You can have ongoing involvement in the use of your gift. You work with our professional staff, identifying ways to use dollars from the donor advised fund you establish to address the issues and needs you care about most. Distributions are ratified by the Board of Directors. We issue grants on your behalf. Learn more about the flexibilty of donor advised funds.

Your gift can address ever-changing community needs —including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. The flexibility of your unrestricted gift enables The Community Foundation’s staff and board to respond to the community’s most pressing needs, today and tomorrow. Learn more about the benefits to creating unrestricted funds.

You can target your gift to address needs in an important area of community life. You identify your personal interest area when making your gift; our board awards grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the area you select. Learn more about preference funds.

You can direct your gift to a specific nonprofit organization or purpose. Help provide ongoing funding for a senior center, museum, or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization. You can support your favorite charity forever by creating a designated fund.

You can invest your gift in our community’s future. You determine the criteria students must meet to receive the scholarship you establish. With your assistance, students achieve their academic and career-oriented goals—from preschool to postgraduate work. Learn more about scholarship funds.

Cash

Cash, usually in the form of a check, is an easy and convenient way for you to support worthy causes in the community. Cash gifts enable you as a donor to claim a current tax deduction of up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in any one year when you itemize deductions, with the excess carried forward for an additional five years. Learn more.

Securities

The Community Foundation accepts most securities as charitable gifts. Such gifts will be valued at the mean market value on the date of the gift.  After the security is liquidated, the remaining value of the gift is available to support your charitable goals. Learn more.

The Community Foundation is a partner in the national Leave A Legacy® program. All of us have the ability to “make a difference in the lives that follow” by leaving a charitable legacy. A gift through your will can recognize loved ones and support issues important to you. It's so easy to make a bequest, find out how.

The value of your real estate may exceed that of any other asset you own. You can use it to fulfill your charitable interests and receive financial and tax benefits. Learn More about making a gift of real estate.

One of the simplest and most tax-efficient ways to leave a legacy is to name The Community Foundation as a beneficiary of all or a percentage of your qualified retirement plan.  When you leave this asset directly to your heirs it is a taxable event, whereas The Community Foundation would receive 100% of the asset.

If you choose to make a charitable gift of a retirement plan account, please be sure that the beneficiary forms on file with the plan administrator specify the charity as the beneficiary and that you notify The Community Foundation about your plans.

You may also name The Community Foundation as a beneficiary of other types of accounts, such as checking, savings or investment; please check with you bank and/or investment firm about the necessary paperwork to accomplish this and contact us at (203) 777-2386 with any questions.

You can make The Community Foundation the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of your life insurance policy and either give a paid-up policy or continue to pay premiums - all with tax benefits that you can enjoy during your lifetime. Learn more about gifts of life insurance.

You can place cash or property into a trust that pays a fixed amount to The Foundation for the number of years you select. Once this period ends, the assets held by the trust are transferred to the beneficiaries you name. In some cases, you receive a substantial reduction in federal gift and estate taxes. Learn more about charitable lead trusts.

You can place cash or property in a trust that pays annual income to you (or another named beneficiary) for life. After your death, the remainder of the trust transfers to The Community Foundation and is placed into a charitable fund you have selected. You receive income tax benefits the year you establish your trust. Learn more about charitable remainder trusts.

You can make a gift of cash or property to The Community Foundation now, get immediate tax benefits, and ensure that you or a loved one receive fixed quarterly or annual income payments for life. Learn more about charitable gift annuities.

If you own highly appreciated stock, a pooled income fund may be an effective way to achieve your charitable goals, increase your income and save on taxes. Learn More about pooled income funds.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012: The IRA Charitable Rollover Returns for 2013 (and retroactively for 2012*)

If you are age 70½ or older, you are once again eligible to transfer up to $100,000 tax-free from your IRA directly to a qualified charity(ies) and have this amount count against your required minimum distribution. In addition to this provision being reinstated for the entirety of 2013, Congress also has provided some retroactive 2012 opportunities that could provide you with some income tax savings come April 15th:

1. Qualified charitable distributions from your IRA made by Feb. 1, 2013, may be counted for tax year 2012.
2. If you received a distribution from your IRA in December 2012, you may subsequently make a cash contribution of that amount (or a portion of that amount) to a qualified charity(ies) before Feb. 1, 2013, and treat this as a direct charitable transfer, thus avoiding the income tax on the distribution (or portion thereof) on your 2012 return.
3. If you made a charitable distribution at any point in 2012 from your IRA with the hopes that the provision would be made retroactive, you are in luck, as the new provision is retroactive to January 1, 2012.

*Please note that you may use a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA to make a gift to The Community Foundation and we greatly welcome such gifts. With a gift of $10,000 or more you may establish a named endowed fund; gifts of any amount may be added to an existing endowed fund. Please note, however, that this gift opportunity does not apply to donor advised funds or life income gifts, such as charitable gift annuities or charitable trusts.

Please contact us for further information and instructions on how to take advantage of the IRA Charitable Rollover or to explore other ways of giving that might yield additional tax benefits while supporting the causes about which you care the most.

We strongly encourage you to discuss your charitable plans with your professional advisors to be sure such gifts work in concert with your overall financial and estate plans.