Donor gets his/her tax deductible receipt
Texas Border Business
Thomas Jefferson wrote: “I deem it the duty of every man to devote a certain portion of his income for charitable purposes, and that it is his duty to see it so applied as to do the best of which it is capable.” In response to this challenge, the McAllen Chamber of Commerce founded the Rio Grande Valley Community Foundation.
This 501 (C) (3) non-profit is one of approximately 600 throughout the country serving the needs of donors. The RGV Community Foundation has as its goal, the provision of options to individuals and organizations and through intelligent giving, assists them in the attainment of their charitable goals.
Jim Deuser, who serves as the Director of Development for this Foundation, notes that “we connect donors of all backgrounds to the causes that they care about most for the greater benefit of the community.”
Charitable donations made to a non-profit are tax deductible. But occasionally, the cause the donor is interested in is not served by a non-profit. In this case, the donor can contribute to the RGV Community Foundation, receive their tax deduction, and direct the Foundation to use the money as the donor indicates.
The RGV Community Foundation does not solicit grant applications; it represents and advises donors, both individuals and organizations, who have distinct and very personal preferences on how their philanthropic vision is achieved.
Although donors designate how their money is to be used, the donation becomes the property of the RGV Community Foundation. However, donors, at their option, direct their contributions towards fields of interest, other non-profits, donor-advised funds and multi-year contributions. Some donors wish to remain anonymous and use the RGV Community Foundation to avoid having their identity known.
Some donors wish to have “named” or memorial funds in honor of loved ones. Donors can create scholarships, awards or endowments. Of course the RGV Community Foundation welcomes unrestricted or partially restricted donations because our board is in a unique position to identify unmet needs in our community.
The opportunity for personal choice of who, where, and how their donations are directed, the ease and simplicity of the process and the knowledge that the RGV Community Foundation, under the direction of the McAllen Chamber will be in existence for the foreseeable future all have great appeal for donors.
Groups wishing to conduct fund raisers for a cause can solicit tax deductible donations and sponsorships using the Foundation. Deuser is fond of telling potential clients, “This is about 95% like having your own family or private foundation.” If asked about the other 5% he says “you don’t own the foundation, but every other benefit is yours without the expense and hassle of creating and maintaining your own foundation-which is highly regulated. We do all the work and you get the satisfaction of making a difference in your community, and as the famous singer once said, ‘you do it your way!’”
Some donors contribute to the RGV Community Foundation with the direction that the funds be immediately distributed to their cause. Others contribute endowments that are invested and the earnings spent according to the donor’s direction.
RGV Community Foundation funds are managed by an investment committee comprised of financial professionals. The investment goals are moderate in order to minimize risk while, at the same time, delivering earnings sufficient to make a meaningful contribution each year to the donor’s intended recipients.
Scholarships are one of the most popular donations. People like to help deserving young people attain their education. Scholarships can be arranged according to the donor’s desire, a particular school, profession, community etc. These can be single donations or endowments.
The RGV Community Foundation solicits the applications, evaluates them with a committee comprised of community leaders, and administers them with the recipients and the institutions of higher learning involved.
This process is required if the scholarship donation is to be tax deductible. The donor can be part of the selection committee but cannot dictate the recipients. All other administrative work is done by Foundation staff.
To learn more about the RGV Community Foundation, contact Jim Deuser at jdeuser@rgvcommunityfoundation.com; or visit the website at www.rgvcommunityfoundation.com TBB
