eblasts

By the time you read this your High Holiday tickets will be on their way to your home and will be received by the end of the week.

If you have looked, you will notice that the tickets serve two purposes.  The first is they act as your entrance to either the Adult or Children’s services.  The second is they are a simple means for confirming your donation amount for the new building.

Over the past few months I have had several questions and comments about fundraising and thought I would take this opportunity to address them in a note to all members.  If you have not already made your gift, please consider the thoughts below.

Shana Tova,

Ted Rechtshaffen,

President Congregation Habonim

1)       Why your gift is incredibly important

The Building has a total budget of $9.5 million.  Today we have donation commitments of $6.6 million so we are a little over 70% of the way there. 

Not all, but most of the bigger gifts are now accounted for so we need to raise another $2.9 million from gifts of all sizes.  As the campaign is beginning to focus on our broad membership, there are still about 350 families or 80% of the Congregation – to talk to about a gift.

So this $2.9 million will come from a large number of very important gifts at all levels.  Each one is a very important building block financially but also a building block for the future of Habonim.  We want everyone to feel ownership and a part of our exciting future.

2)      Yes, your gift will be tax deductible?

100% of your gift will be considered tax deductible.  What this means is that every charitable gift in Ontario of a dollar (after $200 in total annual donations) will receive 46.4 cents back as a tax credit.  This tax credit will be received regardless of whether your income is $20,000, $60,000, or $150,000, as it is a tax credit.

For those whose taxable income is over $220,000, this tax credit will now be 53.5 cents on the dollar so you will get back more than half of your donation in your taxes.

Based on that, a $10,000 gift will cost you roughly $1,000 a year.  To explain further, a $10,000 gift can be payable over 5 years or $2,000 a year.  If you receive roughly 50% back as a tax credit, you will be paying $1,000 out of pocket for 5 years.

This applies at any gift level, so an $1,800 donation is like $180 a year out of pocket for five years.  A $25,000 donation is like $2,500 a year out of pocket for five years.

3)      Can I give a donation using stocks with capital gains?

Yes.  Through the kindness of the Jewish Foundation of Toronto, they have arranged to accept stock donations on behalf of Congregation Habonim at no cost to us.  If you are interested, I can send you the appropriate form.

This can be important, as it could make your cost of donation even lower – maybe as low as 25 or 30 cents on the dollar.

In number 2 above, we discussed the tax credits on cash donations.  Normally if you have a stock in a taxable investment account, and its value goes up, you will have to pay a capital gain when you sell the stock.  Capital gains taxes can range from 10% to over 26% depending on your income.  However, if you donate the stock, you do not have to pay any capital gains tax.  Below is an example of someone in the top tax bracket ($220,000 or more in taxable income):

Cash Donation

Donation                                                                           $25,000

Tax Credit                                                                                $13,375

Out of Pocket Cost                                                         $11,625

Stock Donation

Value of stock donated                                                  $25,000

Cost base on stock                                                                    $5,000

Capital Gains ($25,000 - $5,000)                                        $20,000

Capital Gains tax owed if not donated

(26.76% * $20,000)                                                                 $5,352

Tax avoided by donating the stock                                        $5,352

Tax Credit                                                                                   $13,375

Out of Pocket Cost         (with tax savings)               $8,023

Each $1 of donation to Habonim would cost just 32 cents ($8,023/$25,000).

4)      What does Habonim really need?

The chart below outlines what has been received to date (as of September 11th) at various levels, and what we need at various levels.  As you can see, as an example, we still need 4 gifts of $50,000 (or $5,000 after tax per year for 5 years).  We still need 20 gifts of $18,000 and 30 gifts of $10,000.  This will not be easy, but I know it is definitely achievable.

Our Collective Challenge

Congregation Habonim is proud of its diverse membership. Our hope is that every family will give to the best of their ability.

Here’s what we still need to reach our goal of $9,500,000…