Secure the Future of Jewish Education with Planned Giving

The Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation--a partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Associated Talmud Torahs--generates income that exclusively benefits Ida Crown Jewish Academy for years to come. Your generosity will be memorialized as an example and inspiration for future generations. If you or your advisor would like more information on maximizing your charitable and tax planning objectives, or other ways to contribute your retirement plan assets, please contact the Development Office at (773) 973-1450.

Following are planned giving partnerships with ICJA:

Individual Retirement Accounts and other Retirement Plan Assets

Naming Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation as a beneficiary of your IRA. Currently, your retirement plan assets are subject to two taxes upon death: estate and income tax. This means that if your estate is over the exempt amount, currently at $1.5 million, up to 80% of your IRA may go to the IRS upon your death. As a result of these taxes, usually only a small portion of the IRA funds pass to heirs. While other assets, such as cash or stock, cost you about 50 cents on the dollar to give to charity, when you donate your retirement plan, your cost is only 20 cents on the dollar. Under the IRS regulations, it is now easier to contribute your IRA and other retirement assets upon your death by simplifying structuring charitable bequests from retirement plans. This means that now is the time to review your estate plan with your attorney and/or financial advisors.

Through careful planning there is a way to minimize or even avoid estate and income taxes on IRAs and other retirement plan assets. You can take control of where your funds will go instead of the IRS.

The easiest way of contributing your IRA to Ida Crown Jewish Academy upon death is by a beneficiary designation form. Contact the administrator of your IRA or other qualified retirement account and let him/her know that you would like to name Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation as a death beneficiary.

Suggested language is as follows: The beneficiary of my account balance is the Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation. Please note that if the plan holder leaves a surviving spouse, a written waiver is necessary.

Charitable Gift Annuities: Profit From Your Own Generosity

A Charitable Gift Annuity for Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation offers significant tax benefits for you and your estate. As a charitable contribution, it can be a permanent legacy that allows you to be there for the future of ICJA by ensuring the essential programs that transform the thousands of lives we serve on a daily basis.

Here’s how a Charitable Gift Annuity to benefit Ida Crown Jewish Academy works. A donor makes an irrevocable gift of cash or marketable securities to the Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation through the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. In return, the donor receives a guaranteed fixed income for life. The ultimate proceeds are left exclusively to the Ida Crown Jewish Academy Endowment Foundation as a permanent gift benefiting Ida Crown Jewish Academy in perpetuity.

Here are examples of current Gift Annuity rates being offered:
Age                                         Rate
90                                            11.3%
85                                            9.5%
80                                            8.1%
75                                            7.2%
70                                            6.6%

These sample rates are for a one-life charitable gift annuity.

Find out how you can earn both financial and emotional returns on your investment – and find out how you can be there for Ida Crown Jewish Academy while providing for yourself.

This is for information purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for legal or financial advice. Please consult with your professional advisers regarding your individual situation. The ICJA Endowment Foundation was created as part of the Jewish Federation's Centennial Campaign, which honors its' 100 years of service to the Jewish Community.

Federation's Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund

The Jewish Federation and the day school community have joined together in a unique partnership to help ensure that every Jewish family has the opportunity to choose a day school education -- regardless of financial ability and stream of religious commitment. “This is just the beginning,” says John Lowenstein, one of the central figures in the effort and ICJA parent. “We believe millions more can be raised, creating a base that will generate significant financial support for the schools in perpetuity. This is an outstanding example of how leaders representing different denominations and different interests can work together on a common goal to strengthen the entire Jewish community.”

This past July, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago took a great leap forward in supporting Jewish day-school education with a 43% increase in funding from the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund (JDSGTF) to the 15 Federation supported day schools.

ICJA’s portion of the $1,532,868 distribution was $113,483. This is in addition to the Federation’s annual allocation of $471,511.

This increase highlights the success of the major initiative, announced over two years ago, to reinvigorate community support for Jewish day-school education.  The Fund’s endowment and commitments to it have skyrocketed tomore than $27.5 million. Distributions to the schools will continue in perpetuity, and as the Fund grows, the distributions will continue to grow.

Gifts to the Trust Fund, which is part of the Federation’s Centennial Campaign, are over and above the donors’ annual gifts to the Jewish United Fund and to the individual day schools they may support.  For more details on the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund program, contact the Federation’s Legacies and Endowments Department at 312/357-4853 or email deborahsamuels@juf.org.


The Jewish Day School Endowment Program offers two ways you can participate:

1. Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund Benefits all 15 Federation supported day schools by providing additional resources to each school.  Jewish Federation is “front-loading” all gifts of over $100,000 or more committed by December 31, 2008.
   
   
2. Individual Jewish Day School Endowment Foundations Designed for those who wish to support a particular Jewish day school participating in the program.