing Arts Center; support of the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute; expansion of the campus artwork collection; teaching excellence awards and scholarships.

As an institution of higher education, Southwestern Oregon Community College is uniquely positioned to facilitate the philanthropic interests of its supporters. Gifts to the Southwestern Foundation can be used to support specific academic areas, the arts, lecture series, scholarships, campus beautification, social programs, construction projects, research, business and economic development, or nearly any other area of interest.

The Foundation supports the funding priorities of the College through its annual direct mail campaign, major gifts program, and the planned giving efforts. Current priorities are listed below.

Unrestricted Endowment
The Foundation funds many projects each year including a south coast high school student art competition, a professional juried art competition, mini grants to faculty for teaching excellence projects, campus beautification, and other special requests. These projects are funded from unrestricted gifts. To assure that resources are available in the future to fund these and similar activities, an unrestricted endowment has been created. Only the income from the endowment will be used to support projects.

Scholarships
The Foundation, in partnership with the college, has an extensive scholarship program that provides nearly $700,000 annually in direct scholarship assistance and tuition scholarships to students attending the College. While many students receive scholarships, many other deserving students do not. Additional scholarship support would assist more students to achieve their career goals.

Health, Sciences and Technology Building
The Foundation has designated $1.1 million to the building of a Health, Sciences and Technology building on the Coos Bay campus of Southwestern Oregon Community College. This building will replace outdated science and nursing labs do students can continue to gain the skill necessary to succeed.

You may make charitable gifts at any time during your life or at death by will or trust.

If you choose to make a gift during life, the date of your gift (for IRS purposes) varies depending on the type of asset gifted and the method.

Should you decide to make a charitable gift you should always consult your attorney, accountant, and other financial professionals so that the benefit of the gift meets your expectations.

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Coos Bay OR 97420
foundation@socc.edu
541-888-7211 1-800-962-2838 ext. 7211

You may give the gift of cash in the form of a check at any point in time. Please refer to the address below when sending.

You may also contact the Foundation at 1-541-888-7210 to give a gift by way of credit card.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

At Southwestern, there are many flexible options for individuals, organizations and businesses to support students through endowments.

A named endowment scholarship is established in perpetuity. It can be created with a single gift or a combination of gifts totaling at least $10,000. $25,000. The principal of the fund is never spent. It is invested for both income and growth. Annual distributions are made from the endowment growth to support the interests of the donor.

TThe establishment of a named endowment is a very special way to honor a family member or friend. An endowment may begin with a balance of less than $10,000. $25,000. Additional funds may be added over a period of four two years until the minimum endowment level is reached. At that time, the endowment will become self-sustaining and provide income in perpetuity.

Endowments at the Southwestern Foundation are established through the thoughtfulness of persons and organizations that choose to assure that their values and interests are preserved and supported in the future. The Foundation is deeply appreciative of their investment in our students.

Establishing an Annual Scholarship - Annual scholarships can be contributed through a direct gift for the exact amount needed for an award. The scholarship may be renewed on an annual basis by the donor.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

The Southwestern Foundation also accepts in-kind gift donations. If you are planning on donating an item or items to the College, please contact the Foundation to ensure that it will benefit the College.

These donations will go toward assisting our faculty in delivering an excellent education, while helping our students reach their educational goals.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

If you own stock, you own part of a company. Tens of millions of people each year purchase and sell stock in thousands of companies in the US and throughout the rest of the world. As a result, many people's portfolios include stocks. This also means that many donors find it convenient to use stocks as a way of making their gifts to charitable organizations.

Making an Outright Charitable Contribution of Stock - If you're considering a significant charitable gift, you should look first to your stock portfolio. Often stocks have appreciated in value by so much that potential donors don't realize how much they have.

Tax Advantages - Tax laws today allow you to deduct the entire market value of the stock, including capital appreciation. This is fair because the charitable organization is able to liquidate the stock for its full value, so you are helping it in that amount. The result for you is a lower income tax (because you have deducted the gift amount from your income).

There are even more income tax advantages when you donate stock, as opposed to selling it. If the stock has appreciated in value, then you'll owe capital gains tax when it's sold. By contrast, when you make a gift of stock to a charitable organization, you aren't subject to any capital gains tax on the appreciation.

Funding a Life-Income Gift with Stock - Despite the efficiency of this transaction, however, many donors are unable to make an outright gift of their stock. They no only need the continued income from their investments, they often want to increase their income.

Even if you cannot make an outright gift, you can still help us by establishing a gift that will pay you an income for the rest of your life. And often the income from the gift is more than what the stock provides through dividends.

All of this is accomplished through a lifetime income gift, which pays the donor an income, often for the rest of his or her life plus that of another beneficiary. At the end of that time, the asset is transferred to the charitable organization.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

Say you want to sell a home. You know that you can exclude part of the capital gains tax on your main residence's appreciation in value if you meet certain qualifications. But what if this home isn't your main residence?

You also know that if you donate the home to us, you pay no capital gains tax, and you get a charitable deduction on your income tax for the home's full fair market value. This strikes you as an attractive alternative, because you were planning to make a donation to us, anyway. But what if the donation you intended was smaller than the value of your home?

The bargain sale may be just the compromise you're looking for. Because the transaction is considered part sale and part charitable gift, you get some of the advantages of both.

The Benefits - The bargain sale rule in tax law applies when you sell property to a qualified charitable organization, such as ours, at a price below its market value. The difference between the market value and the price you get from us qualifies as a charitable contribution. Here are the key results:

• Income Tax Savings - When you itemize deductions on your income tax return, you take an income tax charitable deduction in the amount of the difference between the fair market value of the gift property and the bargain sale price.
• Capital Gains Tax Reduction - The long-term appreciation in the gift property is prorated between the sale and gift portions. So, you only pay capital gains tax on the "sale" part, and not the "gift" part. Plus, the savings from your income tax deduction on the gift portion can often offset this capital gains tax on the sale portion.
• Other Advantages - You don't have to worry about the hassles of selling the home (or the associated selling costs), and you receive cash promptly.

Situation in Which Bargain Sales Are Helpful - When you want to use a portion of the value of some appreciated property for an outright charitable gift but the property is not conveniently or economically divisible, a bargain sale works well.

For example, say you have a plot of land that's worth more as a whole than the sum of its parts, so it doesn't make sense to divide the land, sell part of it to someone else, and donate the rest to us. With a bargain sale, we buy the whole plot at a reduced price (so you get to make your gift), and then we can sell the plot intact at its full value.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

You may be surprised to find that your personal residence, ram, vacation home, commercial property, or parcel of undeveloped land can be a tax-smart donation.

Suppose you've been thinking about making a substantial gift to our organization, but it doesn't seem that a gift of cash or securities would be practical at this time. Have you considered a gift of real estate?

Why? Because a present or future gift offers you the opportunity for valuable income tax and estate tax savings. You can also free yourself of burdensome management and the problems involved in selling the property or leaving it to estate liquidation.

Choose the Time of Your Gift - If you make a gift of real estate now, assuming you itemize deductions on your return, you'll get a substantial income tax deduction. Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of seeing the results or your generosity.

Perhaps an immediate gift isn't desirable, however. Instead, you may want to use the property a while longer or even retain lifetime use. In any case, you can still make the necessary arrangements now and benefit from a sizable current income tax deduction.

How to Figure Your Tax Benefits - When you make an outright gift of real property, you obtain an income tax charitable deduction equal to the property's full fair market value (if held long-term) instead of the lower cost basis.

This deduction lets you reduce the cost of making the gift and frees cash that otherwise would have been used to pay for taxes and upkeep. Also, you avoid tax on the property's appreciation, the transfer isn't subject to the gift tax, and the gift reduces your taxable estate.

Your deduction for a gift of appreciated real estate in any year is generally limited to 30% of your adjusted gross income, with a five-year carryover of the unused deduction.

Donating vs. Selling - If you're planning to sell real estate that has been appreciated in value considerable, beware of capital gains tax! You can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 if you're married) of gain on your home if you used it as your primary residence at least two of the last five years. But this tax-saving opportunity does not apply for any real estate other than your primary residence. On the other hand, you avoid capital gains tax on gifts of any type of real estate to us.

Continue to Live in Your Home - If you'd like to occupy and enjoy the full use or your home for life, you can still secure a current charitable deduction by deeding a remainder interest in the property to us. The personal residence rules also apply to a farm, vacation home, condominium, or stock in a cooperative housing corporation, if used by you. A farm may include acreage with or without the house.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

Did you know you can secure a guaranteed income for life by making a contribution to us?

It's true. Our charitable gift annuity will pay you (and a survivor, if desired) a fixed dollar amount when you make an irrevocable gift to us to further our mission. The amount is determined by your age at the time of your contribution.

Examples of the annuity rates follow. The older the person, the higher the rate. The rate remains constant once the gift is made.

Examples of Annuity Rates

One Life (Yourself)		Lives (Yourself & Another)
Age	Rate	Age	Rate
55	6.1%	65/65	6.6%
60	6.6%	70/65	6.7%
65	7.0%	70/70	6.8%
70	7.5%	75/70	7.0%
75	8.2%	75/75	7.3%
80	9.2%	80/75	7.5%
85	10.5%	85/80	8.4%
90	12.0%	90/85	9.6%

If you itemize deductions, you can take a charitable deduction for part of the value your gift when you file that year's income tax return. The amount of the deduction depends on your age. The percent of the transfer that is deductible as a contribution varies based on US Treasury tables.

A sizable part of each annuity payment is also tax-free, again determined by Treasury tables.

Deferred Payment Gift Annuity Can Supplement Retirement Income - Instead of securing an immediate payment under a gift annuity, you can have it deferred until a later date, such as your retirement.

You make a contribution now, securing a current income tax charitable deduction, and we agree to pay you a guaranteed life income starting at any date you select. This is especially advantageous if your tax bracket is higher now than it will be later. In addition, the annual income rate is considerably higher when the payments begin.

For many people, tax reform curtailed the tax benefits of IRAs, 401(k) plans, and other retirement plans. The deferred payment gift annuity is a good way to make up the loss of the future income you will need.

A Special Kind of Retirement Income - A charitable gift annuity is a gift that gives you guaranteed and attractive retirement income with no investment worries or responsibilities. It also provides a way for you to make a special and enduring gift to strengthen our institution when the remainder becomes available for our needs.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

Many people would like to make a substantial donation to support our mission, but feel they're not in a position to give up a large portion of their income.

We know there's only so much money to go around. That's why creative gift planning involves finding "hidden assets" that allow you to fulfill your charitable intentions without harming your cashflow.

A gift of life insurance can be the best way to make a large gift to us at a small cost to you.

Revisit Your Insurance Needs - Do you remember why you invested in life insurance? It probably was because your estate was small or cash poor. You wanted make sure your beneficiary would receive funds immediately.

If you're still building your estate and you have a young family, you may need to keep your life insurance for your children's financial protection until they leave the nest and you have sufficient investments and pension benefits to protect your spouse. On the other hand, you may have outgrown your need for insurance coverage.

Maybe you have other substantial investments and benefits that will yield a good income for your family after your lifetime. Yet you still have those insurance policies.

Should you cash in your policies? Perhaps. But first you should weigh the advantages of giving life insurance a s a charitable gift to us.

Putting Your Insurance to Work - If you're thinking about making a gift to our institution, your life insurance could be the most sensible way to make such a gift. Consider these benefits:

• You save taxes this year though an income tax charitable deduction when you name us the beneficiary and assign us ownership.
• You increase spendable income when you no longer have to pay the policy premiums. Or make the gift and continue paying the premiums, then you can claim the premium amount as an annual tax deduction.
• You reduce estate taxes because the proceeds are completely removed from your taxable estate so long as you do not retain any incidents of ownership.

A gift of life insurance is easier to arrange than many other types of deferred gifts. For example, you can transfer ownership of an insurance policy to us without the legal expense of preparing a will or codicil.

Would You Rather Keep It? - We realize that if you still need your life insurance for your future financial security or that of someone in your family, those concerns come first. But here are ways that you can safeguard personal requirements and still remember us.

• Name us the contingent beneficiary, and then we receive the proceeds should your primary beneficiary predecease you.
• Create a trust to receive the policy proceeds. Then the funds are invested for a family member's support after your lifetime; when that person dies, the trust remainder can be paid to us.

These plans will not entitle you to an income tax deduction, but they will satisfy your natural desire to use the policies for personal and family responsibilities as long as required and to support our work later.

Another Creative Use - Life insurance can also be used to replace for your heirs the value of a different gift to us. You can purchase a life insurance policy payable to your individual beneficiaries that will equal the value of your donation to us. Your tax savings resulting from the charitable deduction may even be enough to cover the policy premium.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

When you donate your home to us instead of selling it, you fulfill your charitable intent and at the same time receive valuable tax benefits. That's because you are allowed an income tax deduction, plus you pay no capital gains tax on any appreciation in value. But what if you want to continue living in your home for the rest of your life?

This doesn't necessarily rule out donating your home to us. In fact, you can give us your home, receive a charitable deduction for it, and avoid being subject to capital gains tax, even though you continue living there. This arrangement is called the "retained life estate."

Obtain Immediate Tax Savings - You cannot only live in your home for the rest of your life, but also retain the right to rent it, or even allow a survivor to enjoy life occupancy. By deeding your home to us now, subject to any of these rights, you can still obtain a sizable income tax deduction this year. The amount depends on the value of the property and your age (and the age of any person given life use).

This same charitable deduction opportunity is also available for a farm, vacation home, condominium, or stock in a cooperative housing corporation, if the property is used by you as a personal residence. A farm may include acreage with or without the house.

Estate Tax Savings, Too - When you leave the home to your spouse through your will or some form of joint ownership, it's generally not subject to federal estate tax. However, if you want one of your children or a relative or a friend to live in the home after your lifetime, you pay a substantial estate tax to leave the property to them.

The retained life estate provides you with a way to let someone other than your spouse have life occupancy of your home without the associated tax payments.

Tax Savings for Partial Use - Say you have a home you don't occupy year-round. You can make a deductible gift to us of an undivided interest, allowing us exclusive use of the property for part of each year.

A vacation home can be ideal for this purpose. For example, you could give us a half interest. You would continue to use the property for six months of each year while we, as half owner, would use it for the remaining six months. As a result, you'd be entitled to an income tax charitable deduction based on half the property's fair market value.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

Did you know that your retirement plan assets are facing double taxation? If you leave the assets to your heirs, you'll generate "income in respect of a decedent." So not only is the amount diminished by estate taxes, but the recipient also must pay income taxes on it!

Undoubtedly, your decision of who gets the remainder depends on your family members' circumstances; their needs come first. But if you can make other provisions for them, there's a better option for your retirement plan assets; a charitable gift.

Avoiding Tax Impact - After your lifetime, the undistributed balance in a retirement plan account will have to be distributed and taxed to someone else, either to your estate or to an heir. Because a charitable organization such as ours is tax-exempt, the deferred income in your qualified retirement account may never be taxed when you name us as a beneficiary.

Professional estate planners know that the best assets to transfer to a charitable organization are normally those items that generate "income in respect of a decedent," a term used by the IRS to denote assets subject to income tax in addition to estate tax. The largest income source in respect of a decedent will usually be one's retirement plan.

By your bequest to us, you can make sure that 100% of your retirement plan assets will support your specific philanthropic objectives; at a relatively small cost to your individual heirs.

Sorting Out Your Retirement Plans - Qualified retirement plans are one of two types: annuity plans or individual account plans. Annuity plans, which are generally referred to as defined benefit plans, pay regular retirement income to a participant. Since these payments often terminate upon the death of the participant or the surviving spouse, there's usually nothing available to give to a charitable organization or to any other beneficiary.

In comparison, individual account plans are frequently described as defined contribution plans, and they resemble tax-sheltered savings accounts. Some examples are money purchase plans, profit-sharing plans, 401(k) plans, stock bonus plans, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). If a participant dies before the entire account has been distributed, the remaining balance can be transferred to a charitable organization or an heir. Individual account plans have become more and more prevalent in the work world.

How to Donate a Retirement Account - To leave the balance of a retirement account to us after your lifetime, simply advise the plan administrator of your wish and sign whatever form is required. For an IRA or Keogh plan you administer personally, notify the custodian in writing and keep a copy with your valuable papers.

If you're married, your surviving spouse is usually entitled by the plan requirements to receive the entire amount in certain qualified plans, such as those mentioned above, except IRAs. Assuming other resources are available, your spouse may be willing to execute a written waiver; if this isn't done while you are living, a qualified disclaimer must also be signed. Then your bequest of a retirement account is allowable. If you prefer to make your spouse the primary beneficiary of the account, name us as the second beneficiary.

Perhaps you want your children to benefit from your retirement account, too. In that case, designate a specific amount to be paid to us, before the division of the rest among your children.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

You may know that many planned giving arrangements offer the possibility of significant tax savings when you donate assets to a trust for our eventual use. But what if you want your heirs to receive certain assets someday, even though you would also like for a charitable organization like ours to benefit from them?

The charitable lead trust may be right for you. It lets you enjoy the benefits (financial and philanthropic) of a charitable gift without forfeiting assets.

How it Works - Suppose you'd like to give us an income from certain assets for a number of years. Then you want the principal to be given to your family, or returned to you. In a nutshell, that describes a charitable lead trust.

You can have a lead trust set up after your lifetime, but it's more useful if you create it now. There are two types of lead trusts:

• Guaranteed Annuity Interest - Under this plan, the trust pays us a fixed dollar amount annually for the term of the trust. You determine the amount at the outset. The trust can last for the number of years you specify or for the life of one or more individuals you name.
• Unitrust Interest - In this variation, the trust pays us an amount each year determined by multiplying the fair market value of the trust assets by a specific percentage, which is established at the start. The amount is computed anew annually, using the current valuation of the assets. Here again, the term of the trust can be limited either by number of years or by certain lives.

How a Lead Trust Can Fit Your Needs - If you have a substantial estate and you anticipate high federal gift and estate taxes, the lead trust was meant for you. The trust property can be passed down to your children, grandchildren, and others either entirely free or at greatly decreased gift and estate taxes.

There are other combinations of trust payments and terms that completely bypass both gift and estate taxes. According to tax rules, the gift to your family is the actuarial value of their right to the trust assets when the trust ends. The larger the annual payouts and the longer the term of years, the smaller the tax exposure (consult your tax advisor).

You can also establish a lead trust that returns the trust assets to you after a number of years. You will be entitled to an income tax charitable deduction for the payments to us, but you will be taxed on the income you do not receive, unless you fund the trust with tax-exempt securities. The value of the trust assets will be included in your gross estate for federal estate tax purposes.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu

If you're an investor, you're probably always looking for high investment returns. Where can you turn to get the best return on your money?

If you're also philanthropically inclined, and if the investment safety and tax savings are important considerations, the answer may be your favorite charitable organization.

That's because certain life income plans like the charitable remainder trust can substantially increase your current income in comparison to low-yield investments and provide significant tax savings, too. Plus, life income plans allow you to support the charitable organization of your choice at a relatively small cost.

How Charitable Trusts Work - There are two types of charitable remainder trusts: the annuity trust and the unitrust.

These two trust types are similar in many respects. Assuming you are the donor, consider these examples:

• The trust must first pay a flow of income to you and any other individual you name; at termination, all assets of the trust must pass to a qualified tax-exempt organization such as ours.
• You receive a sizable income tax charitable deduction for a portion of the fair market value of the assets placed in the trust. The deduction is for the value of our right to receive the trust remainder after you lifetime, as determined by official US Treasury tables. The income tax savings reduce the net cost of your gift and thus improve your effective rate of return.
• When you use appreciated securities to fund the trust, you are not taxed on the capital gain. Further, your deduction for a gift funded with long-term securities is based on their full fair market value and not their lower cost basis.
• If you, or you and your spouse, are the only income recipients, the value of the trust will not be taxable for federal estate tax purposes.

How Your Income Is Determined - When you create a charitable remainder trust, you choose the payout rate that determines your return. Here's how it works.

Annuity Trust - You receive a fixed sum each year, which can be expressed either as a dollar amount or a percentage of the net fair market value initially placed in the trust, you have the security of knowing that you receive the same dollar amount annually, no matter what the trust actually yields.

Unitrust - You receive payments each year determined by multiplying a fixed percentage by the fair market value of the trust assets, as revalued each year. With the unitrust, you have a built-in hedge against inflation, because if the value of the trust increases so do your annual payments.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Pringle, Foundation Executive Director
1988 Newmark Avenue
Coos Bay, OR 97420
541-888-7210
foundation@socc.edu