As a major Reunion grew close, I knew that this Princetonian wanted to make a generous annual gift. I posed an interesting scenario: would he be interested in converting his pooled income fund balance to a gift annuity and an outright gift?

This was made possible by the extraordinary appreciation in his fund, and the fact that his annuity rate would be much higher than his pooled fund payment rate. I created some gift illustrations and went to meet with him and his wife at their Florida home. I showed them that their fund balance gave them some planning options. They could receive a lump-sum payment in exchange for their remaining pooled income fund payments, or they could roll over their lump sum to a charitable gift annuity and an outright gift for Annual Giving.

I explained that they would receive new income tax deductions for their annuity and their outright gift, and that their quarterly payments would continue much as before the conversion.

The alumnus discussed the proposals with his own tax and legal advisors and decided to go ahead. Their new income-tax deductions offset another taxable event, and the University had the benefit of the accelerated receipt of cash from his pooled fund.

A graduate alumnus was helping his father with estate planning. He explored our website and was intrigued by the idea of a lead trust as a tax-efficient way to transfer assets across generations—and make a great gift to Princeton. We started talking after he had used the gift calculator on our site and called with some questions.

Through our discussions I learned more about him and his family situation. His father wanted to make a gift to provide benefits to grandchildren. He also wanted to receive an income-tax deduction. Lead trusts are an excellent fit for some families. These trusts make payments to Princeton for a set term (typically 10-20 years); the assets are transferred to the donor’s children or grandchildren with a sharply reduced gift and estate tax. In this case, the father wanted an income-tax deduction, so the lead trust was not an optimal solution.

Once we considered the family’s objectives, we decided to explore other types of gifts. Eventually, the family decided to create a remainder trust, which provides payments to all the children and their spouses now, and a gift to Princeton later. We were also able to work out how to optimize gift tax exclusions through the trust.

The father receives a significant income-tax deduction; family members receive payments for many years; and Princeton receives the remaining amount when the trust terminates.

An alumnus first contacted the office in 1993 to talk about a possible gift of real estate. It was a question of which property—some undeveloped land, his home, or a vacation home—would be best suited to making a gift, and when.

Over the years, staff members stayed in touch with him. Several visits in New Jersey and Florida and a few more discussions later, he was ready to make his gift using his vacation home, which the family was no longer using. Through the discussions with Princeton’s gift planning staff and his professional advisors, he was well-versed in the benefits of making a gift of real estate through a trust: The trust would shelter the sale from a considerable capital gains tax; he would receive a generous income-tax deduction; and he and his wife could, instead of paying taxes and maintenance costs on the property, look forward to receiving payments for life from the trust.

This alumnus had time to think and discuss the finer details of the gift. In fact, by the time I met him he had already decided that he would serve as the initial trustee and manage the real estate listing and sales process. Bucking current real estate trends, the home sold for more than its appraised value—at which point he was happy to hand over the responsibilities of trustee to the University. The sale proceeds are invested by asset managers selected and evaluated by the Princeton  University Investment Company (PRINCO), though not as part of the overall Princeton endowment.

In the end—fourteen years after their initial inquiry—this alumnus has made a gift that he and his wife are very happy with.