End of Year Giving & Grantmaking

As we approach the end of the calendar year 2020 and the season of giving, our staff at the Community Foundation of Collier County are here to help make your year-end gifts and grant making as simple and meaningful as possible.   

Please note the important information and deadlines below:

• December 31 is the last day to make charitable contributions in order to receive a tax deduction for fiscal year 2020.
• Donor Advised Fund recommendations must be made by Thursday, Dec. 10 for grant checks to be mailed out by the end of the year.
• The Community Foundation will be closed Dec. 24 and 25.
• You can make a donation to the Community Foundation of Collier County’s Annual Fund to sustain our mission and operations at any time through your Donor Advised Fund, mailing a check or clicking here.

Checks:

• Checks should be dated and postmarked on or before Dec. 31 and mailed to our offices at: 1110 Pine Ridge Road, Suite 200, Naples, FL 34108.
• Envelopes mailed through private mailing services such as FedEx must be received in our office by the morning of Dec. 31 to be processed as 2020 gifts.
• They may also be hand-delivered by 3PM EST on Dec. 31.

Credit Cards:

• Credit card gifts can be made securely online at cfcollier.org/donate-now by 11:59 PM EST on Dec. 31.
• Credit card gifts made over the telephone or sent by mail must be received at the Community Foundation offices by 3 PM EST on Dec. 31 in order to be charged.

Wire or Stock Transfers:

• Electronic transfers must be received by 12 PM EST on Dec. 31.
• The completed Stock Gifts and Wire Transfers form should be submitted to Lisette Holmes at lholmes@cfcollier.org.

Securities and Complex Assets:

• Gifts of complex assets and securities require planning and some extra time.
• Please contact the Community Foundation at (239) 649-5000 to discuss your intentions, as well as the requirements and timing of making your gift.
• Your transfer from a brokerage account is complete when the securities have been received by an account owned by the Community Foundation, not upon giving instructions to a broker.
• Initiate your transfer early – allowing several weeks. While some transfers may be received within days of your instruction, longer delays are possible. (i.e.…mutual fund transfers can take 2 or more weeks)
• Your electronic transfer must be received by 12 PM EST on Dec. 31.
• Physical stock certificates may also be hand-delivered by 3 PM EST on Dec. 31. If this is your intention, please contact Lisette Holmes to obtain the proper instructions and required forms.

Donor Advised Funds and Grantmaking

• Donor Advised Fund recommendations must be made by Monday, Dec. 10 for grant checks to be mailed out by the end of the year. The flexibility of a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) allows you to give at any time because you have already received your tax deduction for donating to the Community Foundation of Collier County.  Please consider making grants sooner rather than later to avoid the end of year rush if you are planning to do additional giving this year from your DAF.  
• Contributing to a Donor Advised Fund allows you to take the tax break in the year you give and have unlimited time to decide the charities you would like to give to. To learn more, contact the CFCC at (239) 649-5000.

COVID-19 Stimulus Package / CARES Act

• On Friday, March 27, the Congress passed and the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a $2 trillion economic stimulus package legislated to provide immediate relief for nonprofits.
• New Deduction Available: The bill makes a new deduction available for up to $300 per taxpayer ($600 for a married couple) in annual charitable contributions. This is particularly beneficial to people who take the standard deduction when filing their taxes (in other words for taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions). It is calculated by subtracting the amount of the donation from your gross income and is an “above the line” adjustment to income that will reduce your AGI, and thereby reduce taxable income. To qualify, you would have to give a donation to a qualified charity. If you have already made your donation since Jan. 1, that contribution counts toward the $300 cap. A donation to a donor-advised fund (DAF) does not qualify for this new deduction.
• New Charitable Deduction Limits: Also part of the bill, individuals and corporations that itemize can deduct much greater amounts of their contributions. Individuals can elect to deduct cash contributions, up to 100% of their 2020 adjusted gross income, on itemized 2020 tax returns. This is up from the previous limit of 60%.  Corporations may deduct up to 25% of taxable income, up from the previous limit of 10%.  The new deduction is only for cash gifts that go to a public charity. If you give cash to, say, your private foundation, the old deduction rules apply. And while the organizations that manage DAF’s are public charities, you do not get the higher deduction for donating cash to your DAF. These new limits do not apply to gifts of appreciated stock.  If your assets are substantial enough that you can give more than your income this year, you won’t lose the deduction for the excess amount. You can use it next year, as has always been the case.

IRA Charitable Rollovers

• Required minimum distributions waived in 2020 for most donors: RMD for individuals over age 70 ½ is suspended until 2021. This includes distributions from defined benefit pension plans and 457 plans. The RMD is an attractive way for donors to make a significant charitable gift directly from their IRA to a charity through a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) while avoiding taxable income. The suspension of the RMD may dampen somewhat the incentive for a donor who makes a gift from their IRA to count toward that minimum. However, the tax benefit of the QCD remains. 
• The takeaway – donors directing a QCD to charity this year (up to $100,000 per individual) will still reduce their taxable IRA balance. This allows all taxpayers, itemizers and non-itemizers alike, to direct gifts from their IRA to charities in a tax-efficient manner. 
• Using your QCD to establish an IRA Rollover Fund in your name with the Community Foundation enables you to make annual grants to the nonprofits you care about most. To learn more, contact Julie Van Tongeren at 239.307.4521.

Contact us if you have any questions about specific types of gifts or timing.

Staff Contacts:

Lisette Holmes, CFO
lholmes@cfcollier.org
p 239.649.5000

Julie Van Tongeren, VP Development
jvantongeren@cfcollier.org
p 239.307.4521 Direct Line

Meredith Nassif, Director of Donor Services
mnassif@cfcollier.org
p 239.307.4517 Direct Line