Planned Giving / Bequests

There are a number of ways you can help support the education of our young seminarians and provide quality health care for our elderly and sick friars. The opportunity listed below contain general information regarding giving options. However, we urge you to seek the counsel of a professional financial advisor prior to making your final decision.

Create a Charitable Gift Annuity

A Charitable Gift Annuity is a simple, contractual agreement in which you transfer assets to the Southern Dominican Province in exchange for our promise to pay fixed payments to you or to you and another individual for life. The annuity rate depends on your age on the day the annuity begins and will remain the same during the life of the agreement. For more information on creating a Charitable Gift Annuity, please email our Director of Development, Fr. Juan Torres, O.P., jtorres@dominicanfriarsgala.org or contact our Provincial Office at 504-837-2129.

Donate Stocks / Appreciated Stock

Some of our benefactors often find it more advantageous to give gifts of appreciated stock as opposed to cashing the stock and then providing a cash donation. By deducting the value of the stock as a charitable gift you may avoid substantial capital gain taxes. A gift of stock, provides the Province with the current market value of that particular stock. You may designate a specific use for the stock proceeds (vocations, elderly care etc) or leave it to the greatest needs of the Province. When you contribute stocks, bonds, or other securities, you are allowed a charitable deduction based on whether the securities qualify as long-term or short-term capital gain property. For more information on the tax advantages contact your financial advisor.

For more information on how to donate a gift of appreciated stock, please email our Director of Development, Fr. Juan Torres, O.P., [email protected] or contact our Provincial Office by telephone at 504-837-2129.

Double Your Contribution – Matching Donations

Many corporations and business will match charitable contributions made to a nonprofit charitable trust or organization such as the Southern Dominican Province. Please consult with your employer to see if such a policy exists.

Estate Planning

Leave Behind a Legacy of Ministry and Preaching

God continues to bless us with a steady stream of young men committed to serving Him, His Church, and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the same time, after decades of serving in the vineyard of the Lord, the time has come for some of our elderly brothers to rest in their last few years. Providing for both the education of our young friars and ensuring the best possible healthcare for our sick and elderly brothers creates a significant strain on our Province’s limited financial resources. In order to meet these pressing needs from both our future and past, we look to people like yourself for assistance.

Throughout the past few years, a number of our friends have shown their generosity by leaving the Southern Dominican Province a bequest in their will or estate plans. Their kindness has provided us with the resources needed for educating and training our young friars. Please consider following their example and providing us with a bequest in your will. Once you have provided for your loved ones in your will or trust, please consider remembering our Province with a bequest of any amount. You and your family will be remembered in the daily prayers and Masses of all the friars of the Province of St. Martin de Porres.
   
For more information on bequests and estate planning, please contact our Development Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Rottman, at [email protected] or 504-837-2129 x 6.

Estate Planning Options

There are a variety of bequests you can make in your will:

1. Direct Bequest: Bequest the Southern Dominican Province a specific cash amount or title to some specific property.

2. Residue Bequest: This type of bequest provides the Southern Dominican Province with a residual gift from your estate. After first listing the needs and gifts for your heirs and loved ones, you assign the remaining amount, (the residue) to the Southern Dominican Province.

3. Memorial Funds: This bequest is usually made in the form of a trust. Your surviving heirs can use the property or the income from a fund for as long as they live. At the time of their passing, the bequest becomes the property of the Southern Dominican Province to use for their greatest need.

4. Retirement Plan Assets: When you name the Southern Dominican Province as the beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, you don’t part with a single penny today and you protect your estate from taxes later. If you were to instead leave these assets to your family, up to 65 percent of their value could be eroded by taxes.

For more information on how you can remember the Southern Dominican Province in your will, please contact our Director of Development, Fr. Juan Torres, O.P. at [email protected] or 504-837-2129.

Leverage Your Life Insurance Policy

Life insurance policies are often drawn in order to support and protect those we love from the unexpected death of a provider or a loved one. Thankfully, the years go by and the initial need for those policies change. You have two options to leverage life insurance policies. First, you can name the Southern Dominican Province as the recipient of the death benefits from your life insurance policy. Or you could sign over ownership of the policy to us right now. This latter option allows you to receive an income tax deduction equal to the policy’s fair market value or the total premium paid, whichever is lower (Please note that laws addressing the contribution of insurance policies vary with each State. We encourage you to consult your attorney or financial consultant on how to best provide this gift.)

Donating Real Estate

You may give your personal residence or farm to the Southern Dominican Province while retaining lifetime use of the property for yourself and your spouse. Referred to as an irrevocable gift, it provides you with an immediate charitable deduction equal to the fair market value of the Province’s remainder interest, subject to a 30% limit.
 

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Questions? Contact:

Fr. Juan Torres, O.P
Director of Development
[email protected]
713-529-4854 x 104