Ways To Give

Cash or Check

Cash gifts are the simplest and most common form of giving to the school. Cash gifts are tax deductible up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in the year of your gift. If the gift exceeds 50% the remainder may be carried over and used as a deduction up to five years. Checks should be made payable to Greater Atlanta Christian School.

Online Giving by Credit Card

Donations may be given online (link on the left) or by completing this form.

Company Matching Gifts

A number of companies have matching gift programs in which the company matches gifts made by employees.

Aegon Transamerica	Magnolia Management Group, LLC
Aetna, Inc.	Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
AIG	McCamish Group
American Express	Merrill Lynch & Co.
Anheuser-Busch Company Inc.	Microsoft
AOL Time Warner	Morgan Stanley
Avaya Communications	National Semiconductor
Avon	Neiman Marcus
AXA	Nordson Corporation
Bank of America	Northwestern Mutual Life
BellSouth Corporation	Novartis US
Chef Duds	Once For All Trust
Chevron Corporation	Phillips Electronics
CIGNA	Phillips Petroleum Company
Coca-Cola Company	Prudential
Colgate Palmolive Company	Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc.
Compaq Computer Corp.	Remington Industrial Park
ConocoPhillips Company	RSUI Indemnity Company
Costco Wholesale	SBC Communications
Development Consultants Group	Scientific Atlanta, Inc.
Equifax, Inc.	Spear, Leeds & Kellogg
First Data Corporation	Sprint
First Horizon	State Farm
First Union Educational	St. Paul Travelers Foundation
Georgia-Pacific Corporation	SunTrust Bank
Georgia-Pacific Corporation	The Stanley Works
GTE	Time Warner Matching Grants Program
Hewlett Packard Company	Travelers Casualty and Surety Company
Hoechst Celanese	UPS
IBM Corporation	Verizon
IDI	Wachovia Bank, NA
Kimberly Clark Corporation	Wells Fargo Foundation
LandAmerica

Please check with your company to see if matching gift is available.  For additional information, please contact Katherine White at kwhite@greateratlantachristian.org or 770-243-2206.

Securities

Giving securities may be the most advantageous way to give. You may receive very favorable tax consequences by giving stock that has appreciated. Non-publicly-traded securities may be accepted after consultation with the school business officer and/or the school’s counsel. The fair market value is to be determined by a qualified appraiser.

Publicly Traded Securities

• Readily marketable securities such as those traded on a stock exchange are accepted by Greater Atlanta Christian School
• Gift securities are to be sold immediately unless there is good reason for holding them for a brief time.
• The value of the securities is the average of the high and low of the stock on the date of the gift.

Real Estate

Giving real estate that has appreciated in value allows the donor to receive credit for the present value without paying capital gains tax. There are no gift taxes and the property is removed from your estate avoiding estate taxes.

Title to each property donated shall be held in the name of Greater Atlanta Christian School. At the time of acceptance by the school the donor may designate the intended use and purpose of the gift. Unrestricted gifts are to be used at the discretion of the board.
Gifts and requests of real property will be accepted if the benefits exceed the risks, expenses and efforts required to hold, maintain, manage or dispose of the property.
Survey and title policy are to be provided at the time of acquisition.
A recent appraisal and IRS Form 8283 shall be submitted to the school business office if the donor intends to use the donation for tax purposes.
Real property must pass an environmental audit before it can be accepted. If a level one inspection causes the school to be suspicious about the condition of the property a level two inspection by a qualified inspector must be carried out before the property can be accepted.
Those authorized to accept real property:
	Property valued up to $100,000 may be accepted by the president or director of development.
	Property valued from $100,000 to $1,000,000 may be accepted by the Wills and Estates Committee.
	Property valued at over $1,000,000 may be accepted by the school’s board of trustees.

Life Insurance

There are several possibilities for giving life insurance policies. New policies or existing policies are options where GACS is named owner and beneficiary of the policy.

Retirement Plan Assets

One of the most desirable tax saving ways to give is to give the assets in retirement plans. (GACS has a group of tax professionals who are available to answer your questions. If you want more information please contact Jesse Long at 770-243-2205. We suggest that in addition to information received from our advisors you also contact your personal tax advisors.)

Charitable Lead Trusts

Income from an asset is given to the school for a set period of time. At the end of this period the asset is returned to the donor or passed on to the beneficiaries. This is a good way to avoid taxes levied on inheritance passed on to heirs.