As the final days of 2019 drift away, some residents in southeast Iowa are wanting to give back and make a difference before the start of the new year. If you are feeling philanthropic, there are several ways that you can benefit people and organizations. Millie Youngquist with the Community Foundation of Washington tells KCII News that the process starts with selecting an organization. If you are interested in receiving tax benefits from that contribution, you must give to a 501 C3 designated non-profit. You will also want to receive documentation of what you gave with a receipt or a letter and an estimated value of the gift if it was not monetary. The cancelled check may also be sufficient documentation.
Youngquist also shared statistics about end of year giving, “The total giving to charities has held steady for the last 40 years at 2% of the GDP, In 2015, 62.8 million Americans volunteered for a total of 7.9 billion hours which has a monetary value of $184 billion, the average annual household donation is $2,520, volunteers are almost twice as likely to donate to charity as non-volunteers, and giving in December represents an average of 21.8% of all online giving.”
Youngquist reminds listeners that there are other ways to contribute to causes including donating time as a volunteer or in-kind donations. The Community Foundation of Washington County is a non-profit organization founded in 2006. Their goal is to create endowments to benefit causes infinitely. Some of the groups that they created endowments for include Hospice of Washington County, Washington Public Library, HACAP, Washington Betterment Foundation, Friends of Lake Darling State Park, Wellman Parkside Activities Center, Highland Schools and more. Youngquist shared a quote from financial mogul Warren Buffet about the importance of giving back. “He said, someone’s sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
If you would like more information about giving you can contact the Community Foundation of Washington County on their website cfwashingtoncounty.org.