Did you know that the Gainesville Garden Club has been the beneficiary of many charitable gifts? Our property, each of our buildings, garden maintenance, Memorial Gifts and the wonderful $100,000 gift at our Centennial were all bequests to GGC. 
Those of us who are 73 or older and have tax-deferred retirement accounts, will have to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) each year from those qualified accounts.

For many of us retired folks, the RMD is a welcome and needed boost to income. Others reinvest those funds, use the withdrawals for college funds for grandkids, for travel or to make tax-deductible charitable donations to qualified nonprofit organizations. All good ideas.

 

• A Qualified Charitable Donation (QCD) Made Directly from a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) can reduce your taxable income for the year. You can request a donation from your RMD in any amount you decide.  

• The QCD is not tax deductible, it does not reduce your gross income. Instead, the distribution does not add to your gross income for the year you take it out and no taxes are withheld if sent to a charity.

 

Why give to GGC through a Qualified Charitable Donation?

• Tax-Free Giving: The amount you transfer from a Required Minimum Distribution (your RMD) goes directly to our mission at GGC and is excluded from your gross taxable income. For example, if your RMD is $5,000 and your income is $50,000 if you simply take the RMD your taxable income for that year will be $55,000. If you were to donate the entire amount from that RMD, your taxable income remains $50,000.  You can also designate any amount to be deducted from the RMD as the donation or make multiple QCD’s from your RMD. 

• Maximize Your Deduction: You receive the tax benefit of a charitable donation even if you take the standard deduction on your taxes.

• Reduce Future Costs: Lowering your adjusted gross income can help minimize Medicare premium surcharges.

 

Your gift will go directly to GGC. You can even specify what you’d like your gift to support. 

Examples:  Midnight Sky Scholarship Funds and/or Youth Scholarships, Blue Star Marker Fund, Fall Horticultural EXPO, Memorial Fund. If not specified it will go to enhancements and maintenance of our facilities.

 

What you need to know to complete a Qualified Charitable Donation (QCD):

1. Confirm Eligibility: You must be at least 73 years old. The account must be an eligible traditional, rollover, inherited, or inactive SEP/SIMPLE IRA (workplace plans like 401k accounts do not qualify directly). Also, the charity must be eligible as a nonprofit organization. If you are 70 ½, you can voluntarily take out money for a charity as a QCD before RMDs are required. Call or log into your IRA provider/custodian (such as Fidelity or Vanguard, etc.) to request their specific QCD or direct charitable distribution form. 

2. Contact Your Custodian: Request a direct transfer to Gainesville Garden Club. Give the provider/custodian our exact name as a qualified nonprofit charity, the mailing address, your donation amount, and your account number.  

3. Provide Charity Details: Here’s the information you need to make a Qualified Charitable Donation to GGC:

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• Legal Name: Gainesville Garden Club, Inc.

• Tax ID / EIN: 59-6143160

• Mailing Address: PO Box 357608, Gainesville, FL 32535

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   4. Ensure Direct Payment: The check must be made payable and mailed directly to GGC or transferred electronically by the custodian. Do not have the funds sent to you personally first, or the distribution will not qualify as a Qualified Charitable Donation. 

   5. Ask the provider/custodian of your fund to also notify GGC of your name and address with the donation, so we know it came from you and we can send our thanks!

There are many things to consider and these notes are meant just to help you learn about a gift to GGC using this means. A financial advisor and your fund can help with more information about this kind of transfer and its impact on your finances.

If you have any questions or would like to notify us of an upcoming transfer, please let us know. 
Thank you for your continued generosity and partnership!

Warmly,
Becky O’Brien
2beckyobrien@gmail.com
President, 2025-2027
Gainesville Garden Club 

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Kathy Stephens
kathryn@kathrynstephens.com
Treasurer
Gainesville Garden Club