Planned Gifts

Memories of good friends, good times and an excellent preparation for higher education and the world beyond make it easy to see why so many alumnae, parents and friends have given to the School over the years. More than 320 members of the St. Catherine’s community have included the School in their estate plans in some way, joining The Arcade Society, which recognizes those individuals who have informed the School of their planned gift.

These gifts, large and small, take many different forms. Planned gifts meet the needs of almost everyone. What these Arcade Society members share is a desire to perpetuate their love for St. Catherine's and their contriubtion to its future. 

Is planned giving for you too?  Think about which of the options below best suits your needs.

Keep your resources as long as you need them

Make a gift without changing your will, by including St. Catherine's in your insurance, IRA or 401(k) plan.

List of 2 items.

  • Giving with life insurance

    Life Insurance Policies

    Do you have "old insurance" around the house?

    Many people have life insurance policies purchased to protect young children who have long since grown up and left home. Policies with a cash value often remain in force, even though they have outlived their usefulness. 

    Such a policy can help St. Catherine’s in one of two different ways. Given ownership of the policy, the School can redeem it for an amount close to its cash value. OR if made beneficiary, the School may hold the policy to receive the ultimate death benefit, assuming any required premiums are paid in the interim.

    Making St. Catherine’s beneficiary of any type of life insurance policy will qualify one for membership in The Arcade Society. Making the School owner of a cash value policy may entitle you to a charitable deduction. Please see an attorney for advice about your particular case. 

    * You can deduct premium payments for insurance policies if the School is both the policy owner and beneficiary.  
  • Giving with retirement plans

    Retirement Accounts

    RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS – THE GIFT THAT COSTS THE LEAST

    Retirement plans are less valuable in the hands of heirs than they are in the hands of charitable institutions like St. Catherine’s School.  Retirement plans designated for St. Catherine’s School save income and estate taxes. These tax savings will pay for most of the gift. 

    Funds withdrawn from these plans must usually pay income tax, and accounts held by large estates may owe estate tax as well. For accounts left to anyone other than a spouse, these combined taxes can easily approach 70%. No other asset is so heavily taxed.

    Here is an example: 

    Mrs. Jefferson '48, owns at her death a 401(k) worth $600,000. She leaves the retirement plan to her children, and designates appreciated stock, also worth $600,000, to the School. 

    Because of her estate’s size, the retirement plan is subject to estate tax at the 40% rate. 
    Add the income tax, and her retirement plan could undergo taxation of up to 70%, as follows: 

          $600,000 Retirement Plan total balance 
        - $240,000 Estate tax at 40% of total balance
        =$360,000 
        - $188,000 Income tax at 30% of $360,000
        =$252,000 Remaining in the account for Mrs. Jefferson's children after combined taxation 

    Less than half of Mrs. Jefferson’s retirement plan ends up with her children, where she wanted it to go. 

    Instead, a better result for everyone: 

    In lieu of leaving the 401(k) plan to her children, Mrs. Jefferson designates the retirement plan balance to the School. As a charitable contribution, the retirement plan escapes both income and estate taxation. This arrangement also benefits her children, who inherit the $600,000 stock portfolio on these favorable terms: 
    • free of taxation on any capital gains in the stock at their mother’s death, since the basis in the stock is “stepped up” to its fair market value at the date of her death, and
    •  protected from any federal estate tax by the currently applicable estate tax credit.

    How to Give Retirement Accounts

    To designate part or all of a retirement plan for the school, take these simple steps. 

    1. Contact your plan administrator, by obtaining the name and address from your employer or from your own records. 

    2. On the beneficiary designation form, list The St. Catherine's School Foundation for whatever share of the balance you desire. 

    Please note your designation in your own records, and inform Deborah A. Dunlap '70, Director of Development, 804-281-7141 or email ddunlap@st.catherines.org, and she will gratefully enroll you in The Arcade Society, the school’s way of honoring those who include the school in their long range planning. While St. Catherine’s would like to list your name in its publications among the members of the Society, it will keep any details of your plans for the school secure and confidential. 

Wills

Look at some approaches that have worked for alumnae and friends of the school, complete with sample bequest language.

List of 1 items.

  • A bequest in your will

    Bequests

    An Ultimate Gift. A Bequest in One's Will.

    Alumnae, parents and friends of St. Catherine’s often seek ways to perpetuate their support for the school. A bequest is a simple and effective way to continue your contribution to St. Catherine’s beyond your lifetime. 

    A bequest can: 
    • endow your annual gift in perpetuity
    • provide general endowment through the St. Catherine’s School Foundation for future needs not yet imagined
    • underwrite the critical needs of the School from resources you no longer need
    A bequest gift to the Foundation is easy to make with an attorney’s help. Bequest provisions can be written to suit your exact inclination, whether that is to give the School 
    • a particular percentage of your estate value,
    • a specific dollar amount, or
    • a specific item of real property.
    Adding St. Catherine's to an existing will:
    • If your current will does not need revision, your attorney can provide you with a simple addition to your will, known as a codicil, that will make provision for St. Catherine's while leaving the rest of your will intact.

    Sample Bequest Language

    Please show the language below to your attorney, who can modify it to suit your specific needs.

    Percentage of residue after expenses and other bequests:
    “I devise and bequeath (all/or ___%) of the remainder of my property to The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, to be used or disposed of as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

    A specific dollar amount:
    “I bequeath the sum of $______ to The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, to be used or disposed of as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

    Specific personal property:
    “I bequeath to The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, __________ to be used or disposed of as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.”

    Specific real property:
    “I devise all of my right, title, and interest in and to the real estate located at   to The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, to be used or disposed of as its Board of Directors in its sole discretion deems appropriate.

    A bequest for a purpose other than unrestricted use:
    “I bequeath the sum of $_______ to The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, for the following use and purpose <description of purpose>.”

    For a gift subject to a restriction, we suggest including the following provision:
    “If in the judgment of the Board of Directors of The St. Catherine’s School Foundation, it becomes impossible to accomplish the purposes of this gift, the income or principal may be used for such related purposes and in such manner as may be determined by its Board of Directors.”

Charitable Remainder Trusts

A charitable gift remainder trust can provide variable or fixed income for persons chosen by you, and for a time period.

List of 1 items.

  • An income with flexibility

    Charitable Remainder Trusts

    A CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST (CRT) - A GIFT TO ST. CATHERINE'S AND A FIXED OR VARIABLE INCOME STREAM FOR YOU.

    A CRT begins with an irrevocable transfer of cash, marketable securities, or other property to a trust. The trust sells the property and reinvests the proceeds to pay income to beneficiaries for a lifetime or a term of years, followed by transfer of the remainder to the School. 

    Payments from a CRT can be either variable or fixed. 
    • Variable Income: Charitable Remainder Unitrusts pay a set percentage (at least 5% of the annual value of trust assets). The payout changes annually with the value of trust assets, and is designed to increase over time (assuming rising values).
    • Fixed Income: Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts pay a fixed dollar annuity each year, equal to at least 5% of initial assets placed in trust.
    CRTs can help you realize your goals by: 
    • helping St. Catherine’s School set the pace of excellence in educating girls and young women
    • avoiding capital gains tax on assets put into the trust
    • enhancing disposable income, especially during retirement
    • diversifying asset holdings, again without loss to capital gains tax
    • providing important tax benefits: 
      •    a deduction for a substantial portion of the value of the trust property 
      •    lower estate tax, since putting property into a CRT shrinks one’s estate.
    Charitable remainder trusts can benefit you and the people in your life. 

    Income for Retirement: A CRT sets property aside for the School, and is a source of a lifetime income for you and your spouse (or others). Some people consider their unitrust an important part of their plans for retirement. 

    Income for your family: A CRT can last for a lifetime, or up to 20 years, or a lifetime followed by up to 20 years. Your CRT can provide for your lifetime, and then make payments to your children or grandchildren. Including a CRT in your will would allow your loved ones to benefit from your resources before directing them to the School. 

    Inheritance for your family: Another way a CRT can provide for family is to use the income payments to purchase life insurance payable to your family. 

    The above statements constitute general suggestions rather than legal or financial advice. Your professional advisor can help you decide how you might best remember St. Catherine’s School in your plans. 

    Example: Grace, age 68, puts $100,000 of highly appreciated stock into a unitrust, names a trustee, and tells the trustee to pay her 5% of the trust’s assets as revalued every year. The trust will sell the stock, pay no capital gains tax, and reinvest the proceeds. Grace’s trust payments, $5,000 the first year are designed to rise in value in future years, assuming positive investment results.  In this way, Grace can stay ahead of inflation. 

Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity provides both fixed and secure liftime payments, and a gift to the school.

List of 1 items.

  • A secure lifetime income

    Charitable Gift Annuities

    Many friends of St. Catherine’s School have used a Charitable Gift Annuity to give to the School, while securing a lifetime income in return, balancing their own needs with their desire to strengthen St. Catherine's.

    A Charitable Gift Annuity is a contract exchanging cash or securities for the guarantee of the St. Catherine’s School Foundation to make fixed quarterly payments as long as the annuitant(s) live(s). They are also a wonderful way to share property with the School to support its work. Gift annuities funded with appreciated stock will avoid tax on the capital gain, turning the appreciated property into a gift for the School and income for you. 

    Gift Annuities may be established with gifts of cash or securities valued at $10,000 or more and may be set up to make payments to either one or two people.  Gift annuity payments are fixed, based upon the age of the annuitant(s) when the gift annuity is issued. The older the annuitant(s) is(are), the higher the fixed percentage payment rate will be. 

    A Charitable Gift Annuity is a gift with many tax benefits: 
    • an immediate and significant charitable deduction from income tax, as provided by law;
    • avoidance of capital gains tax on appreciated property transferred in exchange for the annuity;
    • stable, substantial income backed by the assets of the St. Catherine’s School Foundation, and
    • a major gift that will perpetuate the School’s mission, and your support for it.

List of 7 items.

  • Bequests

    An Ultimate Gift. A Bequest in One's Will.

    Alumnae, parents and friends of St. Catherine’s often seek ways to perpetuate their support for the school. A bequest is a simple and effective way to continue your contribution to St. Catherine’s beyond your lifetime. 

    A bequest can: 
    • endow your annual gift in perpetuity
    • provide general endowment through the St. Catherine’s School Foundation for future needs not yet imagined
    • underwrite the critical needs of the School from resources you no longer need
    A bequest gift to the Foundation is easy to make with an attorney’s help. Bequest provisions can be written to suit your exact inclination, whether that is to give the School 
    • a particular percentage of your estate value,
    • a specific dollar amount, or
    • a specific item of real property.
    Adding St. Catherine's to an existing will:
    • If your current will does not need revision, your attorney can provide you with a simple addition to your will, known as a codicil, that will make provision for St. Catherine's while leaving the rest of your will intact.
    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • Charitable Gift Annuities

    Many friends of St. Catherine’s School have used a Charitable Gift Annuity to give to the School, while securing a lifetime income in return, balancing their own needs with their desire to strengthen St. Catherine's.

    A Charitable Gift Annuity is a contract exchanging cash or securities for the guarantee of the St. Catherine’s School Foundation to make fixed quarterly payments as long as the annuitant(s) live(s). They are also a wonderful way to share property with the School to support its work. Gift annuities funded with appreciated stock will avoid tax on the capital gain, turning the appreciated property into a gift for the School and income for you. 

    Gift Annuities may be established with gifts of cash or securities valued at $10,000 or more and may be set up to make payments to either one or two people.  Gift annuity payments are fixed, based upon the age of the annuitant(s) when the gift annuity is issued. The older the annuitant(s) is(are), the higher the fixed percentage payment rate will be. 

    A Charitable Gift Annuity is a gift with many tax benefits: 
    • an immediate and significant charitable deduction from income tax, as provided by law;
    • avoidance of capital gains tax on appreciated property transferred in exchange for the annuity;
    • stable, substantial income backed by the assets of the St. Catherine’s School Foundation, and
    • a major gift that will perpetuate the School’s mission, and your support for it.
    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • Charitable Lead Trusts

    A CHARITABLE LEAD TRUST - A GIFT TO THE SCHOOL THAT LOWERS ESTATE TAXES.

    This type of trust can drastically lower the tax on the transfer of your assets to loved ones. 

    To create a lead trust: 
        1. You place income-producing property in a trust, which pays a certain level of income to charities for a defined time period.
        2. At the end of the time period, the contents of the trust pass to your family, or other beneficiaries.  Any increase  in the property's value while in trust normally escapes estate tax. 

    Lead trusts are designed to provide tax benefits rather than income for individuals.
     
    Unlike charitable remainder trusts, lead trusts cannot sell assets free of capital gain tax.
     
    One should consider a lead trust only if one is not likely to need the income from the trust assets.

    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts

    A CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST (CRT) - A GIFT TO ST. CATHERINE'S AND A FIXED OR VARIABLE INCOME STREAM FOR YOU.

    A CRT begins with an irrevocable transfer of cash, marketable securities, or other property to a trust. The trust sells the property and reinvests the proceeds to pay income to beneficiaries for a lifetime or a term of years, followed by transfer of the remainder to the School. 

    Payments from a CRT can be either variable or fixed. 
    • Variable Income: Charitable Remainder Unitrusts pay a set percentage (at least 5% of the annual value of trust assets). The payout changes annually with the value of trust assets, and is designed to increase over time (assuming rising values).
    • Fixed Income: Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts pay a fixed dollar annuity each year, equal to at least 5% of initial assets placed in trust.
    CRTs can help you realize your goals by: 
    • helping St. Catherine’s School set the pace of excellence in educating girls and young women
    • avoiding capital gains tax on assets put into the trust
    • enhancing disposable income, especially during retirement
    • diversifying asset holdings, again without loss to capital gains tax
    • providing important tax benefits: 
      •    a deduction for a substantial portion of the value of the trust property 
      •    lower estate tax, since putting property into a CRT shrinks one’s estate.
    Charitable remainder trusts can benefit you and the people in your life. 

    Income for Retirement: A CRT sets property aside for the School, and is a source of a lifetime income for you and your spouse (or others). Some people consider their unitrust an important part of their plans for retirement. 

    Income for your family: A CRT can last for a lifetime, or up to 20 years, or a lifetime followed by up to 20 years. Your CRT can provide for your lifetime, and then make payments to your children or grandchildren. Including a CRT in your will would allow your loved ones to benefit from your resources before directing them to the School. 

    Inheritance for your family: Another way a CRT can provide for family is to use the income payments to purchase life insurance payable to your family. 

    The above statements constitute general suggestions rather than legal or financial advice. Your professional advisor can help you decide how you might best remember St. Catherine’s School in your plans. 

    Example: Grace, age 68, puts $100,000 of highly appreciated stock into a unitrust, names a trustee, and tells the trustee to pay her 5% of the trust’s assets as revalued every year. The trust will sell the stock, pay no capital gains tax, and reinvest the proceeds. Grace’s trust payments, $5,000 the first year are designed to rise in value in future years, assuming positive investment results.  In this way, Grace can stay ahead of inflation. 

    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • Life Insurance Policies

    Do you have "old insurance" around the house?

    Many people have life insurance policies purchased to protect young children who have long since grown up and left home. Policies with a cash value often remain in force, even though they have outlived their usefulness. 

    Such a policy can help St. Catherine’s in one of two different ways. Given ownership of the policy, the School can redeem it for an amount close to its cash value. OR if made beneficiary, the School may hold the policy to receive the ultimate death benefit, assuming any required premiums are paid in the interim.

    Making St. Catherine’s beneficiary of any type of life insurance policy will qualify one for membership in The Arcade Society. Making the School owner of a cash value policy may entitle you to a charitable deduction. Please see an attorney for advice about your particular case. 

    * You can deduct premium payments for insurance policies if the School is both the policy owner and beneficiary.  

    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • Retirement Accounts

    RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS – THE GIFT THAT COSTS THE LEAST

    Retirement plans are less valuable in the hands of heirs than they are in the hands of charitable institutions like St. Catherine’s School.  Retirement plans designated for St. Catherine’s School save income and estate taxes. These tax savings will pay for most of the gift. 

    Funds withdrawn from these plans must usually pay income tax, and accounts held by large estates may owe estate tax as well. For accounts left to anyone other than a spouse, these combined taxes can easily approach 70%. No other asset is so heavily taxed.

    Here is an example: 

    Mrs. Jefferson '48, owns at her death a 401(k) worth $600,000. She leaves the retirement plan to her children, and designates appreciated stock, also worth $600,000, to the School. 

    Because of her estate’s size, the retirement plan is subject to estate tax at the 40% rate. 
    Add the income tax, and her retirement plan could undergo taxation of up to 70%, as follows: 

          $600,000 Retirement Plan total balance 
        - $240,000 Estate tax at 40% of total balance
        =$360,000 
        - $188,000 Income tax at 30% of $360,000
        =$252,000 Remaining in the account for Mrs. Jefferson's children after combined taxation 

    Less than half of Mrs. Jefferson’s retirement plan ends up with her children, where she wanted it to go. 

    Instead, a better result for everyone: 

    In lieu of leaving the 401(k) plan to her children, Mrs. Jefferson designates the retirement plan balance to the School. As a charitable contribution, the retirement plan escapes both income and estate taxation. This arrangement also benefits her children, who inherit the $600,000 stock portfolio on these favorable terms: 
    • free of taxation on any capital gains in the stock at their mother’s death, since the basis in the stock is “stepped up” to its fair market value at the date of her death, and
    •  protected from any federal estate tax by the currently applicable estate tax credit.
    This website presents general information only and should not construed as legal financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.
  • The Arcade Society

    Many people want to give in a way that reflects what St. Catherine's means to them, yet is in balance with their other commitments. Many people have found that a planned gift does the job for them. 

    About a hundred alumnae, parents and friends began The Arcade Society in 1996. Today more than 300 people belong to this Society, signaling their intention that St. Catherine’s School must always thrive, and their understanding that planned giving is a great way to make that happen. 

    Members of The Arcade Society have taken advantage of one or more of the many opportunities to give and address other personal needs at the same time: 

    • A bequest in one’s will 
    • A charitable gift annuity – a gift that returns a fixed income for life 
    • A charitable remainder trust – a gift which returns an income either for life or for a period of time specified by the donor 
    • A designation of a share of the remaining balance of a retirement account 
    • A charitable lead trust that lowers estate tax on key assets
    • A gift of a life insurance policy, either by designating St. Catherine's as beneficiary, or by giving the School ownership of the policy 

    Other gifts may qualify. Please contact Deborah A. Dunlap ’70, Director of Development, at 804-281-7141 or ddunlap@st.catherines.org to inquire about joining The Arcade Society or to find out more information about a specific gift option.
This website presents general information only and should not be construed as legal, financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Please seek professional assistance to determine how any giving approach discussed here might impact your situation.


    • Private Girls Elementary School: St. Catherine's School
6001 Grove Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23226 | 804-288-2804
(c)2021 St. Catherine's School. All rights reserved.