You may make a cash gift by writing a check payable to Children’s Institute or by using your credit card.

To send a gift by credit card, follow our online donation process.

To send a gift by check, fill out the donation form and mail checks to:
Children’s Institute, Inc.
274 N. Goodman Street, Suite D103
Rochester, NY  14607

(The postmark date on the envelope in which you mail your check is the gift date used for tax purposes.)

Many companies match their employee's gift to charitable organizations, such as Children’s Institute. If your company participates in a matching gift program, it is possible to double and even sometimes triple the value of your gift.

Check with your Office of Human Resources to find out if your company participates. The Development Office at Children’s Institute is also able to determine if your company matches gifts.

To initiate a matching gift, you will need to complete your employer's matching gift form and send it to Children’s Institute along with your gift.

Memorial Gifts are a meaningful way to honor and perpetuate the memory of deceased friends and/or family. Gifts in honor of living individuals are also accepted by Children’s Institute. In some cases, a special named fund may be established to reflect the interests of a loved one. The names of those honored through memorial or tribute gifts will be listed along with donor names in our annual report.

The stock transfer letter makes it easy to donate stock by electronic transfer. Simply print the letter, fill out the required information, and mail it to your broker, who will institute the wire transfer to Children’s Institute’s account. As indicated on the bottom of the stock transfer letter, please be sure to mail or fax a copy of the letter to Children’s Institute in order to be sure your gift is properly credited.

A planned gift is one way to make a sizeable donation to Children’s Institute without a current financial impact on you. Such a gift may allow individuals to make a larger gift than might otherwise be possible while creating a lasting legacy that will benefit children and families in the future. We encourage you to think about how you might provide support for children through such a gift and we welcome the opportunity to work with you.

If you have made a provision for Children’s Institute through a planned gift, please let us know so that we can thank you and honor your commitment to helping children. Planned gift donors will receive special recognition.

Bequest

One of the most popular ways to make a charitable gift through your will is with a bequest of a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your estate. We invite you to consider naming Children’s Institute as a recipient in your will after your loved ones are provided for.

Life Insurance

Life insurance policies that were purchased with a specific purpose in mind often become obsolete because of changes in a family’s needs and may provide an opportunity to support the future work of Children’s Institute. You may name Children’s Institute as a beneficiary of all or a portion of proceeds that are designated for beneficiaries who are not living to receive it, or you may purchase a new life insurance policy and name Children’s Institute as beneficiary or co-beneficiary.

Retirement Plan Assets

Donating retirement assets is an excellent way to preserve them after your lifetime, support cherished causes and create a lasting legacy. The simplest way to leave the balance of a retirement account to us after your lifetime is to list us as the primary beneficiary on the beneficiary form provided by your plan administrator. (Of course, if you are married, your surviving spouse is entitled by law to receive the entire amount in most types of retirement plans and must execute a written waiver agreeing to another beneficiary designation.) If you prefer to name a spouse or other individual as primary beneficiary of the retirement account, you might consider naming Children’s Institute as a secondary beneficiary.

Retirement fund assets that are donated to charitable organizations through a beneficiary designation often pass to the organization free of income or estate taxes, thereby maximizing the impact of this type of charitable gift.

Never make a beneficiary change before discussing your desires with your professional advisor.

When you turn 70½, you're required to withdraw a certain amount of money from your retirement accounts each year. That amount is called a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD).

RMD rules apply to the following tax-deferred retirement accounts: Most 401(k) and 403(b) plans, Traditional IRAs, Rollover IRAs, Simple and SEP IRAs, and inherited IRAs.

The IRS taxes RMDs as ordinary income which means that withdrawals will count towards your total taxable income for the year. After your first RMD, your deadline will always be December 31 each year. Penalty may be severe—50% of the amount not taken on time if you miss the deadline. To reduce the effect of RMDs on your taxes, you may want to consider making a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). A QCD excludes the amount you donate from taxable income and counts towards your RMD for the year. A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity of your choice.

Please consult with your tax professional for further guidance. If you would like to make a donation, please contact your IRA administrator and request to transfer funds to Children’s Institute or contact Diane Trentini at (585) 295-1000, ext. 230 or for more information.