Planned Giving

There are many ways to support Falk Laboratory School. The most common, and immediately impactful, is to make a gift of cash. There are, however, other options, such as contributing appreciated stock and real estate, and a slew of philanthropic instruments collectively referred to as planned giving.

Planned giving includes a wide variety of tools that allow you to amplify your impact on future students and faculty, while potentially creating lifelong income streams and lowering the tax burden for you and your loved ones.

The most common form of planned giving is including Falk School in your will. Other planned giving options include funding an annuity or using assets in a retirement account in creative ways.

Popular Ways to Give

• Naming Falk School in your will (bequest) or living trust
• Naming Falk School as a beneficiary of a retirement account
• IRA Charitable Rollover

• Bequests and Beneficiaries – Naming Falk School in your will, living trust, or as a beneficiary of you retirement plan allows you to help Falk without impacting your income today. You can specify a dollar amount to be given to Falk or you can set a percentage of your estate or retirement savings.  
• IRA Charitable Rollover – If you are age 70 ½ or older, you can make a tax-free gift from your IRA directly to Falk School while satisfying your required minimum distribution. This is a simple and popular way to support Falk without reducing your current cash flow, and could lower your taxes.
• Charitable Remainder Trust – Creating a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust or Charitable Remainder Unitrust (with a minimum $100,000 deposit) provides you and/or a loved one income for life and benefits Falk School when it is dissolved. An annuity trust provides fixed income, while a unitrust provides variable income based on investment performance.
• Charitable Gift Annuity – Making a gift to Falk School to establish a Current, Deferred or Flexible Charitable Gift Annuity guarantees fixed payments for you and/or a loved one for life, while ensuring Falk’s financial future.
• Charitable Lead Trust – When you create a Charitable Lead Trust (with a minimum $100,000 deposit), Falk School receives an annual payment from the trust and most, if not all, of that gift eventually comes back to your or your heirs.
• Appreciated Stocks – Donating securities that have increased in value directly to Falk School allows you to possibly avoid capital gains taxes and maximize your charitable deduction.
• Life Insurance – Naming Falk School as a beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy, or creating a new policy specifically to benefit Falk, allows you to build a legacy, often with a relatively small annual premium payment and without diluting your estate.
• Real Estate and Other Property – Contributing homes, fine art, and other property directly to Falk School could allow you to avoid capital gains taxes and the burden of maintaining or selling the assets.

To learn more, please contact Laurie Hess, manager of constituent relations at 412-624-7301 or [email protected].

When considering charitable giving, you should speak with your tax, legal, and financial advisors; Falk Laboratory School and the University of Pittsburgh do not render these services.