Find Your Way to Give

Retirement Account

Naming the Three Lakes Community Foundation as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other retirement account is one of the simplest and most tax-efficient ways to give. You update your beneficiary designation with your plan administrator — some employer plans may require spousal consent — and nothing else changes during your lifetime.

When the time comes, your designated gift transfers directly to the Foundation, skipping probate entirely and avoiding the income taxes that would otherwise be owed if those funds passed to individual heirs.

If you’re 70½ or older, you may also be able to make a *Qualified Charitable Distribution* directly from your IRA — a gift that can count toward your required minimum distribution without being counted as taxable income at all. This is often one of the most tax-advantaged ways to give, and worth discussing with your financial advisor.

Gifts of Securities

If you’ve owned publicly traded stock, mutual funds, or bonds for more than a year, donating them directly is often more advantageous than giving cash — for you and for Three Lakes.

When you give appreciated securities, you can claim a charitable deduction for their full current value, and you avoid paying capital gains tax on the increase in value entirely. If you sold the securities yourself and donated the cash proceeds, you’d owe tax on the gain first — donating the securities directly means more of your gift’s full value goes to work in the community.

Your broker or financial advisor can typically transfer securities directly from your account to ours — a simple, standard process most brokerages handle routinely.

Real Estate

A gift of real estate can be a meaningful way to support Three Lakes — particularly if the property has grown significantly in value. If you’ve owned it for more than a year, you can typically claim a charitable deduction for its full current value, with no tax owed on the appreciation.

The most straightforward approach is an outright gift: you transfer the property to the Foundation, we work with our fiduciary partners to convert it to support your chosen fund, and your gift goes to work for Three Lakes.

More complex real estate gifts — such as retaining lifetime use of a property, or using real estate to fund a charitable trust — are also possible in some situations. If you’re considering something along those lines, we’d encourage you to contact us to talk through what’s realistic given your circumstances.

Life Insurance Policy

The simplest way to give through life insurance is to name the Three Lakes Community Foundation as beneficiary on a policy you already own. You keep the policy, keep paying your own premiums as usual, and simply update the beneficiary designation with your insurance company — a straightforward form they can walk you through. The Foundation receives the death benefit when the time comes, with no changes required to your policy in the meantime.

In some cases, it’s also possible to donate an unneeded policy outright, naming the Foundation as both owner and beneficiary. This is a more involved arrangement — if you’re considering it, we’d encourage you to contact us to talk through what makes sense.

Bequest by Will or Revocable Living Trust

A gift through your will or living trust is a final act of care — for the people and causes that mattered to you throughout your life. You can leave a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or what remains after other expenses are paid.

If your estate is large enough to be subject to estate tax, a charitable bequest can also reduce or eliminate that tax burden — meaning more of what you’ve built goes to the causes you chose, rather than elsewhere..

Endowment Fund

An endowment gift becomes permanent. Your contribution is invested, the principal stays intact, and only the investment earnings are distributed — meaning your gift keeps generating support for Three Lakes indefinitely, not just once.

The simplest way to give is a contribution to the Foundation’s general endowment fund, which supports the community’s needs broadly over time.

At higher gift levels, you can also establish your own individual endowment fund — named however you choose, and directed toward either general community needs or a specific cause you care about.