Bowdoin alumnus Charlie Micoleau '63 isn't planning on retiring for another year or two, but that hasn't stopped him from planning ahead
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Gifts of Cash: Getting Started
The easiest, most common way for you to support Bowdoin College is with cash gifts—typically gifts by check.
Main Benefits
When you make a cash gift by currency, credit card or check to Bowdoin College today, we both benefit. Your generosity enables us to meet our most urgent needs and carry out our mission on a daily basis. Your benefits include:
- The ability to choose how your gift is used.
- The opportunity to see the results of your generosity.
- An immediate charitable deduction on your federal income taxes, when you itemize.
If you have few itemized deductions, consider alternating between years in which you take the standard deduction and make few charitable gifts and years in which you give double your usual annual philanthropic support and shift to itemizing.
Make an online gift to Bowdoin College.
How to Document Your Gift
For gifts by check of less than $250, a copy of the check is sufficient documentation. For a check of $250 or more, you should obtain a receipt from the charity.
For other contributions, be sure to get a written acknowledgement of your gift from Bowdoin College. It must include:
- The amount of cash contributed.
- Whether you received any goods or services in exchange for the gift.
- A description and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services you received in return.
How to Figure Your Maximum Charitable Deductions
Generally, the maximum deduction for cash gifts is 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. If filing jointly, use your aggregate adjusted gross income. Any excess deduction may be carried over for up to five additional years.
Example: Figuring Your Benefits
Donor profile: Richard plans to make a $1,000 cash gift to a qualified charitable organization. Richard's annual adjusted gross income is $45,000.
Gift amount |
$1,000 |
| Taxes saved [Richard's combined state and federal marginal income tax rate (28%) x his gift amount ($1,000)] | $280 |
| Net cost of gift (gift amount - taxes saved) | $720 |
To learn more about supporting Bowdoin College today, contact the Office of Gift Planning at 207-725-3172 or giftplanning@bowdoin.edu.
Copyright © The Stelter Company, All rights reserved.
The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice, please consult an attorney. Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to estate and income taxes apply to federal taxes only. State income/estate taxes or state law may impact your results.
Supporter Spotlight
Fifty years after graduating from Bowdoin, Jack Abbott ’63 describes the experience as life-changing and he and his wife, Kip, have found several generous ways to say thank you to his beloved alma mater.
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In 2009, Bob and Judy Toll of Oakland, California, gave nearly two hundred pieces of Canadian Inuit Art to Bowdoin’s Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center.
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"Looking back on Bowdoin at his 50th Reunion, Dick Burns '58 reflected, "the good fortune I had to be able to go to Bowdoin has been a significant and positive force in my life.
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For Cam Sarrouf '55, giving back to Bowdoin is the best way to say "thank you" to the professors and mentors he can no longer thank in person.
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John's commitment to keeping a high-quality liberal arts education relevant and affordable motivated him to provide for Bowdoin in his estate plans.
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Over the years, Don has supported that principle not only with regular contributions to the Alumni Fund, but also with a contribution to one of the College's Pooled Life Income Funds.
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“Comparing the guaranteed fixed Charitable Gift Annuity rate with what the bank offered when I was about to roll over my certificates of deposit was a no-brainer," says Lex.
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Bill first made this commitment tangible by establishing a scholarship fund in his name in 1973. Since his Bowdoin education was made possible by financial aid, Bill understood and advocated for the importance of scholarships.
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John served from 1972 to 1995 as a member of the College's governing boards. During this time, he established the John H. and Dorothy F. Magee Fund, which is designed to support course and curriculum improvement, faculty renewal and development, and academic program innovation.
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Funding a scholarship with a charitable trust was a good choice for the Forgits. It generated a significant charitable deduction in 2005, which proved useful in conjunction with the sale of a business, and provides lifetime income to Ray and Alice.
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Learning is something I've done—and loved—all my life, and I remain actively engaged in education to this day.
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As I was turning 65, I did some serious planning for the next stage in my life. I had no plans to retire anytime soon—I still don't—but I had three goals for the immediate future.
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Read his story.
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