When you make a gift through a charitable gift annuity, your gift provides you with a guaranteed annual income for life. After your death, the remaining portion of the annuity goes to the Church Foundation or to the church ministries of your choice.

A charitable gift annuity is a direct contribution of cash or securities made to the ELCA Foundation. In return, the ELCA Foundation gives you annuity payments for life, with payment rates based on your age at the time of the gift. A portion of each gift annuity payment is tax-free.

In addition, a gift annuity provides you with a charitable income tax deduction for your income tax return for the year of the gift, which may give you substantial tax savings. If the tax deduction is too large to use all in one year, any unused deduction can be applied to tax returns for the next five years.

Younger individuals may want to consider a deferred annuity, in which payments to you do not start immediately, but rather begin at some future date that you select. Deferred gift annuities are best suited for people who want to make a charitable gift and receive a charitable tax deduction now, but do not need the annuity payments immediately.

With charitable gift annuities, you not only enjoy significant financial and tax advantages, you receive the satisfaction of knowing that you have made an important contribution to the ministries of the church that are important to you through the Foundation.