There are several ways to support the School of Medicine through financial or estate planning. Examples include:

Plans from Your Estate
Bequests are gifts offered through estate plans, including wills, living trusts, and retirement plans. View bequest information here.

Plans that Pay You Income
You make a gift to the University and receive income for your life or for the lives of the beneficiaries you choose. These plans include Charitable Gift Annuities and Charitable Remainder Trusts.

Plans that Help the University Now and Your Family Later
The University uses the income from a gift you make for a specified period of time, and then returns the remainder to you or your heirs. This plan is called a Charitable Lead Trust.

Plans that are Tax-Wise and Easy to Give
A Qualified Charitable Distribution to the University of Virginia from your traditional IRA is tax free to UVA, and it will count toward your annual required minimum distribution without being included in your taxable income. Click here to learn more.

To learn more about planned giving options, please contact:
UVA Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation (866-315-0947)
UVA Health System Development (800-297-0102)

Already Have a Planned Gift?
If you have already made a planned gift to support the School of Medicine, please complete our Planned Gift Information Form to let us know.

IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution

For those at least 70 ½ years of age, a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA provides a tax-efficient way to support the UVA Medical School Foundation. Distributed amounts are excluded from federal taxable income. Qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs, count toward required minimum distributions.

QCD Considerations

• QCDs must be made from IRAs (including inactive SEP and SIMPLE plans). Distributions from any other type of retirement plan (401(k), 403(b), 457, Keogh, etc.) will not qualify.
• In 2024, you can now make QCDs totaling up to $105,000 annually (the original $100,000 limit has been indexed for inflation).
• QCDs used to make outright gifts are excluded from federal taxable income and count toward required minimum distributions. If you are subject to an RMD, the federal tax exclusion may allow you to remain in a lower income tax bracket and potentially eliminate “high income” tax penalties. If you will claim the income tax standard deduction, a QCD may act like an itemized deduction by reducing federal taxable income dollar for dollar.
• In 2024, you can now make in a single calendar year during your lifetime QCDs totaling up to $53,000 (the original $50,000 limit has been indexed for inflation) to fund a new charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust for you, your spouse, or both of you; any remaining QCD allowance for that year must be used for outright gifts. Your QCD will be excluded from federal income in the year you create your gift and will count toward an RMD. Payments you receive from a charitable remainder trust or gift annuity will be taxed as ordinary income when received.
• You cannot claim a federal income tax charitable deduction for your QCD. State laws may vary, and some states may treat QCDs as taxable income followed by a deduction. Please consult your tax advisor to learn more.
• QCDs must benefit qualified charities. QCDs cannot be made to donor-advised funds or family foundations.
• QCDs must be distributed directly to the charity by your IRA administrator—amounts distributed to you first and then given to charity do not qualify as QCDs.
• Your QCD must be completed on or before December 31, 2024, to be counted in the 2024 tax year.

QCD Donor Toolkit

The QCD Toolkit includes two sample letters:

Letter 1 directs your IRA plan administrator to make a distribution directly to the UVA Medical School Foundation from your IRA account. Please note that the Tax ID number is essential to your distribution request. (Download an editable template for this letter in Word here.)

Letter 2 notifies the University to expect the gift from your IRA. In it, you also specify how you want your gift to be used. (Download an editable template for this letter in Word here.)

For a more complete description of the IRS regulations, please review the most recent version of Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

If you have any questions about a Qualified Charitable Distribution, please contact:
UVA Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation (866-315-0947)
UVA Health System Development (800-297-0102)