Gift Planning

Flowers on lawn

Gift Planning

Overview

Make a Plan to Support the Future of UVA

You can join the growing number of alumni and friends who invest now in the University’s future by including UVA as a beneficiary of their wills, charitable trusts, and retirement plans. You can also make a gift now and receive income for the rest of your life. Gifts like these can offer you and your family significant tax benefits as well as greater financial flexibility in meeting your personal and philanthropic goals.

Planned gifts may be of three types:

  1. Plans from your estate
    Bequests are gifts you establish through your estate plans. 
  2. Plans that pay you an income
    You make a gift to the University and receive income for your life or for the lives of the beneficiaries you choose. 
  3. Plans that help the University now and your family later
    The University uses the income from your gift for a specified period of time and then returns the remainder to you or your heirs. 

Gift Planning

Estate Planning 101 with Skip Fox (Law '80)

In this webinar presented by the Office of Gift Planning, Skip Fox (Law '80) of McGuireWoods LLP covered wills, living trusts, designating beneficiaries for retirement plans and life insurance policies, and planning for financial and health care matters with powers of attorney and living wills.

Plans From Your Estate

Wills and Living Trusts

Giving to the University through your will or living trust is often referred to as a “bequest.” A bequest from your estate may include cash, securities, real estate, and/or personal property. It can be for a specific amount or for a percentage of your estate.

Retirement Plans

Assets from your individual retirement account, pension plan, profit sharing plan, stock bonus plan, 401(k) or 403(b) can constitute a large portion of your retirement portfolio.

Plans That Pay You an Income

​Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity is a gift that will provide you with income for the rest of your life and generously support the University.

Charitable Remainder Trusts​

Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) are an ideal form of philanthropy for those who wish to make a charitable gift to the University and to receive income for their lifetime and/or the lifetime of others.

UVA Opening Convocation crowd of students

It’s money that’s already being taken out of your paycheck, so you never see it. Why not direct it somewhere important to you?

Geneviève Frempong Boye (Col ’99)

Other Planned Giving

Real Estate

Real estate can be contributed as an outright gift or to finance a planned gift, such as a charitable trust. Available options include a retained life estate, which allows the donor to continue to use the property for a certain number of years or for the donor’s lifetime. Other arrangements offer special tax advantages and lifetime income.

Life Insurance

Giving a life insurance policy you no longer need, or funding a new policy to support the University of Virginia, is an excellent way to make a substantial gift.

Stocks and Bonds

Gifts of stocks and mutual funds are coordinated by University Advancement Services. The University will direct proceeds from the sale of these assets to any school or program you wish.

Qualified Charitable Distributions

If you are at least 70½ years old, you are eligible to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from a traditional or Roth IRA. Distributions to the University of Virginia will be excluded from federal income.

Donor Stories

Genevieve standing in front of mural
Gift Planning
The Heart of an Explorer
Julius Caesar once proclaimed that experience is the teacher of all things. Having lived her life in constant pursuit of new experiences, Geneviève Frempong Boye (Col ’99) has surely learned a lot.
Couple poses in front of fireplace construction
Gift Planning
We Build Great Beginnings
Jose Lambert’s dream of becoming an architect nearly ended in 1958 when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba. Families like Lambert’s were no longer allowed to send money to loved ones living in the U.S., and he was forced to leave his studies at the UVA School of Architecture.
Couple poses outside
Gift Planning
A Life in Pursuit
In his book “Six Great Ideas,” American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler outlines six concepts that have been fundamental to the development of Western civilization. One of these—truth—supports our ability to make informed decisions about the world.