MISSION MATTERS
MARCH 2025
Masonic Charities Update
Supporting Our Donors Through
Tax Season and Beyond Our donors are the lifeblood of our Masonic Charities, and we strive to support them throughout the giving process. We help coordinate top-notch professional services to design and implement their gifting strategies and provide timely documentation for their tax reporting needs. By engaging with our donors every step of the way, we help them achieve their goals in the most tax efficient and personally fulfilling manner possible. Our office recently assisted Charlie and Carol C. with the creation of a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) for the benefit of their children [for 20 years] and then the Masonic Children’s Home. We assisted Charlie and Carol as follows:
“The Masonic Charities supported us when we set up the trust through well-coordinated legal assistance, coordinates accounting services with Simon Lever [business advisors and CPAs] and investment management through Mill Creek Capital Advisors and acts as trustee for no fee. They make complicated things simple and easy. And best of all, by reducing and eliminating expenses, more money is available for our children and, ultimately, the children at the Masonic Children’s Home,” the couple said. Charlie said his tax and investment advisors are great. “Whenever we reach out, they are happy to help with whatever we need. We’re on a first-name basis!” he said.
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Prepared illustrations of how the trust would work and the tax benefits
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Agreed to provide trustee services without a fee
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Secured experienced legal counsel to draft the trust and counsel Charlie and Carol at discounted rates
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Established accounts with the investment advisor at discounted rates
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Engaged an accountant at discounted rates
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Ensure statements and tax documentation are reliably and timely provided to the trust
“I have appreciated the prompt and nice acknowledgment letters. The thank you notes received in between have been nice, and I have always enjoyed the annual donor receptions. I look forward to them,” she said.
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Coordinate prompt responses to questions from Charlie and Carol and their children
We look forward to serving you!
Erika W., a generous supporter of the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, where her mother had resided, appreciates the ease of the donation process and the formal recognition of her generosity.