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PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT OF THE NORTHSHORE HARBOR CENTER |
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The East St. Tammany Events Center District is State of Louisiana governmental body charged with operating the Northshore Harbor Center. The "Friends of the Harbor Center" is non-profit 501(c)3 charged with raising development funds for maintaining the venue and for sponsoring quality events for the Northshore Harbor Center.
There are numerous ways to make either sponsorships for advertising purposes or tax deductible gifts to the Northshore Harbor Center (referred to herein as NHC). Careful planning can make charitable giving a true personal and financial advantage, to the donor as well as the Harbor Center. We encourage full consideration of individual circumstances and the range of gift options before philanthropic decisions are made.
Click here to read about one of the Northshore Harbor Center's newest sponsors.
The following information is a means to provide a stimulus for further inquiry of the many giving opportunities to the NHC. |
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Advertising Sponsorships
Sponsoring a room, sign, flag or sculpture at the Northshore Harbor Center will not only afford your company the opportunity to assist in developing a great community asset but also provide you the opportunity to tell your neighbors that your organization is a good citizen and interested in adding to the quality of life in the community. Any of the items listed below are available for your company to choose as advertising sponsorships. The opportunities are limitless; please feel free to inquire with the Harbor Center personnel. |
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Naming Sponsorships
Whether it is your intention to leave a lasting legacy to the community by dedicating a meeting room in your name or simply funding a brink in honor of your child or grandchild, there are many different areas of underwriting available for you to consider. In all regards, your donation/sponsorship dollars will greatly contribute to the image and content of "your" Center. All donations will receive appropriate recognition in accordance with standards established by the St. Tammany Events Center Commission. Below is a list of naming opportunities available and the corresponding donation levels: |
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Legacy Level
$250,000 Exhibit Hall
The entire Exhibit,Banquet,Assembly Hall will house all of the major conventions, carnival balls, concerts, exhibits, etc. and is available to proudly carry the name of an individual, family, foundation or corporate donor.
$75,000 Front Lobby
The lobby is, of course, the first experience upon entering the building. Your name could be prominently displayed as the sponsor of the area used for gathering of events, waiting for friends, receptions or taking time out to socialize while attending a tradeshow or conference.
$20,000 Meeting Room Suites One Through Five
These five sub-meeting rooms to the Grand Hall are ideal for the smaller break-away sessions, cocktail receptions or intimate banquets for up to 35.
$4,000 Conference Room
The conference room (located in the Administrative area) will be the place for meetings about the center's future, rental negotiations and visiting business people. This room will prominently display the donor's name on the door.
Benefactor Level
$20,000 Harbor Center Three-Flag Display
This place of honor will display our pride in country, state and Parish as the three flag display marks the entranceway to Harbor Center.
$20,000 Sculpture Benefactor
The centerpiece of the Harbor Center lobby will be a one of a kind sail sculpture. Your patronage of the sculpture will be enjoyed and shared by everyone who enters the facility - whether to attend a function or just to pick up a concert ticket for a friend.
Event Patron Level
$10,000 - 20,000 Athletic, Concert, Production Sponsorships
Sponsor future athletic events, concerts, and fund raising events with a donation targeted to athletics, concerts or the production costs of events. This will help purchase athletic equipment such as basketball floors and tiered seats or concert equipment such as a concert stage or orchestra shell, or sponsor production of events such as a jazz series or fundraisers. Your name will be listed as a sponsor on all advertising information utilizing the items sponsored. (E.g. For a basketball tournament, the advertising and websites would acknowledge the purchase of the floor sponsored by individual or company name, or the advertising for a jazz series would list your company or individual as the underwriter of the performance).
$6,000 Holiday Display
Underwrite our building's interior Holiday displays for a five year period. Bring delight to the children of the community as they see the breathtaking displays of lights and trees for the holiday season.
Friends of the Center
$300, $1,500 or $4,500 Palm Landscaping
Elegant palm trees of varying sizes will serve as the focal points for outdoor landscaping. Other sections of floral décor will be identified for donor sponsorship on the outer, frontal sides of the Harbor Center.
$1,000 Lobby Armchairs
Comfortable leather and fabric armchairs provide a place of respite during your visit to the Harbor Center. Sit and enjoy a beverage or socialize and network. These settings scattered throughout the lobby will be most welcome to visitors.
$500 Inside Lobby Benches
Beautiful wood and fabric covered benches line the hallways to provide a place for waiting or lingering. A welcome pause in the visitor's experience.
$300 Arbor sponsor (Outside Benches are all sponsored, and no longer available)
Commemorate a segment of garden area or lovely teak bench to enhance the surroundings of the center. What a wonderfully peaceful way to remember a nature lover.
Whether you wish to have a plaque bearing your name, the name in remembrance of a loved one, your business or your foundation, or your desire is to support NHC through an anonymous gift, there are many ways your contribution may be made. Each helps the Northshore Harbor Center develop to its full potential. The following Ways of Giving may help you in your decision: |
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WAYS OF GIVING
A. GIFTS OF CASH
The most common form of gifts has always been cash. Cash gifts may be made in the form of cash, checks or credit cards.
ADVANTAGES: Gifts of cash are the most convenient way of giving. They are fully deductible, provided the donor itemizes deductions. Cash gifts are subject only to the limitation that an individual's total charitable deductions in any year cannot exceed 50 percent of their adjusted gross income. Contributions above 50 percent may be carried over for up to five subsequent years.
B. PLEDGES
Our fundraising program encourages pledges over a period of three to five years. You may ensure that your pledge is recorded by completing a pledge card or a letter of intent and returning it to the NHC Administrative Office. Payment need not be included with the pledge.
ADVANTAGES: Pledges enable donors to plan a giving program which is convenient and tax-wise. Spreading the payment period over several years allows flexibility of charitable deductions to be utilized in years that will provide the most significant tax savings. A pledge also enables a donor to consider a more significant investment in the NHC than would otherwise be possible.
C. MATCHING GIFTS
Many corporations have matching gift programs in which an employee's gift may be matched in greater or lesser amounts by the company. If you or your spouse is employed by such a company, we urge you to forward the company's matching gift form with your own cash or pledge gift.
D. SECURITIES
Gifts of stock are a convenient and tax-wise way to benefit the NHC. Stock certificates can be reassigned to the NHC or they may be transferred through the donor's broker. The General Manager and NHC Board will work with a donor to facilitate this method of charitable giving.
ADVANTAGES: Direct gifts to the NHC of securities, especially appreciated stocks, can offer substantial tax savings. The federal income tax laws allow for deduction of the full market value of long term appreciated securities subject only to a limitation that 30 percent may be carried forward for five years. By giving appreciated stock a donor can completely avoid paying the capital gains tax on the appreciated value.
In the case of securities which have decreased in value, i.e., have a fair market value less than the cost basis, the donor would benefit from selling the securities, taking a loss for tax purposes, and then contributing the cash to the NHC.
Following these steps will give the donor both a deduction for the loss and a charitable contribution deduction. In the case of both gains and losses, contributing securities to the fundraising program for the NHC produces a significant tax advantage.
E. CLOSELY HELD STOCK
If an individual owns controlling stock in a closely held corporation, a gift of that stock to NHC can generate substantial tax benefits. The donor will receive a charitable contribution deduction equal to the fair market value of the stock, subject to the limitation rules that apply to gifts of securities.
ADVANTAGES: Once the donor has given closely held stock, the donor's corporation may redeem the shares of stock from the NHC in an amount equivalent to the value of the shares which were contributed. Thus, the NHC will be the recipient of cash. The donor will also carry out philanthropic desires, receive an appropriate tax benefit, and not deplete any personal liquid assets.
The Internal Revenue Service and the courts have approved this type of transaction as long as the NHC is not compelled by the corporation to surrender the shares for redemption. If you control a closely held corporation, you may wish to consider this beneficial, charitable giving vehicle.
F. REAL ESTATE
Real estate is often overlooked as an opportunity for charitable giving. NHC accepts gifts of houses, warehouses, residential rental property, rental property, office buildings and undeveloped land.
A donor can also make a gift of a personal residence to the NHC, reserving the right to live in the house. If the gift is made on an irrevocable basis, meaning that it cannot be altered after being given, then the donor can qualify for an immediate income tax deduction for the present value of the NHC's remainder interest in the property. This type of gift is known as a "Life Estate Contract."
ADVANTAGES: A gift of real estate enables a donor to take assets that may be of little or no current benefit personally to generate a sizable tax deduction. At the same time, the gift allows for a significant contribution to the NHC. Gifts of real estate may also avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated value in a similar way to appreciated securities as described previously.
In the case of a ''Life Estate Contract,'' if a donor makes a charitable contribution to the NHC of the remainder interest in a residence, the donor receives several benefits: (1) a substantial charitable contribution deduction based on the value of the remainder interest; (2) the right to continue to live in the residence; and (3) the satisfaction of knowing that the NHC will receive a substantial future benefit from your contribution. Best of all, these have been accomplished without an expenditure of cash or reduction of income.
G. LIFE INSURANCE
Existing life insurance policies are rarely thought of as assets that might comprise a charitable gift, but they provide excellent opportunities for accomplishing charitable objectives. If the circumstance under which a life insurance policy was purchased no longer applies, a donor may consider putting that money to work for the NHC. This can be done in one of two ways: first, the donor can designate NHC as the sole beneficiary of an existing or new policy; and, second, the donor can irrevocably assign an existing policy to the NHC.
ADVANTAGES: If the donor designates the NHC as the sole beneficiary of a life insurance policy, they may gain significant estate tax savings. If the donor irrevocably assigns the ownership of a policy to the NHC, they are entitled to an immediate deduction for federal income tax purposes. When a paid-up policy is contributed to the NHC, the allowable deduction is equal to its replacement value, unless that amount exceeds the donor's tax basis in the policy, in which case the deduction is limited to the basis. Life insurance represents an excellent vehicle for giving to the NHC.
H. CHARITABLE REMAINDER UNITRUST
A donor may elect to create a separate life income trust to provide either a variable or fixed income. The fixed income approach is called a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust and is described in the next section. The Charitable Remainder Unitrust provides income to the donor, or a designated beneficiary, based on a payout rate (not less than 5 percent of the fair market value of the trust assets determined annually).
The income from the trust continues for the rest of the donor's life, and in certain cases, may be passed on to a survivor if the donor desires. Further a donor, may establish an income interest for a beneficiary other than him/herself. For example, a parent or other individual the donor wishes to aid or support.
ADVANTAGES: Creating a Unitrust entitles the donor to a charitable deduction for the value of NHC's remainder interest, and/or based on the age of the income beneficiary. Transfers are exempt from capital gains tax and the same limitations and carry-over provisions apply as previously stated. In addition, the donor receives a guaranteed income for life and the NHC receives a significant gift in their name.
I. CHARITABLE REMAINDER ANNUITY TRUST
If the donor is concerned primarily with receiving, (or having their designated beneficiary receive) a specified amount during the term of the trust, they may prefer to establish an Annuity Trust. In this case, the required annual income distribution amount is predetermined by the donor at a minimum of 5 percent of the fair market value of the trust assets at the date the assets are transferred to the trust. The same tax deduction, limitation and carry-over regulations apply to the Annuity Trust agreement as in the Unitrust agreement.
ADVANTAGES: Creating a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust entitles the donor to a charitable deduction for the value of NHC's remainder interest, exactly as it does when property is transferred to a Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Transfers are exempt from capital gains tax and the same limitations and carry-over provisions apply as with the other agreements. In addition, the donor will have the satisfaction of making an important investment in the mission of the NHC.
J. BEQUEST
NHC encourages supporters to consider opportunities to provide significant support for the future through testamentary wills and trusts.
When planning your estate, you can consider an outright bequest to the NHC. Also, certain bequests in trust are not subject to estate taxation. As in the case of lifetime gifts, the donor's exclusion, because of the special statutory tax benefits which are granted for charitable contributions, is the face value of the gift rather than the actual cost which may be considerably less.
A bequest should always be drawn by, or with the advice of an attorney. A bequest can be any of the following:
1. A Specific Bequest of a dollar amount or of particular securities or other
property;
2. A Residuary Bequest of all, or a portion of your estate, after payment of
specific amounts to other beneficiaries;
3. Contingent Bequest to take effect only in the event that the primary beneficiaries under your Will die before you;
4. A Testamentary Trust, which takes the form of a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, the corpus of which will be paid to NHC upon death of the trust's income beneficiary.
K. GIFTS-IN-KIND
Many individuals want to give to NHC but do not have the financial resources. Gifts-in-kind affords them the opportunity to give items or properties which are valuable to the organization for either utilization, or to sell. Examples include: office furniture, waiting room furniture, real estate, computers, television sets, etc. If you have a gift that you would like to donate, please call the Northshore Harbor Center Office at (985) 781-3650 to discuss the type of gift you have and to determine whether NHC can accept your generosity.
NOTE: The information provided in WAYS OF GIVING is not intended to constitute legal or tax advice, but rather is a general discussion of the various options available in order to provide the basis for further inquiry. |
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