Life Income Gifts

Many donors elect to make arrangements during their lifetimes that assist The Cooper Union while enabling them to receive ongoing income plus:

  • Get a generous charitable income tax deduction
  • Reduce or eliminate the capital gains tax
  • Reduce estate tax and probate costs

Of all the gifts that pay you back with a life income, the Charitable Gift Annuity may be the simplest and most affordable. You contribute a gift directly to The Cooper Union, which agrees to pay you a fixed income for life.  Gift annuities are simple (most agreements are one page or fewer) and secure (your income is based on The Cooper Union's overall assets, not just by the principal amount of your gift).

Charitable Remainder Trusts have a higher minimum requirement but can be structured to maximize your benefits.

Online Gift Calculator

Do you want to know more about how a planned gift would work for you? Use our online gift calculator for specifics about charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.

For more information on these and other gifts, including contributions of appreciated securities to fund planned gifts, please contact Donna Lippman at (212) 353-4172 or dlippman@cooper.edu.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.