| A Gift of Grain
A Gift of Grain is a Gift for Life
A grain of wheat or soybeans or corn is but a seed, a small kernel of life. When the seeds are amassed they become bushels of life-sustaining food for families across the world. When the grain is gifted to a charitable organization like Grinnell Regional Medical Center, it can save lives.
More than 47,000 people in GRMC’s six-county service area rely on the medical center for exceptional medical care. A gift of grain will help support GRMC’s mission of healthcare for life.
It could help us be here for an emergency c-section to save a baby’s life. It could allow us to purchase expensive radiology and laboratory equipment for diagnostic testing. It could support a nurse’s salary so that our emergency department continues to be staffed with the best and the brightest.
The Benefits of Giving Grain
Gifting grain to GRMC is a creative way to support quality, compassionate healthcare, while at the same time providing donors with favorable tax benefits. Gifted appreciated assets with a zero to minimal basis—like grain—eliminate or avoid taxes yet retain 100 percent of the value to a charitable contribution. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Cash basis, active self-employed farmers may avoid federal and state income taxes on their gift of grain, they also may avoid paying 15.3 percent in self-employment taxes. This is especially beneficial for donors who are unable to itemize deductions on their tax return.
When gifting grain, the gift is transferred into GRMC’s name when delivered to the grain elevator, so donors do not pay tax when the grain is sold. Because the donor does not report the income, the gift is not deductible as a charitable contribution when the grain is sold.
How Is a Gift of Grain Done?
Donors considering making a gift of grain are encouraged to consult their tax adviser and the Office of Development at GRMC.
To finalize the gift, donors simply deliver the grain to the grain elevator or notify elevator employees if the grain is in storage. Donors then request the grain to be transferred to GRMC by instructing the elevator staff to make the warehouse or storage receipt out to GRMC. Notify GRMC’s Office of Development prior to the transaction.
Donors are advised not to sell the grain first. In order for the donor to receive the tax advantages of the gift, the grain must be transferred to GRMC so that the medical center can direct the sale of the grain.
Gifts of grain may be used to make outright gifts or gifts with reserved life income, such as gift annuities, charitable remainder annuity trusts, or charitable remainder unitrusts.
A gift of grain is truly a gift of life that benefits not only the donor, but also thousands of patients at GRMC.
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