Make a Donation

The USA men's ice hockey victory over the heavily-favored Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games will forever be known as the "Miracle on Ice."  While that victory is certainly the most famous moment in American hockey, it is far from the only miracle to take place on the ice.

Remember the first time you played hockey?  Or the feeling you get every time you put on your skates?  How about the look on the face of a youngster who has fallen in love with the sport?  The USA Hockey Foundation wants more people to experience these joys by expanding opportunities to participate in our great game.

Miracles Happen in Hockey Every Day

A Miracle occurs...

• Each time a child is introduced to the game and experiences its thrills.
• When a disabled athlete has the opportunity to play a sport they never thought possible.
• When a young girl scores her first goal.
• When a disadvantaged youth is given a stick and skates for the first time.
• When a father passes his love of the game to his son or daughter.
• When kids come together to play on a local pond.
• When an elite athlete has the honor to wear the USA sweater and take on the world's best in international competition.

We all love the game of hockey for its intensity, competition and excitement.  We also love the feelings of belonging, pride and sense of community that it provides.  You can share this passion by providing new opportunities that will inspire the next generation of players to develop their skills, work together and live their dreams.

Ways to Give

The following list provides an overview of the different charitable giving arrangements to The USA Hockey Foundation, including:

Current Gifts: cash, securities, real estate, tangible personal property, charitable lead trusts

Deferred Gifts: life insurance policies, retirement plan benefits, bequests and trust distributions

Life Income Gifts: charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts

Current Gifts

Cash

Your gifts of cash, particularly unrestricted gifts, are especially helpful since those funds can be applied where the need is greatest.  Because tax laws allow a charitable gift deduction, the actual cost of your contribution will usually be less than the dollar amount of the gift.

For example, if you are in the top income tax bracket, the actual cost of your gift is reduced by almost a third.  Cash gifts are usually deductible up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in a single year.  Any excess may be carried forward five additional years.

Securities

An outright gift of publicly traded stocks, bonds, or other securities that has increased in value provided immediate support for The USA Hockey Foundation, while allowing you to avoid the tax on any capital gain in the donated asset and to receive an income tax deduction for the asset's value.

The best method of transferring these assets is to have your broker contact The USA Hockey Foundation.  For tax deduction purposes the value of your securities gift will be the average of the high and low selling prices of your stock or bond on the date of your gift.  You may deduct the gift value of these securities in an amount up to 30% of your adjusted gross income in a single year.

When contemplating a gift of an asset that has depreciated in value, you are usually better of to sell the stock or contribute the cash proceeds to The USA Hockey Foundation.  You can deduct your capital loss to offset any capital gain you realize in the year of your gift.

Real Estate

You may find in reviewing your assets that real estate, whether your primary residence, vacation home or acreage, has appreciated the most of all assets held and forms a significant portion of total assets.  A real estate gift creates an immediate tax deduction for you based on the current fair market value.  Plus, there is no capital gains tax when you make the gift.

The USA Hockey Foundation is pleased to consider gifts of real estate.  The amount deductible as a charitable contribution depends upon whether the property is exclusively long-term capital gain property, is exclusively ordinary income property or is a combination property.

If the value of the property exceeds $5,000, an appraisal by a qualified appraiser must be obtained by you.  A summary of the appraisal, signed by both the appraiser and The USA Hockey Foundation, must be attached to your return.

Other ways to give real estate include gifts of undivided interests, a gift of remainder interest in a personal residence or farm (in which you retain lifetime use of the property), and contributions to charitable remainder trusts.

All gifts of real estate are first evaluated by The USA Hockey Foundation for marketability and potential environmental concerns.

Tangible Personal Property

Rare books, art, antiques, gems and historic collections, as well as equipment or other items which can be put to use immediately -- such as computer equipment -- are considered tangible personal property.  These donated items must have been held for over one year and must be related to The USA Hockey Foundation's purpose.

Gifts of related-use items allow you an income tax charitable deduction of the appraised value of the gift on the date of the gift (up to 30% of your adjusted gross income with a five-year carry over provision).

The USA Hockey Foundation will carefully evaluate each potential gift item of tangible personal property to determine its related use.  Please consider a gift of cash or securities to provide for the maintenance of special collections.

Charitable Lead Trusts

The Charitable Lead Trust is created by you when you transfer ownership of an asset to a trust.  The trust pays income directly to The USA Hockey Foundation for the trust term (usually between 15 and 20 years) and then distributes the principal to you or other non-charitable beneficiaries at the end of the period of years.  The lead trust typically is used with assets with a potential for continued high appreciation.  The trust permits the assets to be transferred to other family members at a low transfer cost.

Some lead trusts qualify for income tax charitable deductions, others do not.  Some benefit you, the donor, others may benefit family members.  These variations allow you to structure an arrangement that best suits your estate planning objectives.

Deferred Gifts

Life Insurance

As you grow older, the need to retain life insurance may decline.  Your children, spouse, new home or business you wanted to protect when you purchased the policy may no longer require the same level of security.  By designating The USA Hockey Foundation as the primary beneficiary of a life insurance policy, you can make a much larger contribution than your current resources will allow.  There is no income tax deduction for this option, but your estate may receive an estate tax deduction equal to the amount of the proceeds.

If you transfer ownership of a paid-up policy to The USA Hockey Foundation, you are entitled to receive an income tax charitable deduction equal to your cost basis in the policy, its replacement value, or its cash surrender value, depending on the circumstances.

The amount deductible in any one year is limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income.  Any excess over that amount can be carried forward for five years for use on subsequent years' tax returns.

The USA Hockey Foundation will generally accept paid-up policies and will give consideration to policies which require future premium payments.

Retirement Plan Benefits

Retirement plan assets or benefits, whether a 401(K) or 403(B) employer-sponsored plan, face an array of rules and taxes.  Without adequate planning, taxes may consume 70% to 80% of retirement plan assets that are included in your estate.

Proper planning, which may involve a charitable giving arrangement, is critical to ensure that you maximize the amount of retirement plan assets available to you during your lifetime and to family members afterwards.

By designating The USA Hockey Foundation as the beneficiary of your retirement plan, such as IRAs, pension or profit-sharing plans, you can arrange what may be the most significant gift of your life to further goals in which you believe.

Bequests

A charitable bequest is a provision in your will directing the payment of assets from your probate estate to The USA Hockey Foundation.  The bequest may direct the payment of a specific dollar amount, a specific tangible asset, a percentage of the probate estate, or the remainder of the probate estate (after payment of debts, expenses, taxes and other bequests).  A description of types of bequest intentions follows:

• Outright Bequest in Will -- Specific dollar amount offers you certainty as to the amount actually to benefit The USA Hockey Foundation.  It may be a good option provided funds will be available to satisfy charitable gifts and other legacies.  A gift of specific property, such as personal property or real estate, may also be useful to The USA Hockey Foundation.  It is advisable for you to review the choice of asset to ensure it can be put to its best use by The USA Hockey Foundation.
• Share or Entirety of Residue of Estate -- Assets to family and others are distributed first and a specific amount, a percentage or all of the remaining estate is distributed to The USA Hockey Foundation.
• Conditional Bequest in Will -- The USA Hockey Foundation will receive a bequest provided another person, typically your spouse, predeceases you.
• Trust Distributions -- You can achieve a similar result through a provision in a living trust.  The living trust is a popular tool in estate planning.  In contrast to a testamentary trust (a trust created under the will), a living trust is its own separate legal document, which contains various provisions about how the trust operates, to whom income is paid, how long the trust lasts, and to whom the remainder is distributed when the trust ends.  A provision can direct the distribution from the assets held in the trust to The USA Hockey Foundation.

Life Income Gifts

Gift Annuities

A gift annuity is designed to provide income to one or two individuals for life, while supporting the charitable activities of The USA Hockey Foundation.

A charitable gift annuity is a contract between you and The USA Hockey Foundation, in which The USA Hockey Foundation agrees to pay income to one or two individuals for life in a fixed amount which is established at the time the contract is signed.  When the agreement is signed, you will receive an income tax charitable deduction for a portion of the amount transferred to The USA Hockey Foundation.  By exchanging long-term capital gain property for your annuity, you can also reduce capital gains taxes.  If you choose to defer your annuity payment to a later date, it can become an attractive retirement planning device.  A charitable gift annuity is an especially appealing arrangement if you are 65 or older.  The portion of your payment that is tax deductible is greatest for older donors.

A deferred gift annuity is similar to the charitable gift annuity except that income payments do not begin until a future date, chosen by you.  The larger the delay between the creation of the deferred gift annuity and the commencement of payments, the larger will be the income tax charitable deduction resulting from the gift.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

The Charitable Remainder Trust is an irrevocable trust fund which pays income to one or more beneficiaries and, when it ends, distributes the remainder to The USA Hockey Foundation.  There are two kinds of Charitable Remainder Trusts, which differ primarily in the manner in which each determines the amount of income to distribute.

An annuity trust pays a fixed dollar amount, based upon the percentage of the original value of the assets placed in the trust.  You cannot add assets to it.

A unitrust pays a fixed percentage of its assets, which are revalued at least once a year.  There are several variations of the unitrust.  It can pay you and/or named individuals income for the following:  1) your life and that of named individuals, 2) a term of years not to exceed 20, or 3) a combination of the two.  A unitrust or annuity trust that runs for a term of years is known as a term trust.  A term trust may be established to provide income to a beneficiary for a limited number of years.  At the end of the term, the balance of the trust will pass to The USA Hockey Foundation.

You select the payout when creating the trust.  Following the trust's terms, either upon the death of the last surviving individual, or the expiration of the trust term, the principal of the trust is distributed to The USA Hockey Foundation.