The reasons for making a gift to Solheim are personal and varied. Perhaps you are grateful for your Solheim experience and want to give something back. Maybe you would like to leave a legacy to benefit future residents for generations to come. Perhaps you feel passionate about supporting our elders. Or you may wish to take advantage of the tax benefits of making a gift.

Whatever your motivation, you’ll find as many ways to make a difference as there are priorities, special needs, and funds at Solheim Lutheran Home.

The Luminary Society recognizes individuals who have provided for Solheim Lutheran Home through a bequest or a planned gift. For our friends who so graciously donate $1,000 to $25,000 and more, we honor you with a bronze, silver or gold Legacy Leaf on the Tree of Life prominently displayed in Solheim’s front lobby.

Unrestricted Gifts are among the most valuable to Solheim, because they allow Solheim to allocate funds wherever the need is greatest, and to take advantage of unique opportunities as they arise. Your unrestricted contribution may be used to support costs associated with charitable care, innovations in healthcare, equipment, facilities and much more.

Directed Gifts allow you to designate your gift to a specific project or need at Solheim. When you make a directed gift to Solheim, you enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a cause or program that is personally meaningful to you.

Types of Gifts

Outright Gifts

When you make an outright gift to Solheim Lutheran Home, your contribution can be put to work immediately—either providing funding for current programs or creating a reliable source for future expansion. An outright gift may be composed of almost any asset of value:

• Cash Gifts—the simplest and easiest gifts you can make—can be made through credit/debit card transactions, outright cash, or personal checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders made payable to Solheim Lutheran Home.
• Gifts of appreciated securities, stocks, and bonds also provide considerable tax advantages when transferred to provide a twofold tax benefit, creating an income-tax deduction as well as helping avoid the capital-gains tax that would have been due on their sale. (You may also make a gift of mutual funds, non-marketable stock, or closely held stock.)
• Gifts of real estate—including personal residences, second homes, income property, and vacant land—offer a wide variety of tax and other benefits. Whereas most people give their entire interest away, it is also possible to give only a portion of the property (an undivided percentage interest) while retaining the rest for other purposes.
• Gifts of personal property—including rare books, works of art, valuable collectibles, and tangible items of demonstrable value—in some cases may enable you to make a significant gift to support Solheim with outstanding tax benefits to you. Likewise, gifts of intangible personal property, such as copyrights, patents, and mineral rights, can generate income for the program of your choice on a continuing basis.

Bequests

Drawing up a will can be the first step toward a wise financial plan for you and your family, as well as for the charitable organizations you support. A valid will allows you, rather than your state's law, to determine the distribution of your assets upon your death. Whether you provide for a spouse, children, or charitable organizations, your will should be prepared with the help of an attorney and reviewed regularly.

A bequest through a will or a revocable trust is the most popular and flexible way of making an estate gift to Solheim Lutheran Home. Over the years, Solheim Lutheran Home has received bequests of all sizes. Such gifts do not need to be large to have a lasting impact on Solheim’s residents, families, and programs. For specific bequest language for your estate plan, please contact Solheim’s Development Office.

Gift Pledges

Solheim welcomes your gift through a pledge—a formal statement of intention to make a gift to Solheim. With a pledge, you may complete your gift by making regular payments over time, allowing you to give more generously than you originally may have considered. What is more, each payment on your pledge is eligible for an income-tax charitable deduction.

Matching-Gift Programs

An easy way to double or even triple your donation to Solheim is to find out if your company has a matching-gift program. Such programs typically match all or a percentage of employee contributions to charitable organizations, making the employer a partner in employees’ personal philanthropy. Simply obtain a matching-gift form from your employer’s personnel office, fill it out, and provide it to Solheim with your contribution.

A planned gift may enable you to make a more significant gift than you thought possible, while at the same time allowing you to achieve your financial, philanthropic and estate planning goals. To that end, there are a myriad of easy giving options from which you can choose—from naming us as a beneficiary in your will to a more complex trust arrangement.

Contact Solheim’s Development Office for personalized gift planning options.