Leave a lasting legacy with your generosity.
Leave a lasting legacy with your generosity.Legacy giving is a strategic approach that allows individuals to support the causes they care about while achieving their financial and estate planning goals. Unlike immediate, one-time donations, legacy giving involves thoughtful consideration and often requires professional guidance to maximize benefits for both the donor and the recipient organization.
Legacy giving can take many forms, including bequests in a will, charitable trusts, life insurance policies, and retirement plan assets. These gifts can provide significant tax advantages, enhance estate planning strategies, and help secure an individual’s financial future.
By incorporating legacy giving into your philanthropic efforts, you can make a profound and enduring impact on the OU and/or one of our 16 program departments for generations to come.
Specify the Orthodox Union and which program department (if you have a preference) and the amount you wish to contribute in your will or codicil. Our planned giving advisor can assist with sample language and in creating a ‘declaration of intent’.
Will and Estate Planning? Access our Inventory Planning Worksheet (to avoid probate) and Sample Will Language.
Simplicity and Convenience: Including charitable bequests in your will is one of the most straightforward legacy giving methods
Tax Advantages: Charitable bequests can reduce your estate tax burden by reducing the taxable value of your estate
Flexibility: Donations can be made through a variety of assets – cash, securities, real estate, and/or personal property
Planning Control: Donors retain full control over assets over their lifetime and can make revisions as needed
The Halachic Will, or Shtar Chatzi Zachor, aligns Jewish and secular inheritance laws which typically conflict. It should be combined with a secular will for estate distribution according to personal wishes while still upholding halacha.
Beneficiary designation assigns the OU or one of our 16 program departments as the beneficiary of assets within retirement accounts (IRA or 401(k)), life insurance policies, bank accounts, Donor Advised Funds, or annuities
A) Name the Orthodox Union as the beneficiary, including legal name, address, and tax ID number
B) The Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Of America
EIN: 13-5623717
40 Rector St, New York, NY 10006
Make an Annual Gift:
Individuals 70½ and older can make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) directly from their IRA, tax-free, up to $105,000 per year, per spouse.
Fund an Endowment to Support the OU or one of our program departments in Perpetuity:
You can also give up to $105,000 per year, per spouse, tax-free from your IRA to fund an endowment. This endowment can be directed to support the program of your choice.
Receive Income and Help the OU in the Future:
A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) offers fixed income for life, currently paying up to 10.1%. You can fund it tax-free up to $53,000 per spouse from your IRA. The OU or one of our program departments would be the ultimate beneficiary of the principal.
Bequest Through IRA Beneficiary Designation:
You can name the OU or one of our program departments as a primary or contingent beneficiary of your IRA. This designation is simple to set up and allows you to leave a legacy without modifying your will or trust.
Recommend grants to the OU or one of our 16 program departments through your donor-advised fund and help us to continue our critical work for the Jewish community.
Click on the institution or foundation name that maintains your DAF account
Fidelity Charitable
Vanguard Charitable
Schwab Charitable
Bank of America Charitable
Jewish Communal Fund
National Philanthropic Trust
If you cannot find your financial institution or foundation in the links above, contact us. You can also grant directly from your DAF sponsor’s website.
You can also name the OU or one of our program departments as the beneficiary of your DAF.
By naming the OU as the beneficiary of your DAF, you establish your legacy to the Jewish community and become a member of our Legacy Circle. Contact your fund administrator to do so, and please contact us so we can recognize you and express our thanks by making you a part of our Legacy Circle.
Your legacy gift is invested by the OU and the interest perpetually supports a designated program of your choice. This approach allows you to establish a lasting legacy, permanently linking your name to an initiative that resonates with you.
Tax Benefits: Contributions to endowment funds may qualify for tax deductions, reducing taxable income in the donation year.
Long-term impact: Endowments provide support for charitable causes over time, ensuring lasting impact and stability.
Flexibility: Endowment funds offer flexibility in how donations are invested and distributed to maximize impact.
When you create a charitable gift annuity, you and/or a loved one receive a guaranteed fixed income for life.
Note: Minimum CGA is $20,000 and minimum age is 65.
By including the OU as part of your legacy, you’re ensuring the continuity of vital programs that impact all aspects of the Jewish community.
Your generosity will help us keep our shared Jewish values vibrant—for generations to come.
