There are many ways to support Caring Contact

Donate | Tribute Gifts | Donor-Advised Funds | Stock | Planned Giving | IRAs

Ways to Give

Cash Gifts/Give Now/Donate

Help save lives tomorrow with your gift today. 

Your gift today by credit card, PayPal, Venmo, check or cash will help save lives tomorrow by ensuring highly trained volunteers are ready and able to help everyone who calls our crisis lines, no matter who they are or why they called. You have the opportunity to see your generosity in action and also receive a federal income tax charitable deduction, if you itemize.

Gifts can be one-time or recurring (monthly, quarterly, etc.).

To give via check, please mail your contribution to: Caring Contact, P.O. Box 2376, Westfield, NJ  07091.

Donate
Ways to Give

Tribute Gift

Recognize a loved one with a gift to Caring Contact. 

You can honor a loved one by making a gift to Caring Contact using our online Donation form and designating whether the gift is “In Honor of” or “In Memory of.” At your request, we will send a note that a gift has been made (without specifying the amount) to the person being honored or to the family of the person being memorialized.

Donate

Other ways to give a Tribute Gift: 

1Giving by Check
If you prefer, you may mail a check to Caring Contact with a note indicating the name of the person you are honoring or memorializing, as well as the name and address of anyone who should receive an acknowledgment of your generous donation.

Send your contribution and note to the following address:

Caring Contact, P.O. Box 2376, Westfield, NJ 07091
2Obituaries
Families of the deceased often inquire about wording to include in obituaries if they would like memorial gifts in memory of the deceased.

Here is one suggestion:

In lieu of flowers, the family of (Name of Deceased) respectfully requests contributions in his/her memory to:

Caring Contact
P.O. Box 2376
Westfield, NJ 07091

Donations may also be made online.
Ways to Give

Donor-Advised Funds 

You can support Caring Contact with a one-time or recurring gift from your Donor-Advised Fund. 

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a little like a personal charitable savings account that provides an excellent way to simplify your charitable giving and facilitate your strategic philanthropic goals.

How It Works

A donor creates an account through a community foundation or an arm of a financial institution and contributes cash, stock, or other assets (like real estate or artwork). DAFs can be set up with little or no start-up costs or tax-filing requirements

Please contact Lucinda Mercer, Development Director, at Lucinda.Mercer@caringcontact.org or 908-301-1899 to let us know you are making a gift from your Donor-Advised Fund as we do not always receive the name of the donor when the funds are transferred.

Please use the DAF Direct link to direct a gift from your Fidelity, Schwab, or BNY/Mellon DAF to Caring Contact. If you have a Donor Advised Fund with another financial institution, please go to their site to make this gift.

Benefits: 

1Tax Deductions
Donors can take an immediate tax deduction for contributions made to their DAF and will not be taxed on any growth since the assets belong to the charitable sponsor (like a community foundation or arm of a financial institution like Fidelity Charitable). With changes in the tax law, a donor may also choose to front-load several years of giving into one year to maximize tax savings. (Always consult with your tax advisor prior to making any decisions.)
2Market Growth
Contributions to a DAF can be invested before they are granted to a charitable organization. With market growth, your DAF balance can also grow. This makes even more money available for grantmaking.
3Ongoing Charitable Impact
Donors can contribute to the fund as frequently as they like, and then recommend grants to their favorite charities whenever makes sense for them. Donors can make one-time or recurring gifts from their Donor Advised Funds.

Ways to Give

Gifts of Stock

Support Caring Contact with a gift of appreciated stock while reducing your tax burden.

When you donate appreciated assets (i.e. stocks or mutual funds), you can potentially save on two types of taxes while knowing you are making a huge, immediate difference in our community. First, you reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. And second, you may be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the current market value of the asset at the time of transfer.

Gifts of stock may be transferred directly from your brokerage account to Caring Contact’s brokerage account, which is held at Vanguard, using the following information:

Account Name: Caring Contact
Account # 78048287
Vanguard DTC # 0062

Please forward any information regarding a pending stock transfer to Lucinda Mercer, Development Director, Lucinda.Mercer@caringcontact.org or 908-301-1899. The donor's name is not transferred with the stock information. Providing us with information relating to the transfer will ensure stock gifts are appropriately attributed to the donor.

In addition, if you have any questions regarding making a gift of stock, please contact Lucinda Mercer or Mary Claire Givelber, Executive Director, Maryclaire.Givelber@caringcontact.org or 908-301-1899.

Gifts of securities will be valued at full market value on the date of the transfer to Caring Contact.

Ways to Give

Planned Giving – Bequests and Beneficiary Designations

Create a lasting legacy, saving lives for generations to come, with your planned gift to Caring Contact. 

When you remember Caring Contact in your will or name Caring Contact as a beneficiary of your retirement fund or life insurance, you are creating a lasting legacy and ensuring that our life-saving work will live on for generations to come.

A gift to Caring Contact in your will or revocable trust enables you to support our mission and make a difference in the lives of future generations. A bequest:

  • is easy to arrange.
  • will not alter your current lifestyle in any way.
  • can be easily modified to address your changing needs.

Please contact your legal and financial advisors when making or changing your will. The language below should not be construed as legal or financial advice.

Sample Gift Language for your Will or Revocable Living Trust: 

1Residual Gift Language
A residual bequest comes to us after your estate expenses and specific bequests are paid:

I give and devise to Caring Contact (Tax ID #23-7442645), located in Westfield, NJ, all (or state a percentage) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific fund or program).
2Specific Gift Language
Naming Caring Contact as a beneficiary of a specific amount from your estate is easy:

I give and devise to Caring Contact (Tax ID #23-7442645), located in Westfield, NJ, the sum of $___________ (or asset) to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific fund or program).
3Contingent Gift Language
Caring Contact or its affiliates can be named as a contingent beneficiary in your will or personal trust 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 Caring Contact (Tax ID #23-7442645), located in Westfield, NJ, the sum of $ _______ (or all or a percentage of the residue of my estate) to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific fund or program).

Retirement Plan/Life Insurance Beneficiary Language: 

Not everyone wants to commit to making a gift in their will or estate. Some prefer the increased flexibility that a beneficiary designation provides by using:

  • IRAs and retirement plans
  • Life insurance policies
  • Commercial annuities

It only takes three simple steps to make this type of gift. Here's how to name the Caring Contact as a beneficiary:

  1. Contact your retirement plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution for a change-of-beneficiary form.
  2. Decide what percentage (1 to 100) you would like us to receive and name us, along with the percentage you chose, on the beneficiary form.
  3. Return the completed form to your plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution.

Naming Caring Contact as the beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan asset such as a 401(k), 403(b), IRA, Keogh or profit-sharing pension plan will accomplish a charitable goal while realizing significant tax savings. It can be costly to pass such assets on to heirs because of heavy tax consequences. By naming Caring Contact as a beneficiary of a retirement plan, the donor maintains complete control over the asset while living, but at the donor's death the plan passes to support Caring Contact free of both estate and income taxes.

Please notify us if you name Caring Contact as a beneficiary. Donors should consult with their tax adviser regarding the tax benefits of such gifts.

Lucinda Mercer, Development Director, Lucinda.Mercer@caringcontact.org

Mary Claire Givelber, Executive Director, Maryclaire.Givelber@caringcontact.org

Caring Contact, P.O. Box 2376, Westfield, NJ  07091, 908-301-1899

Ways to Give

IRA Qualified Distributions

You can support Caring Contact and avoid income taxes with your gift to Caring Contact from your IRA.

If you are 70½ years old and older you can give up to $100,000 per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as Caring Contact without having to pay income taxes on the money. This popular gift option is commonly called an IRA charitable rollover or a qualified charitable distribution (QCD for short).

Why consider this gift?

  • Your gift will be put to immediate use, allowing you to see the difference it is making in our community.
  • Beginning in the year you turn 72, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD).
  • You pay no income taxes on the gift. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions. (Important tip: to avoid paying income taxes on this distribution, you must have the plan administrator pay the charitable organization directly. DO NOT take the distribution and gift the charity yourself.)
  • Since the gift doesn’t count as income, it can reduce your annual income level. This may help lower your Medicare premiums and decrease the amount of Social Security that is subject to tax.

Please let us know of your gift because most retirement plan administrators do not provide us with the name of the person making the gift. We would like the opportunity to acknowledge your generosity. If preferred, you may remain anonymous and your gift will be kept confidential, but knowing where our gifts come from is important for our record keeping.

For those 59 1/2 years old or older

If you’re at least 59½ years old, you can take a distribution and then make a gift from your IRA without penalty. If you itemize your deductions, you can take a charitable deduction for the amount of your gift.

Contact Lucinda Mercer, Development Director, with questions or to let us know you are directing your IRA-qualified charitable distribution to Caring Contact. She can be reached at Lucinda.Mercer@caringcontact.org or 908-301-1899.

Do you have questions about the different donation options?

Please contact:

Lucinda Mercer, Development Director
Lucinda.mercer@caringcontact.org 

Mary Claire Givelber, Executive Director
Maryclaire.givelber@caringcontact.org

P.O. Box 2376
Westfield, NJ  07091
908-301-1899
Tax ID: 23-7442645