http://thesmartgiver.com A simple church fundraising idea that can raise 6 figures in 90 days.

Let's take a 75-year-old woman who wants to give $100,000 to her church when she dies.

In this traditional gifting scenario the church will have to wait until this woman dies to receive any benefit.

The church is right in the middle of a capital campaign and has a number of fundraising efforts in play. How can we increase the woman's interest income on the $100,000 and provide an immediate benefit to her church?

First, the woman donates her $100,000 to the church. The church agrees to pay her a monthly income of 6.3% on the $100,000 for the rest of her life. This is substantially more than the rate her bank is paying her on her CD.

The strategy the church uses is a charitable gift annuity. CGA's have been around for over 100 years.

The church then buys an immediate annuity on the woman's life from an insurance company. This would guarantee an income for the rest of her life. The majority of the income would not be subject to tax.

The cost to buy a single premium immediate annuity on a 75-year-old female that would pay $6,300 a year is about $65,000. That means the church can put $35,000 in the bank or endowment fund or use it for their building fund now.

Now let's set up a plan at your church to put 6 figures in your bank account in the next 90 days.

First, check with your attorney to make sure this will work in your state. Gift annuity agreements need to comply with state laws.

Next, publicize the project. I would suggest having a specific goal in mind that has an emotional appeal to the congregation.

Let's assume that this idea only applies to 2% of your membership. After all, it works best for donors over age 70. If you have a 500 member church, that's just 10 people.

Let's cut the gift assumption in half to $50,000 which would result in about $17,000 per donor remaining with the church after buying an immediate annuity to guarantee the lifetime income.

Ten donors times $17,000 is $170,000. All you are looking for is 10 folks with a $50,000 CD with a crummy (and taxable) interest rate that would be interested in doubling their income and helping the church.