Donations of Real Estate and
Personal Property Can Provide Unexpected Benefits
The Brick House Program
For the past 40 years, the America the Beautiful Fund (ABF) has provided assistance to projects and programs dedicated to preserving the natural and historic beauty of America. Thanks to your generous gifts since our founding in 1965, we have already developed more than 50,000 citizen initiated volunteer projects in all 50 states. Most of these projects have been proactive preservation efforts such as helping to save over 100 buildings in historic South Carolina or a greenbelt along the historic Great Miami River in Ohio.
However, recently, many of our projects have been in response to natural disasters. For example, America the Beautiful Fund helped restore school grounds in Homestead, Florida after Hurricane Andrew destroyed it. And today, America the Beautiful Fund is focused on restoring landscapes in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina.
So now more than ever, your support is critical. To safeguard historic landmarks, improve our communities and keep America beautiful in the decades to come, your help is needed.
The Brick House Program is named after the birthplace and childhood home of Lady Bird Johnson who was known for her efforts to beautify America. America the Beautiful Fund was started at Lady Bird and President Johnson's White House Conference on Natural Beauty in 1965. The Brick House Program was recently launched for gifts of real estate and personal property such as art, antiques, intellectual property and other valuables..
Why Donate Property?
Friends donate property to the America the Beautiful Fund as a significant way to support the organization. But they also know they will receive attractive financial benefits as a result of the gift. These benefits have contributed to the increasing interest in property donations. Since 2003, over $5.9 billion of real estate and $829 million of art and collectibles has been gifted annually to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.
Depending on the nature of your gift and on your needs and objectives, you can potentially:
- Avoid capital gains taxes due on the sale of property.
- Reduce income taxes.
- Reduce estate taxes.
- Receive an annual income.
- Eliminate the burden of maintaining and paying for property.
- Support the America the Beautiful Fund in an alternative way.
- Create a significant legacy.
What Can Be Donated?
Real Estate
Almost any type of real estate, residential or commercial, domestic or international, can be offered for donation. Examples include:
- Single-family homes
- Vacation homes
- Apartments, condominiums and cooperatives
- Multi-family homes
- Apartment buildings
- Farms, ranches and vineyards
- Undeveloped land
- Office buildings
- Hotels, motels and resort properties
- Warehouses
- Industrial property
- Recreational properties, such as golf courses
- Shopping centers
Personal Property Donations
A wide range of personal property can be offered for donation. Examples include:
- Paintings
- Drawings or Prints
- Sculpture
- Porcelain and Silver
- Decorative Objects
- Furniture
- Rugs
- Jewelry and Watches
- Classic Cars
- Aircraft
- Watercraft
- Collections, such as stamps, coins, medals, books and other memorabilia
- Intellectual Property, such as copyrights, trademarks, patents, etc.
How Do I Know If Making A Gift is
Right For Me?
As you think about a gift of real estate or personal property, consider what you own and ask yourself the following:
- Do I own property, such as a vacation home, that I don’t use very often?
- Do I have real estate that is difficult or expensive to manage?
- Will I owe significant taxes if I sell?
- Do I have a substantial taxable income that a gift of property might offset?
- Do I have a property that, if donated, would provide me with income?
- Do I own a piece of art that I don’t enjoy as much as I once did?
If you answered, “yes,” to any of the questions above, you could benefit by gifting property to the America the Beautiful Fund.
To learn more about donating real estate and personal property donations, or to request a complimentary copy of The Benefits of Donating Real Estate or The Benefits of Donating Personal Property, call us at 202-638-1649, (M-F 9:30-5:30 EST) and ask for the President's office. You can also send an email to info@america-the-beautiful.org