Fall 2024 - Tartan Traditions
Giving Since the Beginning
A donor-advised fund adds flexibility to CMU alumnus Bob Rifkin’s charitable giving.
It wasn’t until recently that Bob, who earned his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business in 1976, made a more substantial commitment to CMU — he named the university as an estate beneficiary of his donor-advised fund (DAF).
Bob started work at Texas Instruments in Dallas, where he ultimately was employed for 44 years, immediately after receiving his master's degree from CMU. It didn't take him long to decide that he wanted to make an impact at the schools he had attended.
“You get solicitation letters and a lot of them you throw away,” Bob says. “But a lot of them, you say, ‘Well, I believe in this cause — why would I say no?’”
"Where do I kind of feel an obligation to pay back?’ And certainly, the universities I went to would be very, very high on that list." - Bob Rifkin
DAF Advantages Include
You can donate cash, stock or potentially other complex assets.
You can avoid capital gains tax.
You may have access to a variety of investment options to grow your DAF.
Most importantly, you can recommend gifts to your favorite charities from your DAF — both now and in the future.
Taking Stock
Did you know that gifting appreciated stock to CMU can be a financially advantageous and tax-savvy way to make an impact?
Tax deduction. If you’ve held the stock for more than a year and gift the stock directly to CMU, you may be eligible to claim a charitable deduction of the full fair market value of the shares.
No gains. By gifting the shares directly to CMU, you’ll avoid capital gains tax on the transfer.
Support CMU. CMU then sells the shares and applies that value to the university priority that you have designated.
Have stock or another appreciated asset that you’ve owned for at least a year that you’d like to donate?
Contact CMU’s Office of Development and Gift Planning at mickkoster@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-5346 to begin the process or learn more.