How We’re Giving More for Less with Don Larson, Board Chairman

My Jackson story started long before I was Board Chairman. My wife Lynn and I first came here in 1996. Then we started bringing our kids to Triangle X every year. Now we have a home here. Jackson is special. The land. The pace. The people. And GTMF. It’s important to us.

Lynn played clarinet growing up. I never learned an instrument. In my twenties, I felt like I needed more culture. I started subscribing to the Cincinnati Symphony. Now I can’t imagine life without music. Especially GTMF.

What Sir Donald and the Festival musicians create each summer is remarkable. You can feel the connection. It’s on stage. It reaches you in the audience. You see it at free events too. Families stop and listen on the Fourth of July. Kids smile. Kids move to the music.

You feel why it matters. For you. For your family. For this community. That is why I’m Chairman of this Board, and it’s why Lynn and I give.

As we’ve gotten more involved, Lynn and I have taken a closer look at not just what we give, but how we do it. We want to maximize our positive impact on GTMF and the other causes we care about. Tax-smart giving makes that possible.

You have many tax-smart giving options. You can give appreciated stock and avoid capital gains. You can use a donor-advised fund and plan your giving over time.

For us, the IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution works best. I’m over 70½. I can give straight from my IRA to GTMF each year. The gift counts toward my required minimum distribution. It lowers our taxable income. It works whether we itemize or not. In simple terms, it helps us give more at a lower cost.

Your situation is different. Another approach may fit you better. Talk with your advisor. You can also learn more at gtmf.mygiftlegacy.org.

Here’s what I know. When you believe in a cause, giving feels good. Finding a way to do more feels even better. Tax-smart giving has been a game-changer for us. What could it do for you?