Create Your Legacy with AIO

Legacy Giving:
Supporting Our Neighbors Now & Tomorrow

While we manage our daily assistance programs—from our food market and diapers to energy assistance and home delivery—we must also look ahead. Just like the planning we do in our own lives, AIO is preparing for the future. We want to ensure AIO remains a steadfast safety net and resource for neighbors navigating difficult life moments, whether they need us now or in the future.

To ensure our Knox County neighbors can always count on AIO—just as they have for the last 36 years—we invite you to consider a powerful way to extend your impact: including AIO in your estate plans.

What will your legacy be?

Perhaps you’ve already included AIO in your will or estate plans?  Let us know so we can honor you as a member. If you feel comfortable completing this planned gift intention form please do so and return it to Alan Kearl, Executive Director, AIO Food & Energy Assistance, PO Box 113, Rockland, ME 04841 or by email to alan@aiofoodpantry.org.

Bequest

Did you know that you can name AIO as a beneficiary for your donor-advised fund so we continue to receive annual charitable contributions or the balance of your charitable funds? Check with your plan advisor to understand your options.

A bequest made through your will or trust is the simplest and most common way to make a legacy gift to AIO. You may specify that AIO is to receive a specific amount or a percentage of your estate.

You can also specify the purpose of your contribution. For example, if one of AIO’s programs is important to you— like food or energy assistance, or our our weekend meals or home delivery programs— you can specify this. You can also specify your gift to be used where the most needed, which gives our Board maximum flexibility in the use of your bequest, given that AIO’s needs may change over time.

Suggested language for your will:

“I give and bequeath to AIO (Area Interfaith Outreach), a Maine nonprofit corporation, 1A Gordon Drive, Rockland, Maine, the sum of $ ___________ (or specific described property such as proceeds from a life insurance policy) to be used wherever the need is greatest as determined by the board of directors or for the specific purpose of (programs, staffing, capacity building, endowment, etc.).”

Life Insurance
& IRAs

Designating AIO as a beneficiary of your life insurance, 401k, 403b, or other retirement plan can greatly reduce your taxable estate, saving you thousands of dollars in estate taxes while providing a windfall to AIO. In addition to tax savings, gifting life insurance is simple. Notify your plan administrator that you wish for AIO to receive all or a portion of your fund.

Do you have a life insurance policy that you no longer need? You may be able to gift whole life insurance policies now to AIO to help fund critical food or energy assistance and enjoy a tax advantage.

IRA Rollover.  If you are 70 ½ years old or older, you may be able to transfer your IRA to AIO. You won’t pay early withdrawal penalties and you may qualify for an immediate tax deduction.

Other ways
to give:

A Charitable Remainder Trust allows you to place assets in a trust for the benefit of AIO, your heirs, and other beneficiaries. The trust provides annual income to you, your designees, or AIO. At the end of the trust, the principal is turned over to AIO to be used as you set forth. When you fund a trust gift, you receive an income stream for the life of the trust and qualify for an immediate income tax charitable deduction, avoiding any capital gains tax on the transfer, while reducing your taxable estate.

A Charitable Lead Trust provides immediate, tax-deductible income to AIO. When the trust ends, the assets are transferred back to you or to your heirs.

If you are considering a bequest to AIO, we encourage you to consult with your attorney or tax advisor. We are pleased to work with you to determine the best way for you to create your legacy at AIO.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to: Alan Kearl, AIO’s Executive Director at 207-596-1043 or alan@aiofoodpantry.org.

Please note: AIO does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transactions.