DONATIONS: We are pleased to report that CHRS / BARM is the proud recipient of a $75,000 donation! CHRS Life member Norman Leal has transferred funds from his IRA. Thank You Norm! Your generosity is deeply appreciated by every member of this organization.This donation means a great deal to our Directors. The work we have done at KRE and with CHRS / BARM is being recognized to be important enough for people to entrust us with a substantial donation. Our passion for preserving radio seems to be contagious. This is good. Norm would like to see the money used as seed money to raise enough to buy KRE... Stand by!

We are sending out the information we sent the other day, just in case you would like to join Norman and make a donation of such 'Stratospheric' significance. Your Directors encourage you to make this commitment to CHRS / BARM, our favorite Vintage Radio Society.

Once again we thank Norm for his terrific donation. When you see him don't hesitate to tell him how much we all appreciate his gift.

DONATION DEADLINE APPROACHING
70 1/2 YEARS OLD?
DONATE UP TO $100,000 TO CHRS
FROM YOUR IRA - PAY NO TAXES - HELP CHRS

The following information from PT Money:
Deadline for Qualified Charitable Distribution Approaching
The tax-free qualified charitable distribution provisions were renewed this year, but the deadline for your contributions is December 31, 2011.

This provision allows individuals 70 1/2 years and older to exclude from their gross income up to $100,000 of their qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) when paid directly from their IRA or Roth IRA to a qualified charitable organization.

The QCD amount may also be used to satisfy any outstanding required minimum distributions (RMD) that an individual must otherwise receive from their IRAs for 2011.

To be considered a qualified charitable distribution, the charity must be set up as a 501(c)(3) organization under IRS guidelines and the IRA trustee must make the payment directly from the IRA account to the qualified charity. Any distribution that is received by the IRA owner prior to delivery to the charity cannot qualify.

An important note: QCDs cannot be made from Simplified Employee Pensions (SEP-IRAs), Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees, or from 401(k) plans or 403(b) plans.

In addition, the IRS has given married couples the chance to double the QCD amount that may be excluded from their gross income. A couple filing jointly on their tax return has the option to exclude $100,000 per spouse; that’s a whopping $200,000 before the end of the year.

Another benefit of this tax-free treatment is that the $100,000 maximum QCD will not apply to an individual’s overall charitable deduction limit.

This means that you can exclude from your gross income up to $100,000 through QCDs and still be able to make regular charitable contributions up to 50% of your adjusted gross income.

You cannot, however, deduct QCDs as a charitable contribution.

You might be asking why this is so important. The answer is simple; it’s less paperwork to deal with and less time consuming, it makes the process of giving to charity less expensive, and it offers a tax-effective strategy for taxpayers who want to make charitable contributions but choose not to itemize deductions (i.e. take the standard tax deduction).

This provision is a great way for individuals to dramatically lower their pre-tax dollars and a great incentive to give to charity before the year is up.

ESTATES: Many of the radios sold at the annual CHRS Auction are from Estates. Here is our official policy: "Handling Estates of Collected Radios is something done very well by the California Historical Radio Society (CHRS). We have helped executors of several such estates realize many thousands of dollars for the heirs to which they are responsible, in the last couple of years alone. CHRS auctions get the radios into the hands of people who care about them as did the original collector. At the same time, CHRS simplifies Estate Management with a single check and an accounting. CHRS's modest percentage of the realized revenue goes to its non-profit and public purposes as a radio museum and radio history center, likely already much appreciated by the original collector. The last two Estates handled by CHRS have raisedmany dollars for distribution by the executors. CHRS also solicits bequests of radios and any other property to fulfill it public benefit mandate."