As noted by John Bantle, MD, in “Annual grant competition starts October 15,” UMRA, together with the University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF), has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program for 2021–22

We are grateful to the generous and long-time supporter of the PDGR program who has offered to match the first $10,000 in contributions to this fund with a $10,000 gift, and to UMRA Board member Kaimay Terry and her husband, Joseph Terry, MD, for offering an additional $10,000 for 1:1 matching.

We invite your support to help us reach our $20,000 goal! 

• Give online
• Make a tax-free gift from your IRA

Although required minimum distributions from retirement accounts are suspended for 2020, IRA owners age 70½ or older can still make a qualified charitable distribution or QCD from their IRA to charity and avoid the income tax that would otherwise be due on the distribution. If you are able to consider charitable giving in 2020, a QCD may still be one of the most tax-advantaged ways to make a gift. 

• Give from your donor-advised fund
  Your contributions made to a donor-advised fund have already been set aside for charitable giving, making them a great way to support organizations that are important to you during times of economic uncertainty. You can recommend grants from the fund to UMF by providing the following information to the sponsoring organization:

 Legal name: University of Minnesota Foundation
 UMF federal tax ID: 41-6042488
 Mailing address: P.O. Box 860266, Minneapolis, MN 55486
 Designation: Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program 

• Give stock
  Giving appreciated stock held more than a year can provide an immediate benefit to the U and is usually more tax efficient than giving cash. Learn more.

If you make an IRA gift, stock gift, or recommend a grant from your donor-advised fund, please inform Lynn Praska at UMF to ensure your gift is credited to UMRA’s crowdfunding effort. 

In addition to our current fundraising efforts, we invite you to consider other ways to give to the U and to provide future support to the PDGR program, while also maintaining financial flexibility during these uncertain times:

• Remember the U in your will or trust. You can give a specific amount or a percentage of what remains after you’ve provided for your loved ones. You maintain control of your assets during life and can change your plans at any time.
• Give retirement assets. You may also name the U as a beneficiary of your tax-deferred retirement account. This simple option allows these assets to pass tax-free, so the full value of your gift will support the areas of the University that are important to you. If transferred to your heirs, these assets are subject to income tax and possibly estate tax. Like a gift in your will, a gift of retirement assets can be changed at any time. 

• Make a gift and receive income. With the current market uncertainty, many donors find that a charitable gift annuity is an attractive fixed income option that also provides support for the University.

All gifts made to the University before June 30, 2021, will be included in Driven: The Campaign for the University of Minnesota.

To learn more, please contact Lynn Praska at [email protected] or 612-624-4158.

—Lynn Praska, senior planned giving officer, UMF