Planned Giving

How to Reach Harvard's Planned Giving Professionals

• American Repertory Theater
• Arnold Arboretum
• Harvard Art Museums
• Harvard Divinity School
• Harvard Extension School
• Harvard Graduate School of Design
• Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
• Harvard Kennedy School
• Harvard Museums of Science and Culture
• Harvard School of Dental Medicine
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Harvard University President’s Fund
• Memorial Church
• Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

Harvard Planned Gift Administration

After a rigorous review process, Harvard University and Harvard Management Company (HMC) have selected TIAA Kaspick—a longtime leader in planned gift management—as the new trust administrator for Harvard’s planned giving program. Partnering with Kaspick will better position Harvard to serve our planned giving donors now and into the future, providing the same level of personalized service as our program continues to grow due to the thoughtful generosity of our donors.  

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Benefits of Planned Gifts

There are several types of gifts that first pay income to you and your family and then help Harvard. These also can enable you to dispose of illiquid assets in exchange for income and tax benefits. The lead trust is a gift arrangement that can help you transfer wealth to the next generation in a tax-efficient manner.

News and Opportunities

Legacy IRA Act

It is now possible for donors age 70 1/2 and above to use a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from an IRA to fund a charitable gift annuity (CGA).

Congress has made some beneficial changes to retirement and charitable planning through the spending bill that legislators passed at the end of 2022.

Notably, the new law includes the following key stipulations:

• A donor may elect to use the provision only once (i.e., in one tax year only) during the donor's lifetime, although a donor may use the provision in such tax year to fund more than one charitable gift annuity;
• Each individual may use up to $50,000 (which counts toward the $100,000 annual limit per taxpayer applicable to QCDs for outright gifts made that same year);
• All gift annuity payments will be fully taxable as ordinary income;
• The annuity must benefit the donor and/or the donor's spouse;
• The annuity must be funded exclusively by QCDs;
• The contribution does not generate a charitable income tax deduction, but it may reduce the donor's taxable income;

As always, we encourage you to consult your tax advisor or counsel for advice as you contemplate your charitable plans.

To learn more about how the Legacy IRA legislation might benefit you, please contact your Harvard Planned Giving representative.

IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act

Under longstanding law, qualified donors may make outright gifts of up to $100,000 per year to Harvard from their IRAs—so-called QCDs. The amount donated to charity is excluded from the donor’s taxable income. In addition, the distributions may help satisfy a donor’s required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year. Moreover, because the QCD offers an exclusion from taxable income rather than a deduction, this strategy is not limited to taxpayers who itemize their deductions. As a result, it may be used by non-itemizing donors who do not ordinarily receive any tax benefit for their charitable gifts. (Please see the above discussion regarding the temporary deduction for non-itemizing donors.)

To benefit from this gift opportunity, the following qualifications (among others) must be met:

• The donor must be age 70 ½ or older at the time of transfer.
• The maximum amount a donor may transfer is $100,000.
• The gift must be outright. Gifts to donor-advised funds or to life income vehicles do not qualify.
• The gift must be transferred directly from the IRA account by the IRA administrator to Harvard. Donors with check-writing ability for their IRAs may use this feature to complete their gift.

Donors should be aware that sweeping retirement legislation enacted at the end of 2019—the SECURE Act—made two changes impacting QCDs:

• The SECURE Act increased the age at which IRA owners must begin taking RMDs from 70 ½ to 72. While IRA owners may still make tax-free QCDs beginning at age 70 ½, the QCDs will not also help satisfy their RMDs until they turn 72 and are required to take RMDs.
• In addition, donors must now reduce their QCDs by the amount of any deductible contributions they make to their IRAs after age 70 ½.

To assist donors interested in making a charitable gift from their IRA, we have provided the following sample letters:

• Sample IRA QCD Request from Plan Owner to IRA Administrator (PDF)
• Sample Letter from Donor Informing Harvard of IRA QCD Transfer (PDF)

The first letter contains specific transfer instructions from the donor to the IRA custody agent.

The second letter is from the donor to Harvard to inform Harvard as to how the gift should be used. This letter is particularly important for donors interested in splitting their gift between multiple Schools or Harvard affiliates. It also ensures Harvard's ability to provide appropriate class credit to alumni donors.

If you have any questions regarding the IRA QCD giving opportunity or how to make a planned gift to Harvard, please contact University Planned Giving at pgo@harvard.edu or 800-446-1277.

Increased Gift and Estate Tax Exemption

The federal gift and estate tax exemption for 2023 has increased to $12.92 million per individual and $25.84 million per married couple. The annual gift exclusion amount has increased to $17,000.

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