Give Now - By Cash, Check, or Credit Card

An outright gift made in the form of cash, check, or credit card is usually the simplest, most convenient method for making a charitable contribution. To make a gift to support The Center right now you can:

• Donate Online, via our secure webpage

• Mail your gift to:

The Center at Belvedere
540 Belvedere Blvd
Charlottesville, VA 22901

• Give your gift in-person at The Center's Welcome Desk when The Center is open.

Please make checks payable to The Center.

Have questions? Contact Lynn Divers, Philanthropy Director, at 434.220.9745 or at lynn@thecentercville.org. 

Tributes & Memorials

You can make a gift that both supports The Center and honors a friend, mentor, or family member. Tribute gifts may be made in honor of a person or in their memory and are a meaningful way to celebrate a shared milestone or remember the legacy of a loved one.

The Center will notify the person honored or the family of the loved one remembered that a gift has been made (no gift amounts are shared). Tributes and memorials are also acknowledged in The Center’s bi-monthly newsletter, as well as in The Center’s Annual Report.

To ensure your tribute or memorial is noted properly, be sure to include with your gift:

• Gifts in Honor of a person - The full name and address of the person you are honoring

• Gifts in Memory of a person - The full name of the individual who is being honored, and the full name and address of the individual you wish to receive the tribute notification  

For more information, please contact Philanthropy Manager, Anna Grey Hogan, at (434) 220-9743 or at annagrey@thecentercville.org

Monthly Giving- Join the Sustainers Circle

The Sustainers Circle is a special group of friends who sustain the mission of The Center by making monthly contributions. Members of the Sustainers Circle provide crucial underwriting to promote healthy aging through social engagement, physical well-being, civic involvement, and lifelong learning.

Giving monthly is an easy way to support The Center. Your gift will be automatically charged each month to your credit or debit card, and you can change or cancel your monthly commitment at any time by contacting Philanthropy Manager, Anna Grey Hogan, or by calling (434) 220-9743.

As a Sustainers Circle member you will receive a yearly tax statement summarizing your annual giving.

Leadership Giving- Join The 1180 Society

1180 Society

Leadership giving at The Center takes many forms, including participation in our 1180 Society. Named in honor of the home we built together at 1180 Pepsi Place in 1991, The 1180 Society is a circle of philanthropic leaders who have made outstanding personal commitments to the mission of The Center by making unrestricted gifts of $1,180 or more annually.  Members of the 1180 Society are a driving force behind our programs.

Gifts may be made in monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual installments as well as through transfer of stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

To join the 1180 Society please contact Philanthropy Director, Lynn Divers, at (434) 220-9745

Give Stocks and Securities

Support the work of The Center by donating stocks and securities. We accept donations of commonly held, publicly traded stocks and mutual fund shares. The easiest way for you to gift stock or securities to The Center is through an electronic transfer (DTC) from your brokerage account to The Center’s account.

Donating stock or securities can be made in as little as two easy steps: 

1. Provide your broker with the following electronic transfer information: 

   • Brokerage House: Charles Schwab

   • Account Name: Senior Center, Inc.

   • Account Number: 4671-8217

   • DTC Number: 0164, Code 40

   • Reference: Donor Name

   • Charles Schwab Phone Number: 1-800-435-4000

   • Text Comment: Donor’s Name.  If donor prefers to remain anonymous, please include their name and note their preference to remain anonymous.

2. Provide the following information about your gift to The Center:

• Name of the security
• Number of shares
• Brokerage name

This information may be sent to Anna Grey Hogan, Philanthropy Manager at The Center, using one of the following methods:

•  Email: annagrey@thecentercville.org
• Phone: (434) 220-9743
• Mail: The Center Attn: Philanthropy, 540 Belvedere Blvd. Charlottesville, VA 22901

Gift Valuation

Your generous charitable gift to The Center will be valued at the median market price on the date of the gift, which is determined by the day the securities are received in our account.

Please seek the counsel of your tax advisor, attorney, and/or financial planner to review tax calculations to ensure that a contemplated gift is appropriate for your situation. The material presented here is not offered as legal or tax advice. 

Support The Center through your IRA using a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)

If you are at least 70½ years old, you are eligible to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from a traditional or Roth IRA. Amounts distributed to support The Center will be excluded from federal income. For a distribution to The Center, please designate The Senior Center, Inc. and tax ID 54-0735666.

How do I make a QCD to The Center?

• You must be at least 70½ years old on the date of the distribution to charity.

• Distributions must be made from an IRA, including inactive SEP and SIMPLE plans. Distributions from any other type of retirement plan (401(k), 403(b), 457, Keogh, and active SEP and SIMPLE plans) will not qualify.

• QCD distributions are limited to $100,000 in total during each year.

• A distribution must be made outright to a qualified public charity — it cannot be used to fund a charitable remainder trust, gift annuity, donor advised fund, or family foundation.

• Your plan administrator must transfer the funds directly — you may not receive the distribution first and then transfer it to the charity.

• The distribution must be received by the charity on or before December 31 to be counted in this tax year.

• Each distribution will be excluded from federal taxable income. 

• Because the QCD distribution is not taxable income, you cannot claim a deduction for federal tax purposes. Some states may treat distributions as income followed by a deduction. Please check with your tax advisor to learn more.

• Using a QCD to make charitable gifts will reduce the value of your IRA and taxable RMDs in future years.

Have questions or want to make The Center a beneficiary of your IRA? Contact Melanie Benjamin, Executive Director, at (434) 220-9744 or at melanie@thecentercville.org.

Matching Gifts

Did you know that hundreds of companies match their employees' — and retirees' — donations to qualified nonprofit organizations? The Center qualifies for virtually all corporate matching gift programs. Making a gift to The Center and then completing the matching gift paperwork with your employer or former employer can double or even triple the value of the gift to The Center.

Contact your current or former employer directly to learn if they offer a corporate matching gift program or contact a member of The Center’s philanthropy team at (434) 974-7756. We are happy to help you find information on companies that provide matching gifts.

Planned Giving

Planned giving, also referred to as legacy giving, is a charitable contribution made either during an individual’s life or at his/her death as part of an overall financial or estate plan.   Legacy giving often allows individuals to make larger gifts to charitable organizations than they could make using their discretionary income. 

Types of planned gifts include:

Bequests – Naming The Center as a beneficiary of your will or living trust is called a bequest.  Bequests can be made to direct cash or securities of a specific amount to The Center. Alternatively, bequests may be a percentage of an estate’s value.  Bequests can also be personal property or real estate.  Bequests allow donors to retain their assets during their lifetime and are also revocable, meaning donors may change beneficiaries to their estate at any time.

Gifts of Retirement Assets – Like a bequest, you can name The Center as a beneficiary of your retirement plan.  And like bequests, you retain the assets throughout your lifetime, and you can change the beneficiaries of your retirement plan as you see fit.

Gifts of Life Insurance – Some community members have named The Center as a beneficiary in a life insurance policy. 

Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs) – Working with their financial advisor, some community members elect to fund a Charitable Gift Annuity, which is a contract between a donor and a charity, where the donor transfers stocks or cash to the charity in exchange for a tax deduction and a lifetime of income from the charity. At the death of the income beneficiary, the charity will receive the balance of funds left in the CGA. Once funded, CGAs are irrevocable.

Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) – A Charitable Remainder Trust is another irrevocable planned giving vehicle that can generate an income stream for the donor or the donor’s designated beneficiaries for a number of years or for their lifetime. At the end of the CRT term or at the death of the last beneficiary the remainder of the donated CRT assets go to your favorite charity or charities.

The Center has benefited significantly from generous community members who choose to financially support The Center through planned gifts. If you are considering including The Center as a beneficiary in your estate plans or want to learn more about planned giving, please contact Melanie Benjamin, Executive Director, at (434) 220-9744 or at melanie@thecentercville.org.

Gifts in Kind

The Center gratefully accepts many types of “Gifts in Kind" — tangible gifts that help The Center pursue its mission of creating opportunities for healthy aging of seniors.

If you are interested in buying or funding specific items that are needed, please contact Philanthropy Manager, Anna Grey Hogan, at (434) 220-9743 to discuss the details of your donation.