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  • How You Can Help
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    A newsletter of the Napa Valley Community Foundation
    December 2008

    Last in a series of three special issues

    Yesterday, we announced an emergency "safety net" grant program that will distribute nearly $300,000 from the Strong Communities Fund to sixteen local nonprofits. The goal: Help Napa County residents most at risk from the current economic downturn meet their basic needs.

    To do so, we mobilized our Board and a small group of existing donors who know us well. However, for this effort to be successful, we will need to mobilize a much larger group of givers--both large and small.

    Candidly speaking, we know angel investors are in short supply this holiday season. We know the economy is weak, and that capital markets have sustained bone-jarring losses in recent months. And yet, we're hoping that you, and other community-minded people like you, might find in the list that follows a way to make a difference.

    Terence Mulligan
    President
    SCF How You Can Help

    • Support safety net charities, and other local charities, by writing a check directly to them for general support. Unrestricted dollars are in critically short supply. What nonprofits need most right now is general support--which they can use to pursue their mission at their discretion. If you have an issue you care about and want our help to find a nonprofit working in this area, please give us a call.
    • Consider your IRA. The financial rescue package signed into law in early October gives donors two more years to make tax-free transfers from IRAs to qualified public charities. Even with steep declines in the capital markets, many donors have more than they might ever need in retirement vehicles. Here are the details:


      • Donors over 70.5 years can make tax-free transfers from IRAs to qualified public charities in 2008 and 2009, up to $100,000 each year; for married couples, each spouse may make a distribution from his or her IRA of up to $100,000 in 2008 and 2009;

      • Such transfers will not create taxable income for donors, nor charitable income tax deductions, but will count toward the donor's required minimum distribution from the IRA in the year the transfer is made;

      • Private foundations and donor advised funds are excluded; other funds at the Community Foundation are included; for a template to send to your IRA plan custodian requesting a transfer, please call us.

    • Sell stocks at a loss, donate cash proceeds. This creates a dual tax benefit: donors can write off losses on the sale of securities, and receive a charitable income tax deduction for their contribution of proceeds.
    • Use your checkbook, stretch out payments. Most charities are delighted to receive pledges, or to agree on a payment plan with their donors, especially if the plan is expressed in terms of months, not years.
    • Be an advocate. If you are unable to make a financial contribution to your favorite cause, think about spending some of your personal political capital to be an unofficial ambassador for the program in the community. Nothing is more precious to a nonprofit than a passionate advocate that can influence his or her peers.
    • Donate time instead of money. There are more than 550 nonprofits in Napa County. Each of them needs volunteer Board members who can think strategically and creatively about a range of different issues. If you'd like our help to find a nonprofit that works in an area of interest to you, please call us at 254.9565.
    Contact the Community Foundation