|
Landowner options for land conservation
- The outright donation of land
- NEFF is one of very few land conservation organizations that actively manages
its properties to yield the continuous flow of wood products and environmental
benefits. Most of these are Memorial Forests named to perpetually honor the donor or their family. NEFF
considers its properties to be part of its endowment portfolio, which provide
income from wood products to support its conservation work. The straightforward gift
of a land parcel is the simplest
way to transfer ownership. Making a gift is as easy as drafting a deed. This technique offers the maximum tax advantages
to the donor because the charitable-gift deduction is generally based on the full fair market
value of the property. An appraisal obtained by the donor substantiates this value
for IRS deduction purposes.
- Donation of conservation easement
- A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner (the grantor)
and a conservation organization or public agency (the grantee or holder). The
agreement separates the rights to exercise more intensive uses -- such as
construction, subdivision, and mining -- from other rights of ownership. These
“development rights” are then transferred to the grantee through the
conservation easement deed. The grantee agrees to hold, but not use, the
development rights and to ensure that they are not used by anyone else;
effectively, the development rights are extinguished. Conservation easements are
granted in perpetuity and apply to the land regardless of who may own it in the
future.
Donation of an easement brings a package of benefits that
potentially includes a federal income tax deduction,
reductions in both federal and state estate taxes, a state income tax credit, and
occasionally a property tax savings. Provided that the land has natural conservation
value, there are virtually no geographic
constraints on donated easements.
For more information about conservation easements see our Questions and
Answers for Landowners page
- Planned Giving
- Planned Giving is a unique way to turn your assets into conserved land. There
are several ways that you can take a charitable
tax deduction while supporting NEFF.
Land Donation: The most common gift is the donation of land. The amount of your tax deduction is based on the appraised value of
the property. Land donated through a will is not treated as part of the
taxable estate. There are other tax vehicles available for donating land,
please see the Leaving a Legacy section of Support Our Work.
Life Estate: A landowner may wish to make a donation of land while retaining the right to use the land until death. The act of
donating land now to take effect after death of the owner is called the gift of a "remainder interest" and the retained right of use is
called a "life estate." The important difference between a conservation easement and a remainder interest lies in the ownership.
While a landowner retains ownership when donating a conservation easement, ownership is relinquished upon death with the gift of a
remainder interest. In the latter case, family land can be saved but not for future
ownership by family members.
| 
Board of Directors
