Planned Giving

The legacy you leave tomorrow starts with the plans you make today.

Pass On Your Legacy of Caring About the Hungry

Transform the lives of vulnerable families worldwide through a planned gift to ECHO.

A planned gift doesn’t have to be complex or only for the wealthy. There are ways to wisely steward your hard-earned assets to reduce tax burdens^[1] and maximize what you can leave to your family upon your death — while also providing a meaningful gift to ECHO that expresses your personal commitment to empowering the hungry.

Be the Light

Leave a Legacy of Lasting Hope

Explore how you can create a planned gift that meets your financial goals and expresses your personal values.

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness…” Isaiah 58:10

Can I Afford to Help

Other Ways To Give

Our compassion isn’t lacking, but neither are anticipated expenses. A realistic look at our finances doesn’t mean we have to close our eyes to the needs God puts on our hearts. Protect your current cash flow while still planning to make a lasting and impactful difference.

Beneficiary Designations

You don’t need a large estate or high net worth to donate one of your assets such as a life insurance policy, retirement plan or savings account. This is often a way to make a much larger gift than you could afford during your lifetime and is easy as filling out a simple form.

Making ECHO a beneficiary is easy:

Contact the institution holding your asset to ask them for a change-of-beneficiary form. Many times this form is available online.

Determine the amount you would like ECHO to receive. You can assign multiple beneficiaries and percentages, if you prefer. For example, you can decide that 75% of your benefit goes to family, and 25% to ECHO.

Follow your institution’s directions for returning or submitting the form.

Notify ECHO and any other beneficiaries of your plans so the proceeds can be claimed at the appropriate time.

If your financial goals or charitable wishes change, the beneficiary designation can be changed at any time.

Wills/Bequests

Without spending your resources right now, you can still make a meaningful and lasting statement about what matters most to you. With flexibility in the ways to give through your will, you can steward your legacy to bless both your loved ones and impoverished families worldwide.

Flexible Options:

Your will can provide for your heirs while also specifying that a designated amount or a particular percentage goes to ECHO. Another option is to leave what remains of your estate to ECHO after all the gifts you wish to leave for your loved ones have been made.

Sample Language for your will:

To name ECHO as a partial or full beneficiary in your will or bequest, here’s the language to use: “I do hereby give, devise and bequeath to ECHO, Inc., a not-for-profit organization located at 17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917, Tax ID# 23-7275283, XX% or $XX, of my estate to support for general use and purpose.”

INFORMATION FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS:

Legal Name: ECHO, Inc. Address: 17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917 Tax ID #: 23-7275283

Gifts of Stock

A Tax Smart Way to Give!

Help vulnerable families with a tax savvy gift of stock. If you’ve held appreciated securities more than a year, you can eliminate capital gains tax^[1] and receive a charitable deduction^[1] based on the stock’s fair market value at the time of transfer. To rid your portfolio of underperforming securities while also reducing taxable income, you’re better off selling depreciated stock first and donating the proceeds.

New and gently used items make a big difference

70 ½ or Older?

The Benefits of the IRA Rollover

Consider supporting ECHO’s mission by making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA account. When you transfer money from your IRA directly to a qualified charity, you can satisfy your minimum required distribution without it counting as taxable income^[1]. With this popular type of gift, you can give any amount up to $100,000 per year from your IRA directly to ECHO without having to pay income taxes on the money^[1].

Cryptocurrency

Giving in a Digital Age

Why Donate Crypto Directly? Taxes! Like stocks, the IRS treats cryptocurrencies as property and you can experience the same tax advantages^[1] from donating crypto as you can from other securities.

Employee Matching Programs

Multiply Your Gift

More than 16,000 companies nationwide will match their employees’ gifts to ECHO. If your company provides an employee matching gifts program your gift could be doubled, tripled, or more! Please check with your company to find out if your employer will match your already generous gift to ECHO.

If your employer requires an Employer Identification Number (EIN) (i.e. Federal Tax Identification Number), please use 23-7275283.

We take our mission seriously, as well as the generous contributions that help us accomplish it.

Our financial records are available anytime upon request. We regularly report audited financial statements, annual reports, and tax information. To make sure we’re doing right by our people and our mission, we are evaluated by independent parties. ECHO is rated among the Top 3% of all evaluated charities in the US by Charity Navigator and has been awarded the highest “4-Star” rating continuously for more than a decade.

ECHO is a nonprofit tax organization. Contributions are tax-deductible^[1] to the extent allowed by law, and ECHO is exempt from federal income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

^[1]Information contained herein was accurate at the time of posting. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult an attorney or tax advisor. Figures cited in any examples are for illustrative purposes only.

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