Planned Giving Options

Planned giving includes a variety of philanthropic strategies that help you provide for your favorite charities while also promoting your own personal financial and tax objectives.

Starting with the simplest type of gifts and moving to more complex giving for those who want to combine their planned giving with an overall financial plan, here are some of the most common ways you can create a legacy supporting our mission to unfold enlightenment for the individual and create peace for the world.

Outright gifts of cash, stocks, or other securities; real estate; etc. Note that some corporations will match gifts of cash.

Last Will and Testament. A will is a legal document in which you describe how you wish your estate to be distributed and your family to be provided for. Without a will or revocable trust, discussed below, the law determines how your estate is to be distributed. No charitable gifts can be made from your estate without a stated designation through a will or revocable trust.

Naming Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law (MGANL), the organization that operates the Mother Divine Program in the US, in your will or revocable trust allows you to make a charitable gift and at the same time allows you to maintain control over your assets during your lifetime. The terms of your will are flexible and can be changed at any time should you need to modify your charitable bequests.

Giving to the Mother Divine Program through your will is a special way to share your resources beyond your lifetime.

The required language is simple and the charitable gift can be either a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of your total estate, or a percentage of your estate after other gifts you provide. Please see section 9 below for sample language for such a bequest.

Financial Account Beneficiary Designations. You can name Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law as beneficiary on your financial accounts. To do so, contact your bank, broker, or retirement account administrator and ask for the forms required to name Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law (MGANL) as beneficiary.

These accounts may be referred to as “Payable on Death” or “Transfer on Death” or “Beneficiary Designation” accounts. The accounts are still owned by you. You can make withdrawals from the account and can cancel, change, give away, or otherwise deal with the account as if no other person were named in the account. Upon your passing, the assets in the account are transferred to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, unless you change the beneficiary designation, which you can do at any time.

Revocable Living Trust. A Revocable Living Trust is an arrangement you make for the management of your assets during your life and the distribution of your assets at death (in this case you may only need a short pourover will), creating a financial plan that can provide for your needs today while also designating future gifts.

A trust is a legal arrangement, and the designated trustee becomes responsible for holding and investing your assets, collecting income, paying normal expenses, and distributing net income. You can be the trustee of your revocable trust. By allowing for designation in your trust of a successor trustee, this arrangement relieves you of any concerns should you become ill or no longer want this responsibility.

The term “revocable” means that you can change the provisions in the trust. The term “living” refers to the fact that this trust becomes effective during your lifetime. Like a will, this type of trust also determines how assets will be distributed upon death, but a trust offers additional benefits. Notably, a trust is a private document and not a matter of public record like a will. Also, assets in a trust do not go through probate, potentially saving time and money. You can set up a trust document with the help of a qualified attorney.

Life Insurance. Most people purchase a life insurance policy to provide for their children or spouse with readily available liquid assets, protect their home mortgage, or secure retirement funds. As people age, they often find that they no longer need financial protection in these areas. If that describes you, your life insurance policy can be used to support the ongoing goals of Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law.

Depending upon your needs and circumstances, there are a number of ways you can use your policy for charitable means. The most straightforward is to name Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law as the beneficiary, or secondary beneficiary after, for example, your spouse. [Note: this will be the easiest way and the most beneficial one for MGANL.]

Tax-Deferred Retirement Assets. Tax-deferred retirement assets are designed to promote savings for retirement and include traditional IRAs and profit-sharing 401(k), 403(b), and Keogh and pension plans. Retirement funds are important for just that: to have a nest egg to rely on in retirement. Many times, however, at a person’s passing funds remain in these accounts. These accounts may then be subject to both income and estate tax, which can be eliminated if you leave them to a charity. Spouses often find that at the passing of the survivor of them, leaving the remaining funds to a charity is a good way to eliminate the income and estate taxes that these retirement assets may be subject to. You can do this by designating Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law as the contingent beneficiary at this time; or a surviving spouse can designate MGANL as the primary beneficiary.

By naming Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law as a beneficiary of a retirement plan, you retain complete control over the asset while living, but at death, the plan passes to support Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, free of both estate and income taxes.

Making a charitable gift from your retirement plan is easy and should not require an attorney. Simply request a change of beneficiary form from your retirement plan administrator. When the form is complete, return the form to your plan administrator and also notify Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law.

We can also assist you with the proper language for your beneficiary designation to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law.

Gift Annuities. A charitable gift annuity is a contractual agreement where you may donate cash or securities for the benefit of the Mother Divine Program to Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation (a sister organization of MGANL), who will then make fixed payments to you for life or a term of years.

Gift Annuities provide substantial tax advantages. You receive a tax deduction the year your gift is made, and a portion of your annuity payments are nontaxable. Payments can be deferred, allowing for a larger charitable deduction and greater annuity benefits. However, because annuities cannot be legally changed, great care should be taken to ensure that you have other resources to meet any future emergency needs.

Charitable Remainder Trust. The appeal of a Charitable Remainder Trust is that it reduces immediate income taxes while donating low basis assets to a designated charity like Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation (BSF) for the benefit of the Mother Divine Program.

The Charitable Remainder Trust is an irrevocable agreement where you and/or your loved ones receive income (usually a fixed percentage of the Trust’s value annually, as you designate when you set up the Trust) and Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation or another designated charity receives the principal for the benefit of the Mother Divine Program after a specified period of time, which can be tied to your passing or that of you and your spouse.

When you create a Charitable Remainder Trust, you claim a current-year income tax deduction (to be calculated by your financial advisor or accountant or lawyer, or by us), while designating a future gift to Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation for the benefit of the Mother Divine Program. Where applicable, you avoid the immediate capital gains tax on the assets given. In addition, donated assets are removed from your estate, thereby reducing any potential estate taxes on the value of the property donated.

• Potential immediate savings of income, capital gains, gift, and estate taxes.
• The ability to convert low or non-income producing assets into a gift with an attractive income stream.
• Peace of mind in knowing that your legacy will help continue peace-creating programs worldwide.

In the United States, both Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law and Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations established in the USA in 1967 and 2008 respectively. Donations to both MGANL and BSF are tax-deductible for US taxpayers to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Your tax benefits depend on several factors: the type of gift, the time at which it is made, whether it is outright or deferred, and whether it provides for any payments to you.

Here are some general guidelines:

Outright gifts to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law generate a full income-tax charitable deduction up to the maximum extent allowable by law.

Outright gifts of long-term appreciated securities are deductible at fair market value, with no recognition of capital gains — a great tax benefit. Points to remember regarding charitable gifts:

• Gifts of personal property, such as art, books, and collectibles, are fully deductible so long as they are relevant to our mission.
• Gifts under a Will or at death under a Living Trust do not generate a lifetime income tax deduction. They are exempt from estate tax.
• The charitable deduction for a gift that pays a return to you, such as a Charitable Gift Annuity or a Charitable Remainder Trust, is the fair market value of the gift asset minus the present value of the interest you retain.

For donors living in the European Union: Donations made to Brahmananda Saraswati Trust (BST)(Stichting) for the benefit of the Mother Divine Program may be tax-deductible—please check with your tax advisor. [Brahmananda Saraswati Trust (Stichting) was established in the Netherlands in 2008 as a non-profit organization.]

Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, and Securities. If you would like to donate securities to MGANL, it’s important to know if they have increased or decreased in value since you purchased them. If your securities have increased in value over time, donating them to a nonprofit will enable you to avoid capital gains taxes while potentially providing a charitable deduction for the fair-market value of your gift.

In circumstances where your securities have depreciated, you will be better served by selling them first and donating the proceeds. This allows you to receive a deduction for your capital loss plus you gain a charitable deduction for the amount donated.

You may also elect to make a gift of securities by naming Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law as a beneficiary, either through your will or through a beneficiary designation account at some security brokerage firms. While you will not receive a charitable contribution deduction on your income tax returns, you will reduce the amount of your estate that may be subject to tax. In addition, assets in a beneficiary designation account will typically avoid probate.

Business Assets. Gifts of inventory items, patents, oil and gas properties, mineral rights, privately held corporate securities, commodities, real estate, and other assets held for business purposes can be given to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law.

Real Estate. Any type of real estate you own can be donated to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law: house, farm, rental property, business property, land, vacation home, vacant land – as long as it is readily marketable and does not contain environmental contaminants. Donating appreciated real estate may give you a significant tax advantage by potentially allowing you to avoid capital gains tax. Your charitable contribution deduction is for the appraised value of your property.

If the value of your real estate has decreased, it is more advantageous if you first sell the property and then donate the proceeds to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law. This way, you may be able to deduct the long-term capital loss.

In this case you may not deduct the premium payments. The Internal Revenue Service would not consider this a “completed gift.” The IRS would say that, as the owner of the policy, you could change the beneficiary designation to a friend or family member. MGANL must be made the irrevocable owner of the policy in order for gifts offsetting premium payments to be deductible.

Qualified retirement plans such as traditional IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), and Keoghs allow individuals to defer paying taxes on a portion of their income until the assets are withdrawn during retirement years. However, after a person’s death, these accounts are often exposed to income and estate taxes at a combined rate that could rise to 75% or even higher on large taxable estates. The tax will be paid at some point — by your estate and your heirs—unless contributed to charity. In other words, by giving retirement assets to charity you receive double benefits. Your estate and heirs will not be taxed on the portion that goes to charity and you will support Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law.

Your planned gift is a significant addition to our long-term financial strength and our ability to meet the challenges and opportunities the future will bring. However, today’s efforts are supported through annual gifts and we greatly appreciate and encourage any annual support you may want to consider in addition to your Planned Giving program.

We can assist you and your legal or tax professionals in every way possible, but cannot specifically advise you. It’s important to get specific counsel and direction for your particular situation from your independent advisors. To assist with this process, the following sample language may be useful to your attorney when drafting a simple bequest in your Last Will and Testament or Revocable Trust.

Specific Bequest Language: ”I give to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, a California nonprofit corporation, presently located in Livingston Manor, New York, and Maharishi Vedic City (Fairfield), Iowa, or its successor organization that operates the Mother Divine Program in the USA, provided such organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the sum of $_______ to be used for the general operating support of the Mother Divine Program in the USA [or for the support of a specific location, purpose, or program].

Percentage of Estate Language: ”I give _____% of my estate to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, a California nonprofit corporation, presently located in Livingston Manor, New York, and Maharishi Vedic City (Fairfield), Iowa, or to its successor organization that operates the Mother Divine Program in the USA, provided such organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, for the general operating support of the Mother Divine Program in the USA [or for the support of a specific location, purpose, or program].

Residual Bequest Language: A residual bequest comes to us after your estate expenses and specific bequests are paid. “I give and devise to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, a California nonprofit corporation, presently located in Livingston Manor, New York, and Maharishi Vedic City (Fairfield), Iowa, or to its successor organization that operates the Mother Divine Program in the USA, provided such organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, all (or a stated percentage) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to be used for the general operating support of the Mother Divine Program in the USA [or for the support of a specific location, purpose, or program].

Contingent Bequest Language: Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law can be named as a contingent beneficiary in your will if one or more of your specific bequests cannot be fulfilled. “If (insert name) is not living at the time of my demise, I give and devise to Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law, a California nonprofit corporation, presently located in Livingston Manor, New York, and Maharishi Vedic City (Fairfield), Iowa,  or to its successor organization that operates the Mother Divine Program in the USA, provided such organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the sum of $_________ [or all or a percentage of the residue of my estate] to be used for the general operating support of the Mother Divine Program in the USA[or for the support of a specific location, purpose, or program].

We’re standing by to help you with your Planned Giving in any way we can. Please contact our MGANL Planned Giving Coordinator at

Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law
PO Box 1140
Livingston Manor, New York 12758
USA

Please include your telephone number if you would like our MGANL Planned Giving Coordinator to call you.

We will completely respect your request to maintain the confidentiality of your donation. Just let us know that you wish for your gift to remain confidential. Please be aware, however, that wills become public record after someone passes.

You may donate online by credit card, or download and print out a Donation Form on our main Donations page, to mail in your gift. Online donations can be made at our website.

Every time you donate a gift of any amount, you will receive a receipt from the MGANL office. Online donations will immediately receive a receipt via email, and mailed donations will receive a donation receipt by mail as soon as the gift has been processed.

Please email us at and we will be happy to send you this number.