Donate Online or by Phone

Text to give: Text this number: 518-255-8053

With the amount to donate. For example, text “$20”, “$20 pledge”, or “$20 donee” (replace with any amount).

Credit card donations: Point your camera phone at this QR code:

It should pop up a form for contributing. It defaults to non-pledge general giving but you can change it or add more to split your donation.

Here’s a link to this form: https://cvuus.breezechms.com/give/online

See options here: New Giving Methods demo

Donate by Mail

Please mail checks made out to CVUUS, 2 Duane Ct., Middlebury. Indicate in memo line how you would like your check disbursed.

Sunday Collection Plate

Each Sunday, we share the proceeds of the collection plate with another non-profit organization, half and half.

Donating to CVUUS

CVUUS derives close to 90 percent of its operating budget from donations from members and friends. Each spring, in order to prepare a balanced budget for the next church year beginning July 1, the congregation canvasses friends and members to record their anticipated donations as pledges. But new pledges can be made at any time. Donors have numerous options for how to fulfill their pledges, including one-time, weekly, quarterly, or monthly payments, automatic withdrawal plans from bank accounts, and donations of appreciated stock.

CVUUS welcomes one-time gifts honoring life passages to the Seasons of Life Fund. We publicize the occasion and the name of the donor but not the amount in our monthly newsletter.

For more information about how to make an immediate gift or pledge of future financial support to CVUUS, please call (802) 388-8080 or email fm@cvuus.org.

Seasons of Life Fund

Our Seasons of Life Fund is a way to share your joy or concern with the CVUUS community. Members and friends can commemorate personal milestones and passages through financial gifts to CVUUS that provide extra money for us to fulfill our mission statement. The names of the donors and the occasions of the gifts are noted in our monthly newsletter. There is no minimum amount and the size of your donation will not be made public. Please consider the Seasons of Life Fund the next time you―or someone you know―want to honor a birthday, marriage, retirement, anniversary, death, or achievement of any sort.

Planned Giving

Have you included CVUUS in your will? We hope you’ll consider including a gift to CVUUS in your will or living trust. A will provision allows you to make a significant contribution without diminishing the assets available to you during your life. It is easy to arrange and can be easily modified to address your changing needs. Just a few sentences in your will or trust are all that is needed is to leave a specific amount or a percentage to CVUUS. Since bequests are deductible from your taxable estate, significant estate tax savings are possible. Let us know so we can thank you! For more information, contact Mary Conlon.

Donating Funds from Your IRA

QCDs: A Better Way to Give (If You’re Old Enough)

Do you have a traditional IRA (Individual Retirement Account)? If so, then you’ve made a deal with the Internal Revenue Service: Your IRA grows, tax free, until you reach a certain age (70½ if your 70th birthday was before July 1, 2019, and 72 if your 70^th birthday was later). Starting with the year in which you reach that age, you’re required to withdraw a minimum amount every year—the required minimum distribution, or RMD. And, since your IRA grew tax free, the entire RMD is generally taxable as regular income.

But there’s a provision in the tax code that allows you to donate funds directly from your IRA to a qualified charity, like CVUUS. That’s called a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), and it’s different from donating your money to the charity. That’s because the QCD never comes into your possession; instead, it goes right from the IRA to the donee. As a result, the amount of the QCD isn’t part of your income, and you’re not taxed on it. Nevertheless, a QCD counts toward your required minimum distribution.

Why is a QCD better than donating your money and deducting it on your federal tax return? First, the doubling of the standard deduction in 2017 means many more taxpayers now find it advantageous to take the standard deduction instead of itemizing charitable and other deductions. So for many, gifts to charity have become essentially non-deductible. Second, because QCDs aren’t counted as part of your income, they lower your gross income in a way that deductions don’t. That means income-dependent items like Medicare premiums could be lower if QCDs drop your income enough.

To make a qualified charitable distribution, contact the investment firm that holds your IRA. Many have web-based forms you can fill out. You can have a check mailed directly to the charity, or mailed to you but made out to the charity, so you can pass it on. The important thing is that the check not be made out to you, but to the charity; that’s what makes it a QCD. You may even be able establish check writing on your IRA account, and then you can write checks for smaller QCDs.

There are some subtleties regarding QCDs. For example, you can’t use a Roth IRA, nor a SEP IRA that’s active. So it’s a good idea to consult your tax advisor before proceeding. And, of course, don’t forego retirement income unless you’re sure you won’t need it. For help, contact Rich Wolfson.