Philanthropy

Your Role in Prevention of Blindness

Clearly, the gift of sight is priceless. However, the value of your gift to the Cleveland Clinic to support the work of the Cole Eye Institute will be multiplied beyond measure for those whose sight is maintained or restored through new advances in medicine.

To request more information about making a charitable gift, click here, LewisH@ccf.org to contact Hilel Lewis, M.D.

You can help by making a contribution in a variety of ways:

A Gift
Cash gifts, usually in the form of checks, are the most popular type of charitable contribution. Donors will qualify for an income tax charitable deduction for a gift of cash.

A Charitable Lead Trust
The most flexible of the charitable trusts, a Charitable Lead Trust is an effective way to transfer wealth to children or grandchildren while reducing the amount of transfer tax.
The donor first transfers assets to a trust. After paying income to the Clinic, the trust transfers the remainder to designated heirs.

A Life-Income Gift
Several forms of gifts provide donors or their named beneficiaries an income for life while committing resources to future use by the Clinic. Donors to any of these life-income arrangements are entitled to charitable deductions in the year the gift is made for part of its fair market value, and are often able to increase their spendable income.
Gifts of long-term appreciated property also avoid or defer tax on the capital gain.

• A charitable remainder trust may be funded with cash, securities or real property. One or two beneficiaries named by the donor will receive income on a quarterly basis for a period of years or their lifetime. At maturity, the trust principal is transferred to the Clinic.
• A charitable gift annuity is an agreement between a donor and the Cleveland Clinic in which the donor makes a gift and one or two designated beneficiaries receive a guaranteed income for life. Some of this may be tax free.
• The Cleveland Clinic Pooled Income Fund pools gifts in the form of cash or securities from many donors for investment purposes. Beneficiaries designated by the donors receive a proportionate share of the net income earned by the fund, quarterly, for life.

A Charitable Bequest Provision
A charitable bequest is an easy way to make a meaningful gift to the Cleveland Clinic. The full amount of the bequest is deductible from a taxable estate.

Naming Opportunities
A permanent legacy in the name of a donor or designee (such as a family member or physician) can be created through a gift to support the Eye Institute. Gifts can also be recognized by the naming of the facilities or its units.