Like everything else in 2020, the season of giving looks a little different this year. To educate and inspire donors, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks has published the Holiday Charitable Giving Guide, available at cfozarks.org/giving-guide.
With end-of-year fundraisers and changes in tax law, donors have plenty of opportunities to donate generously this year. Some notable points in the guide:
• If you are giving directly to a nonprofit agency, consider giving an unconditional gift for the business. With these flexible gifts, agencies can put funds where they need them most – especially important this year given the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Not sure what to give someone or cannot exchange gifts in person? Donate to a preferred charity or agency this year. Many nonprofits, including the CFO, have the opportunity to offer a tribute gift in honor of someone.
• If you plan to take the Standard Withholding on your 2020 tax returns, you can deduct up to $ 300 for gifts to charities. The passage of the CARES law enables this deduction “above the line”. This means you can reduce your gross income by $ 300 and still take the standard deduction on your 2020 tax return.
• If you plan to include deductions on your 2020 tax return, you can deduct more cash donations to charities. The CARES law increased the AGI limit (adjusted gross income) for donations to charitable organizations from 60 percent to 100 percent.
The CFO does not provide tax or legal advice and recommends speaking with a professional advisor. If a donor needs to speak to a donor, the members of the CFO’s Professional Advisors Council can be found at cfozarks.org/professional-advisors.
To provide donors with ideas for charitable gifts, the Holiday Charitable Giving Guide includes a growing list of links to year-end fundraising for the CFO’s nonprofit agency partners. Through the Agency Partner Program, the CFO funds approximately 630 nonprofits, schools, cities, and places of worship in central and southern Missouri and provides a variety of services to help them grow and better serve communities.
“Whether you are donating to the CFO directly to a nonprofit through the CFO, donating physical goods, or volunteering your time, we hope you donate generously this Christmas season,” said CFO President Brian Fogle. “Our nonprofit community has been hit so hard this year, but the time of giving is an opportunity for donors to share warmth, hope and joy through generosity.”
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is a regional charitable foundation that serves 58 counties in central and southern Missouri through a network of donors, nonprofit partners, and 51 regional foundations. The CFO has assets of $ 310 million as of June 30, 2020.