With forty years of experience helping young people navigate a successful transition to a productive adulthood, Spectrum is committed to the next forty years, and the homeless and at-risk youth in our state. 

Leaving a bequest to Spectrum in your will is a time-honored way to make a lasting impact on those who need your help.  A planned gift for Spectrum can be an outright gift, a life income gift, or a charitable bequest. It can be made during your lifetime or at the time of death. Some of the ways to make a planned gift include:

Charitable Trust

A Charitable Gift Annuity is an exceptional planned giving option. You will enjoy income and benefits today for a gift that will help guide and support our community’s youth in need for many years to come. For a charitable donation of cash or securities, you will receive fixed income payments for life. This is based on your age, your gift amount and your start date. The remaining balance will help support Spectrum’s programs.

The minimum contribution is $15,000, and the minimum age is 65. Additional gift annuities may be acquired at any time. The contribution is irrevocable, and the remaining balance is set aside permanently at the Vermont Community Foundation for the benefit of Spectrum.

Rates are suggested by the American Council on Gift Annuities, and the assets of Spectrum’s charitable gift annuity program are managed by the Vermont Community Foundation.

Contact Laura Marlow Latka Development Director at 802-660-0580, ext. 350 for more information.

Endowment

Spectrum was founded 40 years ago and has weathered many financial storms throughout the years. We’re still largely dependant, however, upon federal and state funds and this puts our programs in serious jeopardy should these funds be cut. To make our programs at Spectrum sustainable for the long-term is always at the forefront of our strategy and vision for the future.

To this end we have established an endowment fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. This endowment serves our broader vision of sustainability. It is a vision where Spectrum is not vulnerable to changes in government funding, or even at the end of a grant. It is a vision where our organization is vital to our community, and the members of the community have ownership in Spectrum. The result is that we are able to provide the bridge for a program ourselves, and even maintain it over the long-term because it is essential for the well-being of our young people.

Your support of the Spectrum endowment provides an ongoing source of income to protect the agency from the vagaries of traditional funding streams. At Spectrum, we’re in it for the long haul to ensure that young people make a successful transition to a productive adulthood. Your gift to our endowment provides Spectrum with day-to-day support we need—just as our kids need our help on a daily basis. You may choose to support the our endowment through a planned gift such as including Spectrum in your will, through a Charitable Trust, or with a gift of stock or cash now.

Gifts of Stocks or Other Securities

Giving stock to Spectrum is a great way to increase your support of the organization. If you have owned the stock for more than a year, you get a tax deduction for the gift, and you avoid paying any capital gains tax on the increase in value of the stock. You can deduct the "fair market value," which is the average of the highest and lowest trading price for the stock on the day you make the transfer.

Example: If you purchased some stock many years ago for only $1,000, and it is now worth $10,000, an outright gift of the stock to Spectrum would result in a charitable contribution deduction of $10,000. In addition, there is no tax on the $9,000 appreciation in value.

If you own the actual stock certificates then you can simply fill in the form on the back of the stock certificate and give it the organization. If your shares are held in a brokerage account, you can ask your broker for assistance in the transfer. In order to take full advantage of the tax deduction, you will need to itemize your deductions.

If you are donating a lot of shares, you could run into the limits on charitable giving. Essentially your deduction can't be higher than 30% of your adjusted gross income. Anything that you can't deduct in the first year can be carried forward for up to five years.

Gift of Retirement Plan Assets

Retirement Plans make an excellent choice to fund a charitable gift to Spectrum upon your death. If you leave your traditional IRA, 401k, 403b or other qualified retirement plan assets to anyone other than your spouse, that individual beneficiary will have to pay income tax on the funds received. By making Spectrum the beneficiary of your retirement plan, the full amount of your retirement assets will benefit Spectrum. In addition, it is so easy to name Spectrum as the designated beneficiary on the form provided by your employer. You can then leave other assets to your loved ones.

Bequests

A will is the legal expression of your wishes for the disposition of your property to take effect at death. The easiest and most common method of charitable planned giving is by means of a bequest in your will.

Beneficiaries (the heirs who receive the bequests) are the individuals and organizations especially important to you. Whether for the entire estate, or any portion of the estate, a fixed amount or a percentage of total assets, bequests are easy to make.

Here is sample bequest language for use by potential donors and their attorneys:

General Bequest Clause - I give all my real and personal property to Spectrum Youth and Family Services, 31 Elmwood Avenue, Burlington, Vermont for its unrestricted use.

Specific Bequest Clause - I give ______ ($_________, or a specific asset, or _____% of estate) to Spectrum Youth and Family Services, 31 Elmwood Avenue, Burlington for its unrestricted use.

Residuary Bequest Clause - I give all my remaining assets of any kind to Spectrum Youth and Family Services, 31 Elmwood Avenue, Burlington for its unrestricted use.

Restricted Bequest - Income only may used by the charity: I give ______ ($_______or _____% of my estate) to the endowment fund of Spectrum Youth and Family Services, 31 Elmwood Avenue, Burlington, income only to be used for its general purposes.

Restricted Bequest - Specific Purpose: I give ___________ ($_________ or_______% of my estate) to Spectrum Youth and Family Services, 31 Elmwood Avenue, Burlington for the _______ (designate department or program). If at any time in the judgment of the Spectrum Youth and Family Services’ Board of Directors it is deemed impossible or impractical to carry out the above purpose, the Trustees shall determine a purpose as near as possible to that described above.

Gift of life insurance

A gift of life insurance can provide a significant charitable deduction. You could purchase a new policy or donate a policy that you currently own but no longer need. To receive a deduction, designate Spectrum as both the owner and beneficiary of the life insurance policy. Consult with your insurance agent for the details.

Example: You own a $200,000 life insurance policy with a current cash value of $25,000. By transferring the policy to Spectrum as the new owner and beneficiary, you receive a current charitable deduction of $25,000. If you decide to continue paying the premiums on the policy after the gift is made, these additional premium payments will be tax deductible each year.

Gift of real estate

A residence, vacation home, farm, acreage, or vacant lot may have so appreciated in value through the years that its sale would mean a sizable capital gains tax. By making a gift of this property instead, you would avoid the capital gains tax, and receive a charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the property.