Sample Letter to Add Cosponsors to the Public Good IRA Rollover Act of 2007

Locate contact information for your Senators and Representative Check current cosponsor list for S.819 and H.R. 1419 More Action Steps Talking Points (PDF) Fact Sheet (PDF) on the Public Good IRA Rollover How the IRA Rollover Helps People Give and Improve Their Communities More on the IRA Charitable Rollover

Dear Senator/Representative:

I am writing to tell you how important the recently passed IRA Charitable Rollover has been to my organization, [insert name], and to ask you to co-sponsor the “Public Good IRA Rollover Act of 2007” (S. 819/H.R. 1419).

As you may know, a charitable rollover provision was signed into law last August as part of pension reform legislation (Pub. Law 109-280). As enacted, the IRA Charitable Rollover permits IRA owners age 70 1/2 or older to make direct gifts from their IRAs to qualified charities totaling up to $100,000 per year without sustaining any negative tax consequences. The IRA Charitable Rollover has already enabled Americans to make millions of dollars of new contributions to the nonprofits -- including hospitals, museums, educational institutions, and religious organizations -- that benefit people every day. Thousands of older Americans have accumulated adequate funds in their IRAs to meet their retirement needs and also to give back to their communities, and they are counting on this provision to help them do so in the coming years.

[Insert paragraph about your organization, how it’s using the IRA Rollover, and how it is benefiting people in your state].

Now, we need to ensure that this valuable charitable giving incentive is extended before it expires at the end of 2007. The “Public Good IRA Rollover Act of 2007” was recently introduced on a bipartisan basis by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Representatives Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Wally Herger (R-CA). This legislation will extend the current IRA Charitable Rollover by making it permanent and expand its reach by lifting the current $100,000 cap on gifts, permitting gifts to all types of charitable organizations, and providing a planned giving option for donors beginning at age 59 ½. Extending and expanding the IRA rollover would generate millions of additional charitable donations that would help improve lives.

My organization along with hundreds of other charitable organizations from nearly every state in the country has endorsed the “Public Good IRA Rollover Act of 2007” (S. 819/H.R. 1419). We ask you to co-sponsor this legislation and to aggressively push for its passage this year to ensure that the IRA Charitable Rollover does not expire at the end of 2007.

Sincerely,

Organization Officer and/or Board Chair