METHODS OF GIVING
By Cash or Check
Cash or checks can be placed in the offering plate during in-person worship services. If you would like to mail checks, please make your checks out to The Unitarian Church in Charleston and write “pledge” in the “For” line of your check. Address your envelope to the Church at 4 Archdale Street, Charleston, SC 29401.
Please do not mail cash. If you are giving cash for your pledge, make sure to place it in an envelope, stating your name and “pledge” so we can credit you with the donation. Cash given without a name associated with it is automatically credited to our general operating fund.
Online Banking Payment
If your bank offers on-line banking, you can arrange for one or recurring direct payment(s) from your account directly to the Church.
Stock Transfers
If you own appreciated stocks, you should consider whether transferring such stocks to the Church makes sense for you. This could be beneficial, regardless of whether you elect to take the standard deduction and forego itemized deductions, because you can get credit for the entire fair market value of the donation without being taxed on the capital gain. If you forego the standard deduction, you can deduct the entire fair market value of the donated stock at the time the stock is transferred to the Church’s account.
If you are interested in doing this, please check with your financial or tax advisor and then contact our Bookkeeper Christine Magnarella Ray at bookkeeper@charlestonuu.org for instructions and to alert her that your donation is on the way and whether you want your donation credited to your pledge or to another purpose.
Direct Transfers from Your IRA
If you are 72 years of age (or 70-1/2 if you attained that age by December 31, 2019) and have an IRA subject to Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), you can instruct your IRA manager to make distributions (Qualified Charitable Distributions, or QCDs) up to $100,000 annually directly to qualified charities, including the Church, tax-free. This may be especially advantageous because the QCDs would not be includable in taxable income, though the amounts transferred would not be deductible.
You may be able to achieve this result even if you take the standard deduction, but you must arrange for the transfer of the QCD from the IRA directly to the Church prior to year-end. A two-step transfer from the IRA to you and then from you to the Church will not achieve this result. (Note that RMDs for 2020 have been waived by the IRS, although the tax effects of the QCDs described above would still apply.)
If you are interested in doing this, please check with your financial or tax advisor and then contact our Bookkeeper Christine Magnarella Ray at bookkeeper@charlestonuu.org for instructions and to alert her that your donation is on the way and whether you want your donation credited to your pledge or to another purpose.
Credit Card Payments
You can pay your pledge or make other donations or payments with credit cards on the Church’s website charlestonuu.org Go to the “Giving” tab on the home page and choose “Breeze,” as we will soon be migrating away from the Simple Give platform. As we incur a credit card processing cost for such payments, please consider covering that cost when you enter your payment amount.
