Our Giving Levels:

The San Juan Symphony depends heavily on your support! Concerts of the full orchestra can incur more than $30,000 of artistic expenses, and our Youth Education Program must raise $25,000 each season. We offer advertising and other in-kind giving opportunities as well, because of the huge mix of funds needed to make the San Juan Symphony a vibrant community organization.

San Juan Symphony giving levels include:

• • • MAESTRO’S CIRCLE

      • Season Sponsor $20,000+

      • Presenter $10,000

      • Sponsor $5,000

      • Benefactor $2,500

      • Baton Sponsor $1,500

      • Patron: $1,000

  • • SYMPHONY CIRCLE

      • Sustainer $500

      • Associate $150

      • Friend $10

A Guide to Year-End Charitable Giving

As year-end approaches, charitable giving becomes an important task for many clients. We want to do whatever we can to help facilitate your charitable intentions. Since some methods of giving are more time consuming and complicated than others, we have outlined a timetable to help you plan your year-end giving.

In order to take a charitable deduction on your income tax return, you must itemize deductions. However, due to tax law changes which increased the standard deduction, fewer people are likely to itemize. With this change in mind, you may want to consider bunching charitable gifts. For example, rather than giving smaller amounts every year, you may want to give a larger amount once every 2-3 years, depending on the size of the gifts and your circumstances.  We encourage you to work with your accountant to determine the best way to approach your charitable giving from a tax perspective.

Cash, Check, Credit Card
To make a cash gift to a charity, you simply need to write a check, set up an electronic funds transfer or donate online by credit card to your intended non-profit. To claim the donation as an income tax deduction (provided you itemize), you must have a record of the gift including the name of the organization, as well as the date and amount of the gift. Be sure that the non-profit is an accredited 501c3 and all documents are up to date with the state government. For gifts over $250, you should obtain acknowledgement from the non-profit. For gifts over $1,000, we generally advise giving appreciated stock.

TIMETABLE: You must mail your check by December 31st.

Appreciated Stock
Donating stocks with a low cost basis is often a very effective tax planning strategy. For those who itemize and are therefore eligible to deduct charitable gifts on their tax returns, the fair market value of the stock is used to calculate the deduction. To transfer stock in-kind, the non-profit must have a brokerage account to receive the securities.

TIMETABLE: If you wish to donate appreciated securities, please provide the name of the non-profit and the amount you wish to give by December 1st. We will then contact the organization to obtain their delivery instructions.

Please note that mutual funds are not as easy to transfer as individual stocks. Some funds may not be eligible for transfer at all and thus not available for donations. Since more time is required to transfer eligible mutual funds, we ask that you let us know by November 15th about any intended mutual fund donations.

Donor Advised Funds
A donor-advised fund (“DAF”) is an account that is part of a public non-profit to which an individual can donate securities and receive a charitable income tax deduction, provided the donor itemizes, even if those funds aren’t immediately distributed to a charitable organization. The donor must establish a DAF account before any cash or securities can be donated. Consequently, more time is required to coordinate this type of gift. We can assist clients in establishing a DAF, although we are not the advisor or the custodian.

TIMETABLE: If you would like assistance in establishing a DAF, please ask us no later than November 15th. If you have already established a DAF, then the December 1st timeline for donating appreciated stock applies.

IRA – Required Minimum Distributions (RMD)
If you have reached age 70 ½ (the required minimum distribution age), you can transfer up to $100,000 per year directly from your IRA to a non-profit (known as a “qualified charitable distribution”). You will not receive an income tax deduction for the gift, but the amount given to charity counts towards your annual RMD requirement and is not included in your taxable income. Furthermore, this strategy is available even if you do not itemize deductions on your tax return.

They may require written authorization by the IRA owner to make the gift. The funds must be transferred directly to the non-profit from the IRA account and not via the IRA owner. Let us know if you need help in preparing a letter for you to sign, but this requires additional time.

TIMETABLE: For those clients who wish to use their RMD for charitable giving, we ask that you provide us with written instructions by December 1st.

For more information on charitable giving, please contact your Accountant or Financial Advisor.