Charity: Give It Away, Get Something Back

When it comes to giving money to charity, there's an important lesson to be learned from big-league charitable givers.

Be it Bill Gates, George Soros or Barbara Dodd Anderson -- the 75-year-old woman who made a breathtaking $128.5 million donation to her prep school alma mater last week -- the nation's biggest charitable donors have something in common: When they give, they get back more than just a standard tax deduction.

And no, we're not talking about a mug or appointment book showing a charity's logo, or even the warm and fuzzy feeling you get inside after making a donation. We're talking about things that pack a big financial punch such as guaranteed lifetime income or big estate-planning and tax benefits.

The good news: You don't have to give multimillion-dollar donations to get those benefits.

Here are some of the most popular gift-giving tools that come with long-term benefits not only for a charity, but for the donor, too:

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust

When you contribute a lump sum to this kind of trust, you receive income for the trust's term, which would typically be set up to match your lifetime. After your death, a charity of your choice receives what is left in the trust. In the year you set up the trust, you get a tax deduction for the amount the charity is expected to receive.