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Other Ways to Donate

Donate Stock

There are several significant benefits that can result from gifts of securities. With certain limitations, you can deduct the full fair market value of long-term appreciated securities—that is, securities you have owned for more than one year and that have increased in value. Thus, you can give away appreciated property and usually avoid the tax on the gain. Here’s how: If your broker or bank holds your securities, call or write your broker and let them know that you want to make a gift of stock to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County (Tax ID #36-3727476). Your broker will want to know the name of the stock(s) and the number of shares you are contributing. After you have notified your broker, please call us at (815) 337-9502. We will need to know the name and telephone number of your broker, the name of the stock(s) and number of shares your are contributing. If requesting the transfer in writing, please mail a copy of the transfer request letter to the The Land Conservancy of McHenry County, PO Box 352, Woodstock, IL 60098.

Please remember that you don’t want to tell your broker to sell the stock and forward the proceeds to TLC. This will jeopardize your tax savings benefits. Stock should be transferred to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s account. TLC will send you an acknowledgement letter with the dollar amount of your gift based on the date the transfer is completed. Gift value is based on the average of the stock’s high and low price on the day of transfer. TLC has an account with Benjamin Edwards. When you call, we will give you the account information so that your broker can make the transfer.

Make a Bequest

A will is the easiest and most effective means to ensure that you fully provide for your family and that your assets are distributed as you wish. Gifts by will, or bequests, both large and small, are very important to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County. A bequest through your will provides much needed support for land preservation in McHenry County. Here is a story from two TLC members who chose to leave the organization in their wills.

You may bequeath a gift to TLC in the form of a dollar amount, a specific property, a percentage of your estate, or what remains after your loved ones have been provided for. Bequests to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County are entirely free from federal estate tax, and there is no limit on the amount you can leave to TLC in your will. 100% of all donations (in dollars) to TLC support land preservation in McHenry County. To make a bequest to TLC, the following language may be helpful to your lawyer: “I give, devise, and bequest to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, with a mailing address of PO Box 352, Woodstock, IL 60098, and a Tax Identification # of 36-3727476, the sum of $_____ (or “the rest, residue and remainder of my estate”) to be used for land preservation.” You may wish to dedicate your bequest to one or more of TLC’s dedicated funds:

Long-term Land Management Fund  These funds generate income each year that TLC uses to manage the properties we own. At the present time, this account has about $450,000, and the current goal is to have $1 million. This principal would generate about $40,000 a year (average, over time) to be used to take care of the 500 acres of land that TLC owns.

Legal Defense Fund  These funds generate some annual income that helps cover the costs of annual monitoring for the properties TLC owns. The principle can only be accessed to cover legal costs related to defense of any of the conservation easements that TLC holds. This fund currently stands at just over $500,000.

Third Generation Oak Fund  This fund is used to cover out-of-pocket costs related to Project Quercus, including planting oaks and helping people take care of their oaks. To designate your gift, simply specify the fund in your will.

For additional information email Lisa Haderlein or call 815-337-9502 x 103. Should you include TLC in your will, please let us know so that we may thank you during your lifetime!

IRA Charitable Gift

Tax-Free Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): Now Permanent! If you are 70½ years of age or older, you can make tax-free gifts – or QCDs – from your IRA to TLC. Congress reinstated a law that allows you to make a tax-free gift from your individual retirement account (IRA). Known as the IRA charitable rollover, this law is permanent, so you are free to make annual gifts to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County from your IRA. The law allows individuals 70½ and older the ability to transfer up to $100,000 from their individual retirement accounts directly to a qualified charitable organization without being subject to income taxes on the distribution. While you do not receive a charitable deduction for the gift, you do not pay taxes on the distribution amount, which is usually a better deal for the donor. Here are the details:

  • You are age 70½ or older at the time of the gift.
  • You transfer up to $100,000 directly from your IRA. This opportunity applies only to IRAs and not other types of retirement plans.
  • You transfer the funds outright to one or more qualified charities. The legislation does not permit direct transfers to charitable trusts, donor advised funds, charitable gift annuities or supporting organizations.

To make an IRA charitable rollover gift, simply contact your IRA administrator and request a direct distribution to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County, TIN 36-3727476, Attn: Lisa Haderlein, PO Box 352, Woodstock, IL 60098.

Company Matching Gifts

Many larger, for-profit employers match donations that their employees make to qualified charities (501(c)(3)s like TLC. Some of the companies that TLC has received matching gifts from include Follett, HSBC, Allstate, PepsiCo and U-Line. If your employer has a matching gift program, request a matching gift form, and send it completed and signed with or without your gift. We will do the rest. The impact of your gift to TLC may be doubled! Some companies match gifts made by retirees and/or spouses. If you are unsure about whether or not your employer will match your donations, check the employee benefit packet or ask someone in the Human Resources Department. 

Federal Conservation Tax Deduction

In 2015 Congress enacted a powerful conservation measure:  The Enhanced Federal Tax Incentive for Conservation Easement Donations. The permanent conservation easement tax incentive is a powerful tool that helps Americans conserve their land voluntarily. First enacted temporarily in 2006, the tax incentive was made permanent in 2015 and increases the benefits to landowners by:

  • Raising the deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement to 50%, from 30%, of his or her annual income.
  • Extending the carry-forward period for a donor to take a tax deduction for a conservation agreement to 15 years from 5 years. 
  • Allowing qualifying farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income, increased from 50%.

If you own land with important natural, agricultural or historic resources, donating a conservation easement can be a great way to save the land you love forever and to realize significant federal tax savings.