Cash

A donor's cash gift should be made by check or money order drawn payable to the Alcorn State University Foundation, Incorporated and mailed to the Alcorn State University Foundation, Incorporated, 1000 ASU Drive #810, Alcorn State, Mississippi 39096-7500. You may give the Foundation up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income and claim it as a deduction. Should your gift exceed half of your income, you may claim deductions, over a five-year period.

The simplest form of bequest is a provision in a will making an outright gift of money or property to the Alcorn State University Foundation, Incorporated. Gifts through your will are not subject to Federal Estate Taxes and thus substantially reduce the tax liability of your estate. If you wish, you may restrict your gift to a particular department or program. Also, you may direct that the corpus be held in trust, with only the income being used.

The basic wording for your will which your attorney will need, is "I give, devise, and bequeath to the Alcorn State University Foundation, Incorporated, organized. chartered, and operated under the laws of the State of Mississippi, with offices at Room 417 Administration Building, Alcorn State University, Alcorn State, Mississippi, the sum of $_______________ (percentage of your estate, a specific amount, or the particular item of property you are giving)."

Gifts of stocks or bonds held for more than six months may be the easiest and most advantageous way to help the University. If the securities have gained in value, you can, by giving them outright, avoid paying capital gains tax and also claim a deduction for the fair market value (what you paid plus the appreciated value). If securities have depreciated in value, it is usually best to sell and give the proceeds, since you can then take a tax loss on the drop in value and also deduct the proceeds as a charitable gift.

Land deeded to the Foundation is not taxable in the estate of the donor. He or she may retain full income, or a percentage of the income during their lifetime.

Special teaching and research equipment is required in almost every field of study. In many scientific disciplines, constant progress demands the purchase of the most recent equipment frequently of highly technical nature. Cash contributions for this purpose or gift in kind of useful equipment are appreciated and can be receipted as donations at fair market value.

A gift to Alcorn State University Foundation, Incorporated of a life insurance policy is accomplished either by delivering an assigned ownership of the policy to the Foundation or by naming the Foundation the irrevocable owner and beneficiary of the policy. This provides for a definite large future gift at a small annual expense, and premiums are tax-deductible. The younger the insured who purchases the policy, the lower the premiums.

Another way is to change the beneficiary of an existing policy, if the present beneficiary no longer needs protection. The Foundation can be named as the new beneficiary or co-beneficiary.