Pinellas Community Foundation Presents Options and Opportunities for Philanthropy

Friday, May 13, 2016

8:30 – 10 am

RCS, Board Room
1552 S. Myrtle
Clearwater, FL 33756

For reservations, please call 727-531-0058 or
email reservations@pinellasccf.org

Learn your options for fulfilling your philanthropic goals in an interactive seminar with a complimentary breakfast. You are sure to enjoy this engaging session while discovering the tax-advantaged options you have for your charity gifts.

Regardless if you are looking to establish a permanent legacy, set up a scholarship at your alma mater or contribute to the needs of the community, you’ll learn about giving options that provide advantages today and in the future.

Pinellas Community Foundation, dedicated to Pinellas County, has been linking generous donors with exemplary nonprofits like RCS since 1969.

Happy Community Foundation Week!

Grants to fund a new pool lift for the handicapped, furniture for a teen shelter, new instruments for a junior orchestra demonstrate the tremendous impact and unique importance of community foundations in this country. This week, we celebrate Community Foundation Week, our chance to share and reflect on these stories. Though you may not yet know your local community foundation, you’ve likely felt its impact. The Pinellas Community Foundation and more than 750 other community foundations across the country help to bring donors and residents together. The community foundation unites their efforts behind the efforts that will help the communities we call home continue to flourish and grow.

As we enter the giving season, America’s generosity surges. Millions of people from every background will be looking to give back to the communities that have supported them. They’ll also look to make sure that their heartfelt giving – however they choose to give – will have the most impact. That’s why so many of them will choose to give to a community foundation.

A planned gift to your local community foundation is really an investment in the future of your community. The funds will go to work immediately supporting vital services, but they will also provide sustained support for years to come. At the Pinellas Community Foundation we don’t think about the next election or business cycle, we think about the next generation and the next after that.

That can seem a daunting task, but it’s one that we all share. During Community Foundation Week, I hope you’ll join us in recognizing our collective impact and the difference we can make together. Learn more at the Pinellas Community Foundation website.

The Pinellas Community Foundation Membership Program has made helping charities easy.

The Pinellas Community Foundation Membership Program is a community-wide support organization for Pinellas County charities. Membership revenues go directly to our grants program and are not used for our operations or overhead. Here’s why our membership program is so beneficial to the Pinellas County community:

Direct Donations to Charities – We maximize your donation because your annual membership donation goes directly to charities.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors – Only Pinellas County charities benefit from our membership program – so your gift stays in Pinellas County.

Very Low Administrative Costs – The Pinellas County Community Foundation’s administrative expenses are far lower than those of most community foundations and charities.

Local Community Decisions – A group of Pinellas County professionals, who are on the board of the Pinellas Community Foundation, decides how your membership dues are distributed. The Summer and Fall Competitive Grants Committees reviews all requests and make grants.

Public Foundation – The Foundation qualifies for the “public support” requirement by the IRS, with the help of the membership’s donations.

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Tax Deductible – The Pinellas County Community Foundation is a recognized charity under Section 501(c)(3) of IRS regulations.

To join, click here to print our annual membership form and mail it to: The Pinellas Community Foundation, 5200 East Bay Dr., Suite 202, Clearwater, FL 33764.

Best Charities Pay-it-Forward: An Inspiration

Fifteen years ago, Catherine Ryan Hyde‘s novel Pay It Forward was published and adapted into a film of the same name. In her book and movie it is described as an obligation to do three good deeds for others in response to a good deed that one receives. Such good deeds should accomplish things that the other person cannot accomplish on their own. In this way, the practice of helping one another can spread geometrically through society, at a ratio of three to one, creating a social movement with an impact of making the world a better place.

A Pay it Forward Movement and Foundation was founded in the USA and helped start a ripple effect of kindness acts around the world. They had an idea for encouraging kindness acts by having a Pay it Forward Bracelet that could be worn as a reminder. Since then, over a million Pay it Forward bracelets were distributed in over 100 countries sparking acts of kindness. Few bracelets remain with their original recipients, as they are passed on to other recipients when demonstrating an act of kindness.

In 2007, International Pay it Forward Day was founded in Australia and has now spread to 70 countries with over 50 state and city proclamations. It is estimated that it has inspired over 5 million acts of kindness and has been featured on ABC, NBC, Fox and global news.

On April 5, 2012, WBRZ-TV, the American Broadcasting Company affiliate for the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, did a story on The Newton Project, a 501(c)(3) outreach organization created to demonstrate that regardless of how big the problems of the world may seem, each person can make a difference simply by taking the time to show love, appreciation and kindness to the people around them. It is based on the classic pay-it-forward concept.

If you are so inspired, you can pay-it-forward with help from the Pinellas Community Foundation, who can help you establish your personal Pay it Forward vision for good deeds and acts of kindness – right here in Pinellas County!

Why give to charity or a non-profit organization? (How you can make an impact)

The act of giving benefits those in need. More than likely if you are reading this you are probably better off than a very large majority of Pinellas County residents. When giving to a worthy cause, the size of your donation directly correlates with the number of people you can help. That said, even small donations can have an impact – and you personally can help break the cycle of poverty for a child, family or even a community.

Help break the cycle of poverty for a child

Poverty and a lack of education contributes to many community issues that creates a drain on public services. But it’s not just poverty and education that needs funding to help improve our way of life in Pinellas County, it’s so many more services that can help the people around you; the arts, child care, challenged/disabled persons, foster care, housing, safe havens, and so many more organizations that improve life around all of us.

Yes, there are dozens of non-profits and charitable organizations you can give to, but the process of picking which one is a daunting task. The Pinellas Community Foundation can do the work for you so you don’t have to do the research yourself. Another advantage of utilizing  the Pinellas Community Foundation? You can decide what kind of charity interests you – and if some point in the future the charity you chose for what ever reason closes its doors, you’re protected. We can redirect your funds to a similar charity so your wishes far into the future are always met.

With the help of donors, see how we impact Pinellas County, click here.

 

Non-profit Provides Scholarships for Students; Here’s How …

A better education creates a better community.

Are you are compassionate, caring and want to provide scholarship assistance for graduating high school students in Pinellas County – but you don’t know where to start?

With your generosity you can easily create a scholarship program through the Pinellas Community Foundation. We have extensive experience administering numerous scholarship funds created for a variety of helpful purposes. You just simply create the criteria used in selecting the desired recipient, and we do the rest. From a few thousand dollars, to hundreds of thousands, any amount can create a scholarship fund. You also can take part on a scholarship selection committee with the foundation staff and foundation-appointed community volunteers to help find recipients.

For more information on how to start your scholarship fund, call the Pinellas Community Foundation at 727-531-0058.

Help the Best Non-profit Organization in Pinellas County Help Others

Please join us in helping to build a better future for Pinellas County. The Pinellas Community Foundation is committed to making the Pinellas County community a better place to live. The Foundation is funded by the generous donations of local area citizens, as well as various philanthropic organizations and businesses. Through the generosity and dedication of our advisors, community leaders, board and staff, we help the community in the following areas:

• Provide donors with how-you-can-help detailed information about different communities’ needs and priorities.

• Offer consulting services for non-profit donations that match your donations with effective and rewarding charities. If you desire to be involved and want to be hands-on with the charity of your choice, we can help with that too.

• Support non-profit organizations so they may continue to provide effective and productive programs that benefit Pinellas County communities.

• Manage programs that deliver grants, scholarships, and support educational endeavors in the community.

Important Differences Between Private Foundations and Family Foundations

The Pinellas Community Foundation is a time and cost saving alternative to a private or family foundation. The Foundation assumes all of the administrative and reporting requirements and helps the donor to avoid or decrease all the extensive legal costs and paper work. This type of fund can be created in a day versus several months.

A fund with the Foundation offers many advantages, along with greater charitable tax benefits. For example, gifts of cash or ordinary property to the Foundation are deductible up to 50% of adjusted gross income (AGI). Gifts to private or family foundations are deductible only to 30% of AGI. Similarly, gifts of appreciated property to community foundations can be credited for 30% compared to 20% for a private foundation. There are no excise taxes on community foundations as there are on private foundations and community foundations do not have a requirement that a certain percentage must be distributed each year.

To learn more, contact the Pinellas Community Foundation at (727) 734-2609.

Welcome New Pinellas Community Foundation members: Jeannine Williams, Esq. and Dr. Ken Peluso!

Jeannine Williams is an attorney with the City of St. Petersburg. She is board certified in City, County and Local Government Law. Jeannine is a past president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association and is involved with many other professional and civic organizations.

 

Dr. Ken Peluso was elected to the School Board in 2014. He has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Merrimack College in Massachusetts and a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine from Sherman College in South Carolina. In 2013, Dr. Peluso retired as president/owner of Peluso Chiropractic Center in Palm Harbor after 28 years in practice.

Dr. Peluso has served as chairman of the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas County and served on the Florida Early Learning Advisory Council.

This Non-profit Helps Students in Your Community

Are you are compassionate, caring and want to provide scholarship assistance for graduating high school students in Pinellas County – but you don’t know where to start?

With your generosity you can easily create a scholarship program through the Pinellas Community Foundation. We have extensive experience administering numerous scholarship funds created for a variety of helpful purposes. You just simply create the criteria to be used in selecting the desired recipient, and we do the rest. From a thousand dollars, to hundreds of thousands, any amount can create a scholarship fund. You also can participate on a scholarship selection committee with the foundation staff and foundation-appointed community volunteers to help identify recipients.

For more information on how to start your give-back-to-the-community fund, call the Pinellas Community Foundation at 727-531-0058.