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Christian Union: The Magazine

Read past issues of Christian Union: The Magazine (formerly the Ivy League Christian Observer).

Information to help you through the process.

Thank you for considering a gift of real estate to Christian Union.

Christian Union welcomes gifts of real estate, including land or buildings. These gifts may provide significant benefits for the donor as well as for the ministry. Depending on the type of gift, a donor may enjoy tax savings, lifetime payments and freedom from carrying costs, once the real estate is sold. Real estate gifts require more planning than gifts of cash or marketable securities. The ministry will need some time to gather necessary information and to evaluate legal and financial issues before making a decision with respect to accepting a gift of real estate. If the ministry does decide to accept a gift of real estate, donors should be aware that the sale of donated property requires patience and realistic pricing. Please review the following information with your tax and legal advisors.

Talk to a member of Christian Union's development team

We will need to know the type of property you are thinking of donating as well as the method of making the gift.

For example:

• An outright gift of your real estate.
• A gift of real estate into a trust that provides payments to you or beneficiaries you designate. This is called a charitable remainder trust.
• A gift of real estate wherein you retain certain interests, such as the right to live in your home for the duration of your life, and give the remainder to the ministry.

The Office of Gift Planning can give you further information about the tax and financial benefits of these and other gift methods.

Provide Information and Documents to Christian Union

Because legal restrictions may limit the ability of the ministry to own or sell a parcel of real estate, the ministry must review all relevant information before deciding whether to accept a gift of real estate.

Information and documents required for review include:

1. Copy of the deed to the property.
2. Copy of any condominium agreements, restrictive covenants, leases and/or management agreements.
3. Copy of a current real estate appraisal by a qualified real estate appraiser. (See below)
4. Copy of any property tax statements and insurance policies.
5. A completed questionnaire (which we will provide to the donor) regarding environmental issues.
6. Estimated or actual carrying costs for the real estate. These costs include property taxes, insurance and maintenance, and depending on the type of property, this may include utilities, grounds care, snow removal, caretaker fees and condominium fees. In addition, the ministry will conduct a title search at the ministry's expense.

Obtain a "Qualified Appraisal"

The donor will need to obtain a "qualified appraisal," as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and provide a copy to Christian Union for its review. The qualified appraisal is required by the IRS for the donor to substantiate the value of the gift and receive a charitable tax deduction. For IRS filing requirements the qualified appraisal must be dated not more than sixty days before the date of a gift. If more than sixty days elapse between the date of appraisal and the date of gift, the donor will need to have the qualified appraisal updated for tax filing purposes. The cost of the qualified appraisal is borne by the donor. In some cases this cost can be deducted.

Give Christian Union Time to Review and Accept the Gift

Once the ministry has all the necessary information, the ministry's Committee for Gifts of Real Estate will conduct a due diligence review in order to decide whether to accept the gift. Typically, we will keep the donor informed about the timing and the process by phone and follow up with a confirmatory letter.

Make Arrangements to Transfer The Property to the Ministry

Once the proposed gift has been approved, the ministry will coordinate with the donor and the donor's legal advisors to arrange the closing and transfer of title. The donor's legal advisors will prepare and record the deed and any related documents because of their knowledge of local law and procedures. The ministry will assist by providing draft language for the documents, particularly language with respect to retained life estates and charitable remainder trusts. The date of gift is usually the date on which title to the property is transferred to the ministry (except that in certain states the date of gift is the date the transfer is recorded).

Consider Carrying Costs and Transfer Taxes

Just as the donor is responsible for carrying costs prior to the gift, carrying costs (see previous page) will generally continue to be the donor's responsibility until the property is sold by the ministry If the donor retains a life estate in the property, the donor will be responsible for carrying costs as long as the donor lives or until the donor releases the life estate. If a gift is to a charitable remainder trust, the donor will be responsible for making additional contributions to the trust to cover the carrying costs until the trust sells the property. Realty transfer taxes, assessed in many states and some local jurisdictions on the transfer of title, will be the donor's responsibility as well. If a gift is to a charitable remainder trust, realty transfer taxes may be payable on the initial gift and again on the sale of real estate by the trust. In such a case, the donor will be responsible for both realty transfer taxes. Note that the donor's gift to a charitable remainder trust to cover carrying costs and realty transfer taxes is considered an additional charitable contribution, a portion of which is generally deductible for tax purposes.

Understand IRS Reporting Requirements

The ministry cannot provide tax advice but can assist the donor's tax advisors with the calculation of the donor's charitable tax deduction. Please bear in mind that gifts of remainder interests will limit the donor's deduction to a portion of the appraised value of the real estate. The donor is responsible for substantiating his/her charitable tax deduction for the gift of real estate by obtaining a qualified appraisal (described above). The appraisal is used to prepare IRS Form 8283, which the ministry will sign and the donor is required to file with his/her tax return for the year in which the deduction is claimed. The IRS may disallow a deduction if Form 8283 is not filed. If the ministry sells donated property within three years of the gift date, the ministry must disclose the sale price by filing IRS Form 8282. In such an event, the ministry would send a copy of the completed Form 8282 to the donor.

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For Assistance

If you need assistance with any of these giving opportunities, call a donor representative at: 1-609-688-1700 Option 2 or email giving@christianunion.org.

The following videos are not directly about Christian Union's work, but rather provide context and historical background for those interested.

Part 1

An informative lecture on Christianity in the Ivy League, the first of two videos (6:24). 

Part 2

The conclusion of the lecture on Christianity in the Ivy League (7:26).

Lessons from History

Tim Keller has written that "over the last three centuries, revivals have had a great impact. Between 1730 and 1830 successive movements of the Holy Spirit brought a large proportion of the population into the churches. These awakenings are not ultimately the result of marketing or organization. They come, by God’s grace and in his time, in response to extraordinary prayer."

Christian Union, in addition to its work at nine strategic universities, in New York, and in Washington, DC,  encourages believers to pursue extraordinary prayer, asking God to once again pour out His Spirit powerfully and to bring sweeping spiritual change to America. We do this through the ministry of Christian Union Day and Night (DayAndNight.org). We will also be publishing videos from time to time to encourage and inspire believers. We will highlight several talks by Dr. J. Edwin Orr over the coming months, to help remind the church about ways God has moved powerfully in the past.

Dr. Orr earned a PhD at Oxford University in 1948, authored numerous books, and wrote and spoke often on ways God has moved in history to bring about revivals and awakenings in different parts of the world. "Dr. J. Edwin Orr, in my opinion, is one of the greatest authorities on the history of religious revivals in the Protestant world," Billy Graham wrote, in an introduction to one of Dr. Orr's books. 

The video above is a talk Dr. Orr gave on the First Great Awakening.

Click the image above to view Christian Union's 2012 Annual Report. If you do not see an image, download a .pdf version of the 2012 annual report.

Click the image above to view Christian Union's 2011 Annual Report. If you do not see an image, download a .pdf version of the 2011 annual report.

If you'd prefer to download and mail the enrollment form, please download it here.

If  you are simply looking to make a one-time gift to Christian Union by mail (instead of credit card, above) please make it out to Christian Union and send it to 19 Vandeventer AVenue, Princeton, NJ 08542. 

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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Christian Union is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible as to the extent allowed by applicable law. To learn more about the benefits, and rights and responsibilities, of Cornerstone Partners, please go to www.ChristianUnion.org/cp-benefitsandrights.

The ministry is a member of the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability (ECFA) and has its finances audited annually. Charges to credit cards appear as “Christian Union 6098740040.”

If you have questions, please contact a partner representative at (609) 874-0040, or email us at giving@ChristianUnion.org.

Every day, millions of young women and men enter America’s universities searching for truth and knowledge. These students want to find meaning, not just for their lives, but for the world around them.

That’s why Christians started many of America’s finest universities more than a century ago. Did you know that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton—along with other influential schools in America—were created to be places where a student could discover a love for God and for his neighbor?

These schools were founded to develop and train Christian leaders, equipping them to help change the world for God’s glory.

Unfortunately, the Gospel that enables such radical transformation has long since been replaced with destructive ideologies that leave many students hopeless and helpless to confront the challenges facing our nation. As you know, these institutions, and the ideologies they promote, will shape American culture for decades to come.

We know that this concerns you.

Alumni of these schools play an enormously important role in our society, and now lead many of America’s most powerful companies, media organizations, academic institutions, and political campaigns. In fact, a Christian Union study of influential leaders in America showed that 67% are alumni of just 20 schools.

If we are going to bring change America, we need, by God's grace, to see these schools radically transformed. That’s why the Lord gave people like you a vision for dramatic spiritual revival at these very places. As a result, in 2002 Christian Union was launched at Princeton.

The goal? To bring sweeping spiritual transformation to the nation’s most influential universities and key cities that shape American culture.

Here’s the best part. This vision is becoming a reality. Since 2002, the ministry has expanded to Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Harvard Law, Penn, Stanford, and Yale. It is also working with Christian professionals in New York City.

Right now, Christians like you are engaging thousands of students in our most influential—and secular—universities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope it brings. You can help make this happen.

Your donation today:

• Provides intellectually rigorous Bible courses that introduce students to the love of Jesus and strengthens their faith.
• Enables a network of mentors on every campus that walk alongside students through the difficult days of their college experience, discipling them and encouraging them to excel academically, relationally, and spiritually.
• Empowers emerging Christian leaders to transform business, the media, and our culture with the timeless truth of Christ.

You can help make America a nation in which the Gospel has penetrated every people group and where Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit, are seeking God as the defining characteristic of their lives.

By giving, you will become a Cornerstone Partner, and you will receive special Cornerstone Partner communications and occasional invitations to special events for Partners, free of charge.

Use the secure form below to make your gift and to help strategic universities and cities—and through them, America—return to God.





Christian Union is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible as to the extent allowed by applicable law. To learn more about the benefits, and rights and responsibilities, of Cornerstone Partners, please go to www.ChristianUnion.org/cp-benefitsandrights.

Click the image above to view Christian Union's 2010 Annual Report. If you do not see an image, or do not Adobe Flash installed, download a .pdf version of the 2010 annual report.

Click the image above to view Christian Union's 2009 Annual Report. If you do not see an image, or do not Adobe Flash installed, download a .pdf version of the 2009 annual report.