IRA Charitable Rollovers

How Your IRA Can Benefit You and GFA

Specific Guidelines | Sample Letter - PDF | IRA Contact Form

Thanks to a major piece of legislation recently signed into law, it may be possible for you to make a significant charitable gift to Gospel for Asia from your IRA account this year—and another one next year—and even save some taxes!

Here's what happened:

On October 3, President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which includes an extension of the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Charitable Rollover provision.

Throughout 2008 and 2009, individuals age 70½ and older can make donations—up to a maximum of $100,000 during each year—directly from their IRA to charitable organizations such as Gospel for Asia. Click here for specific guidelines regarding this tax-saving opportunity.

Donations given directly from your IRA account to GFA qualify as all or part of your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), depending on the amount given. If you are planning to make a year-end donation to GFA in 2008 or anytime in 2009, a direct transfer from your IRA account will prevent the RMD from being added to your taxable income for that year. In some cases, this may put you in a lower tax bracket, which could mean significant savings.

This extended IRA charitable rollover provision could also benefit you if you:

• Do not itemize, but take the standard deduction
• Are receiving Social Security income
• Have an over-funded IRA
• Have already given the maximum permissible level of charitable gifts for the year
• Are counting carried-over gifts from previous years on this year's tax return
• Would just like to reduce your taxable income through making a charitable donation

IRA Rollovers to GFA
The process of donating through an IRA charitable rollover is easy. Just contact your IRA administrator, who should have a form for you to fill out to make the request. You will need:

If your IRA administrator does not have a form, you may request
a charitable rollover by sending a letter similar to the sample letter.
(Click here for PDF of sample letter).

After you have made the transfer, please fill out the contact form, email us at strategicgiving@gfa.org, or call us at 1-800-946-2742 to tell us the following:

• Your name and address
• The name and address of your IRA administrator
• The date you requested the IRA charitable rollover
• The amount of the IRA charitable rollover
• How you would like your donation used within the ministry of GFA