The Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association is proud to partner with the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, to administer a fund available for contributions.

The Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Fund offers a simple way to donate to the Byway Association. Gift types include:

• Outright Gifts: Cash, property and stocks can be used to make gifts to establish or add to a fund. When individuals donate property or appreciated or closely held stocks, they may be eligible for a tax deduction based on the fair market value and they may also avoid capital gains and estate taxes.

• Bequests: Naming the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association (via the Central Minnesota Community Foundation) as a beneficiary in a will is often the easiest way to make a significant gift. In addition, a gift will often reduce estate and transfer taxes.

• Life Insurance: If a donor wishes to name the Byway Association (via CMCF) as the sole or partial beneficiary of a life insurance policy, the charitable proceeds of the policy may avoid both income and estate taxes. Another option is to transfer ownership of a policy to the Byway Association (via CMCF). By choosing this option, donors may take an immediate income tax deduction approximately equal to the policy's surrender value.

• Retirement Plan Assets: Using IRAs and other retirement plan assets is a far-sighted and thoughtful way to make a charitable contribution. It provides a donor a number of significant financial and tax advantages. Unlike many assets, retirement plan assets are potentially subject to both income and estate taxes. Naming the Byway Association (via CMCF) as the beneficiary of a retirement plan (including IRAs, 401(k)s and profit-sharing plans) can eliminate estate and income taxes, if the gift is structured properly.

Gifts that Help You Now, The Byway Association Later
A donor makes an irrevocable transfer of assets to your family fund at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation in care of the Byway Association and in return receives a lifetime payment for a specified beneficiary (the donor, spouse, children or friends). Upon the death of the beneficiary, the assets are used for the charitable purposes of CMCF. The donor receives a current income tax charitable deduction for the remainder value of the charitable gift. These gifts, known as life income gifts, include the following:

• Charitable Remainder Trust: Cash or property is transferred to a trust, which pays the beneficiary either a variable income equal to a fixed percentage of the trust's fair market value as determined each year or a fixed annual amount. Upon the death of the beneficiary, CMCF receives the remaining assets assuring that they will be used for the purposes specified by the donor.

• Charitable Gift Annuities: Cash or other property is contributed to CMCF for the Byway Association in exchange for a commitment to pay the donor, or other beneficiaries, a specified annual amount for the remainder of the beneficiary's life.

• Deferred Gift Annuities: A deferred gift annuity is the same as a charitable gift annuity, but the payments of income are delayed until a pre-determined time.

For more information on any of these types of contributions, please contact the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation.