People

William Thinks Before He Acts  

William R. Jeter

William is armed with a wry – and active – sense of humor (see his website profile). But when it comes to his community involvement, his decisions (and actions) are thoughtful and strategic.

Williamis Board Treasurer for both Central South Carolina (CSC) Habitat for Humanity and Richland First Steps (RFS). Why did he turn his focus to these two groups?

He says, “A few years out of college, once my annual charitable contributions included a comma, I decided I needed to think about the purposes I wanted to support with my time and my dollars. Topping my list were housing and education.”

“Housing came about from my job as a financial advisor. Housing is the biggest piece of most budgets. When I looked at incomes relative to the cost of housing, it was obvious to me many lower income people are in a position where they cannot succeed. Bottom line, CSC Habitat provides affordable homeownership to deserving homeowners.”

“Education came to me when I was reflecting on what has been the most important piece of my incremental success. Richland First Steps provides a wide range of services from home visits to daycare services to underprivileged families in Richland County who may not have the time or resources to prepare their own children to get ready for school. I’m a true believer that if someone can both make it through the education system and learn in the process, they can find a job that takes advantage of their unique talents and be a success. Education has the ability to move entire families up in socio-economic class.”

Deep thinker. Firm believer. Action taker. That’s William.

abacus lowercase a logo William R. Jeter

Ann Taps Into Woman Power

Ann J. Beckwith

Ann leads the communications and membership efforts for United Way’s Women in Philanthropy (WIP) Executive Committee. WIP’s mission is to unite a diversified group of women investors to create positive, measurable, long-term change in the lives of women and their families through leadership, networking, philanthropy, and volunteering.

Who better to explain than Ann herself?

“I am blessed to work for a firm that is committed to giving back to the Midlands community, and I am proud to build on the history of Abacus’ involvement with United Way and WIP. When I joined the Executive Committee, I came to understand that at the very heart of WIP is the desire to uplift and empower those women and children in our community who are the most vulnerable. It’s fun to dress up and go to events and meet inspiring women, but at the end of the day, it’s about the people in our community whose lives are changed as a result…the woman who is able to escape from an abusive relationship and find refuge through Sistercare or the single mom who can receive the support needed to nurture her child’s development, health and learning through Orangeburg First Steps.”

“When the members of WIP pool our resources, our time, and our talents, we have the ability to make a greater impact together than individually. Our $25,000 grant to Sistercare and our $15,000 grant to Orangeburg First Steps in 2023 was only possible because of all the women who came together to make this generosity possible.”

Navigating the realms of finance and philanthropy with grace. That’s Ann.

abacus lowercase a logo Ann J. Beckwith

Bailey Helps Homeless Teens

Bailey O. Davis

Impact is everything when it comes to charitable giving. The impact it has on the recipient. And
the impact it has on you. Both can, and should, be positive.

One way to “supercharge” your generosity is to donate shares of appreciated securities. Doing so is
an effective way to support the causes you care about and, at the same time, save on taxes. Think
of it as a win-win scenario: when you give appreciated securities to a charity, you can deduct the
market value of the stock at the time of the donation, and the charitable organization is allowed
to sell the stock without paying capital gain taxes.

Riverfront park cleanup efforts.

To get a bit more specific: First, you will only benefit if you give shares that have an accrued
long-term capital gain. You will, of course, still get a charitable deduction for the value of the
shares, but it would be no different than donating cash. Second, you should only donate securities
that you were otherwise going to sell. The tax (up to 20%) on capital gains only applies when you
sell your investment.

To get far more specific: By itemizing, you can deduct charitable contributions up to 30% of your
income if you donate appreciated assets. You may carry over the remaining deduction to offset
future income if your charitable contribution is larger than that percentage.
If you feel uncomfortable giving a “larger-than-normal” amount of money to charity in one year,
consider setting up a donor-advised escrow fund, which allows you to receive the tax deduction of
the gift in a single year while retaining the option to spread the distributions to charities over
an extended period.

How it works in the real world: Assume you make a gift of $5,000, while at the same time you are
planning to dispose of the shares of a publicly traded company that you’ve held for several years.
The shares, currently worth$5,000, were purchased several years ago for $1,000. The difference between the fair market value purchase price is an accrued capital gain of $4,000. Comparing the cost of the donation to you, assume first that you sell the shares and donate $5,000 in cash; and se at you donate the shares directly to the charity.

As you can see in the chart: Based on the $5,000 gift, by gifting your shares directly to your
favorite charity rather than selling the shares you will have saved $800 in tax on your capital gains. That’s good for the charity. And it’s good for you.

abacus lowercase a logo Bailey O. Davis