Reasons to Give

Giving through your local community foundation is an effective and efficient vehicle to help you achieve your charitable giving goals. For more information, please contact your local community foundation.

• LOCAL EXPERTISE Community foundations are locally led, locally focused, and locally funded. If you want to support your community, look to the deep roots and broad expertise of your community foundation, which also serve as community leaders, convening nonprofits and coordinating resources to create positive change.
• PERSONALIZED SIMPLICITY Establishing a fund or contributing to an existing fund at your local community foundation involves little paperwork and can be done relatively quickly. Community Foundations provide highly personalized service tailored to each individual’s charitable and financial interests.
• EFFICIENCY One contribution to your local community foundation can make a large impact and address a wide range of charitable interests to benefit one or several nonprofits or community causes. See the impact of your generosity multiplied by pooling your gift with other gifts and grants.
• PERMANENCE A gift to create or add to an endowment fund will continue to provide charitable support in your community – forever.
• FLEXIBILITY Donors can realize nearly any charitable intent by choosing from a variety of fund types offered by your local community foundation. They can accept a wide variety of assets and can facilitate even the most complex forms of giving. In addition, the assets that can be used to establish or contribute to a fund provide an opportunity for each individual, family, or business to make an impact in the way that is most effective for them.
• CONVENIENCE Establishing a fund with your local community foundation is less costly and time consuming than handling it yourself. The community foundation handles all of the paperwork, record keeping and administrative details.
• TAX BENEFITS The Internal Revenue Service classifies community foundations as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (affiliates are categorized under their host community foundation). As such, all contributions to your local community foundation are deductible to the greatest extent allowed by law. You may be able to reduce your taxable estate through a charitable bequest or other planned gift to your local community foundation. In addition, gifts to permanent endowment funds at qualified community foundations may be eligible for a 25% tax credit through Endow Iowa in addition to eligible federal deductions.
• PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY Funds administered by your local community foundation are pooled for investment purposes which provides optimum investment diversification for individual funds of any size. They also partner with professional advisors to create highly effective approaches to charitable giving.