Planned Giving FAQ

Legacy giving is a way for you to make a charitable gift to the Dominican Friars that achieves your personal, financial, and estate planning goals, while fulfilling your commitment to helping the Friars preach the Gospel and promote the unity of Faith & Reason.

A planned gift can help you steward well your financial future. It can give you excellent tax advantages, and you may be able to make a larger gift than you otherwise could to support the mission of the Dominican Friars. In this way, you can maximize your gift and minimize the impact on your estate.

Yes. Your gift may be designated for any project or purpose (ie. formation and education, care of elderly friars, preaching initiatives) of the Dominican Friars. We would be happy to discuss your designation preferences and options with you, so feel free to contact our Planned Giving Office at PlannedGiving@dominicanfriars.org or call 646-350-0108.

Donors often think they have to make a seven-figure gift. You don’t. You can use stock or other appreciated assets to fund a gift that provides you income for life. For example, a gift annuity can provide you with fixed income for your life. They also think that they have to be over the age of 65 to take advantage of these vehicles, which is not the case.

Your financial situation, your income objectives, and your charitable goals will all determine the best asset for you to give. Donors frequently think their only option is to make an outright gift of cash. While this is a positive way to make charitable gifts, there are a number of other ways to donate, such as gifts of securities, corporate matching gifts, and the Saint Dominic Legacy Society. Planning your gifts allows you to take advantage of the tax, financial, and estate planning benefits of charitable giving.

Choosing a gift plan that is right for you requires a great deal of consideration, including discussions with family members, your financial and legal advisers, and the Office of Planned Giving staff at the Dominican Foundation. We will be happy to provide you with information to get you started.

A planned gift can be made in almost any form: cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, royalties. Please contact our Planned Giving Office at PlannedGiving@dominicanfriars.org or call 646-350-0108.

Yes, it is possible to receive payments from your gift to the Dominican Friars. These “life income” gifts most often are referred to as a Charitable Gift Annuity (minimum gift amount of $10,000) or a Charitable Remainder Trust (minimum gift amount of $100,000).

Once you make a gift (of either type), the Dominican Friars will invest the funds to pay you, and up to one other beneficiary, payments for life or, in some cases, for a term of years. Payments may start immediately, or may be deferred for one or more years. At the termination of the agreement, the Friars receive the remainder in the account. In most cases, you would receive an income tax deduction in the year of your gift equal to a portion of the gift amount, and you would avoid the capital gains tax for gifts of appreciated property such as stock, mutual funds, and real estate.

Yes. You will receive a deduction that is equivalent to the present value of the Dominican Friars’ remainder interest in your gift. (The present value of the Friars’ remainder interest in your gift is calculated at today’s value of the principal that will remain and be disbursed to the Friars once the gift matures.)

A legacy gift can help you accomplish many personal, financial and charitable goals. You can set up a gift that will increase your retirement income or provide income to a spouse or loved one. Most importantly a legacy gift’s primary purpose is to align your own legacy with that which is most important to you. If you support the Dominican Friars, you will provide crucial formation for future generations of Dominican priest and brothers, helping to ensure they carry out their mission of preaching Jesus Christ today and far into the future. Therefore, a planned gift should not be viewed simply as an investment strategy.

Yes and yes. A bequest is the most common type of legacy gift. Bequests from wills or other estate planning documents often are the easiest gifts to make and result in significant contributions to support future generations of Friars. We can provide you or your advisors with suggested language for your will or other estate planning documents.

Yes! The Deserving Poor Boy’s Priesthood Association remains a valid legal name under which you may donate to the Dominican Friars. It also has a special canonical status: As a Donor to the Deserving Poor Boy’s Priesthood Association, you can receive a plenary indulgence once a year under the usual conditions and at the hour of death.

The Deserving Poor Boys Priesthood Association, Inc., incorporated in the State of New York, 1 February, 1932, was merged into the Dominican Friars’ Guilds 21 December 2006. As the Dominican Friars’ Guilds is thus the successor in interest to the Deserving Poor Boys Association, Inc., it can legally can accept its gifts.  A copy of the Certificate of Merger may be provided upon request.

Yes. In addition to the Dominican Friars’ Foundation, you may donate to the Dominican Friars under any of the following names:

  • Saint Jude Dominican Missions
  • St. Martin De Porres Guild
  • Deserving Poor Boys’ Priesthood Association
  • Dominican Friars’ Guilds

The Dominican Foundation of Dominican Friars, Province of St. Joseph was incorporated on 8 August 2008. While remaining a separate and distinct entity, all activity of the Dominican Friars’ Guilds has been subsumed under the Foundation and is controlled by the Foundation through interlocking directors.

Thus the estate can make distribution of the bequest either to the Dominican Friars’ Guilds or to the Dominican Foundation. It is our request that the distribution be made to the Dominican Foundation.

Please contact our Planned Giving Office at PlannedGiving@dominicanfriars.org or call 646-350-0108.

“I give, devise, and bequeath $___ OR the following asset ___ OR ___% of the residue of my estate to the Dominican Foundation of Dominican Friars Province of St. Joseph, Inc., a New York State corporation having corporate EIN 26-3273636. The Dominican Friars shall use this gift for: (examples include) its general purposes, the formation and education of friars, the foreign missions, the care of elderly friars, wherever the need is greatest. Contact us for further sample language.

Yes. Leaving your retirement plan or IRA (or a portion of it) to the Friars is a tax-wise gift because naming the Friars as the recipient of your retirement plan after your death (or at the death of the survivor of you and your spouse) avoids all estate and income taxes on the plan assets.

To do so, simply notify your plan’s administrator of your wish to change the beneficiary. A “change of beneficiary” form will be required. The Friars/Dominican Foundation can be designated as a full or partial beneficiary of your plan. Depending on the state in which you reside, you may or may not need consent from your spouse if you designate your qualified retirement plan to come directly to the Friars at your death.

If your spouse and children are the beneficiaries of your retirement plan, you can continue to keep them as beneficiaries, and also include the Friars as beneficiaries of a portion of the plan. Upon your death, the plan administrator can “cash out” the Friars’ share of the account without affecting your family’s portion of the account, so that the Dominican Friars, and your heirs, benefit from your retirement savings.

Yes. This is an option overlooked by many. You can name the Friars as a primary, partial, or alternate beneficiary of your life insurance policy by filing a “change of beneficiary” form with the insurance company. Furthermore, if you no longer need the policy proceeds in your estate, you can transfer ownership of the policy to the Friars.

The Saint Dominic Legacy Society recognizes our donors who have made planned legacy gifts to the Dominican Friars. Through this giving society, the Friars gratefully honor our faithful friends and benefactors who have aligned their own legacy with that of the 800 year legacy of the Order of Preachers, to help ensure that the Dominican mission of preaching Jesus Christ is carried out faithfully by future generations of Friars.

There are several straightforward ways that you can become a member of the Saint Dominic Legacy Society. By naming the Friars in your estate plan or as a designated beneficiary you will not only join the Saint Dominic Legacy Society, but you will also be joining in and helping to further the Dominican preaching mission. Click here to learn more about becoming a member of the Saint Dominic Legacy Society.

Absolutely. We’d like to talk with you about your bequest and make sure we understand how you want your gift to be used. And we would like to recognize and thank you.

A lot of people welcome the discussion. It’s always interesting and we can really help solve some difficult problems for our donors at all income levels. We can be creative and work things out. It’s a win-win situation. It gives our donors peace of mind, and it’s rewarding to help you plan your legacy. To discuss you estate plan with the Dominican Friars Foundation, contact our Planned Giving Office at PlannedGiving@dominicanfriars.org or call 646-350-0108.

Reach Out With Specific Questions

Please contact our Planned Giving Office at PlannedGiving@dominicanfriars.org or call 646-350-0108. for more information. We are happy to assist you at any time so that you can make well-informed decisions about your charitable gift planning.

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The Dominican Foundation of Dominican Friars Province of St. Joseph, Inc. is a NY State tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, with
Tax ID # 26-3273636.