"In this day and age when bigness so often leads to depersonalization, San Francisco State University remains responsive to the goals and perspectives of each individual donor. This is what has made contributing both time and funds so very rewarding."
_ Jane Hohfeld Galante, donor and volunteer
There are as many ways to support the University as there are reasons, both personal and practical, for doing so:
Cash
Gifts of cash may be made in the form of a personal or cashier's check. You can send cash gifts payable to SFSU Foundation, Inc., to be used where the need is greatest, or you can designate them to any area or use of special interest.
The SFSU Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c) organization. If you are considering making a major gift, be sure to work with an advisor to maximize your tax benefits.
Trusts
By establishing a Charitable Remainder Unitrust with a minimum gift of $250,000, you will have a lasting impact on SFSU's future while providing income and estate tax benefits to you as a donor. Real estate, stock, and other highly-appreciated assets can be placed in these professionally managed trusts. A Charitable Remainder Unitrust will pay income to you for life, yielding a specified percentage of the assets, revalued annually. At the time of your death, the remainder interest of the trust goes to SFSU, to meet its greatest needs or to the specific purpose you have designated.
Another type of trust, the Charitable Lead Trust, provides SFSU a percentage of the income for a certain number of years, after which time the assets may revert to you or pass to the recipient of your choice. This is a good way to shelter assets for a predetermined number of years, to reduce income and estate taxes, or to relieve your heirs of capital gains tax.
[Return to top]
Real estate
If you make a gift of your principal residence to the University, you can retain the right to live in it for the rest of your life or to give it outright to SFSU. Either way, you will receive a tax benefit. Gifts of other real estate, such as farms or vacation homes, can be of greater tax benefit to you if given directly to SFSU than if they were sold and the cash donated to the University.
[Return to top]
Life insurance
As you become older, you may find that you have life insurance policies that are no longer needed. For example, your home might now be paid for, thereby making policy provisions for home payments unnecessary, or your children might now be living comfortably on their own, reducing the need for insurance protection to secure their futures. When you make SFSU the beneficiary of a policy, you can deduct the amount of the premium as a charitable tax deduction. You can also give a fully paid policy to SFSU and deduct an amount equivalent to the cost of replacing it.
IRAs, Keogh Plans, corporate employee retirement programs, and group insurance plans also can be directed to pay any unused benefits to SFSU.
[Return to top]
Stocks and bonds
You may avoid paying substantial capital gains taxes by giving stocks, mutual funds, or bonds to SFSU. You can deduct the full value of your gift from your federal taxes as a charitable gift.
[Return to top]
Paintings, jewelry, and other tangible personal property
The University is grateful for gifts of property it can use or sell for the benefit of its teaching programs. The value of such gifts, along with appraisal, insurance, and shipping costs, are tax-deductible.
Before sending such a gift, please inform the SFSU Office of University Development so that proper arrangements may be made. You should also consult your tax advisors, as special tax forms must be filled out for gifts-in-kind.
[Return to top]
Tributes and memorials
You can honor friends or relatives by making a gift of any size to the SFSU Tribute Fund in their name. The University will send a personal card to the honoree, informing them that a Tribute Fund gift (without specifying the amount) has been made in his or her name, and you will receive an acknowledgment of your tax-deductible gift.
Another way to honor someone is by establishing, alone or with family members and friends, a memorial fund bearing the loved one's name and dedicating it to their special area of interest.
[Return to top]
Special endowments
San Francisco State's two greatest strengths are its gifted, dedicated faculty and its talented, hard-working students.
Endowed chairs, faculty fellowships, and scholarships are among the most enduring ways of ensuring these strengths long into the University's future. Such gifts help attract and keep senior scholars and teachers of worldwide repute, help retain rising young stars who are actively recruited by other institutions, and help SFSU develop enlightened students who will become even more productive members of our society.
Through such endowments, donors gain the satisfaction of knowing that their names and commitment to academic excellence and learning will be linked in perpetuity to the achievements of the University and to the succession of scholars whose work their gift supports.
[Return to top]
Other ways to give
Many of the assets discussed earlier in this brochure, such as real estate, cash, securities, or works of art, also may be given to SFSU through your will.
To assist you in making a bequest to SFSU, suggested testamentary language is available, upon request, from SFSU's Office of University Development. If you decide to include a gift to SFSU in your will, please inform us so that we can express our gratitude to you now, as a member of SFSU's Alexander C. Roberts Society _ an honor bestowed upon those who have helped secure a strong future for SFSU by including it in their estate plans.
[Return to top]
Sample language for bequests to San Francisco State University:I hereby give [the sum of $__________ (__% of the residue of my estate as finally determined for Federal Estate Tax purposes, or the following described property:)] to San Francisco State University Foundation, Inc. (hereinafter, "the Foundation"), a financial auxiliary of San Francisco State University (hereinafter, "the University"), an educational institution, for the benefit of the University and to establish the [name of the fund] (hereinafter, "the Fund"). Such fund is to be used to support [specify the fund's purpose].
[Return to top]
When to give | Who to contact
SFSU Home Search Comments and Questions
SFSU, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132
Archived Information. Last modified March 20, 2009, by University Communications