Montana has businesses of many differing sizes. If you're a leader in your company who is responsible for your community engagement program or maybe you're the only employee and want to engage in the community through philanthropy, the Montana Community Foundation can help. Here are a few clues to help you determine what help your local community foundation and statewide partners like MCF can provide:

Clue #1: Your inbox isn't getting any smaller.

Are you getting more and more letters and emails asking your company to support worthy causes? Do invitations to charity events land in your inbox almost every day? Do some of these requests come from important clients and customers? Do some even come from employees in your own company? How do you know which causes are worth supporting? You are not alone. The number of nonprofit organizations is increasing steadily, at the rate of nearly 30,000 new organizations each year (nationwide). The total number of nonprofit organizations in America now totals over 1.8 million. No wonder your inbox is filling up, and unlikely to be empty anytime soon. Consider organizing your company's charitable giving through a corporate donor-advised fund at your community foundation. It will help you budget, keep track of your donations and provide a resource to point interested charitable partners. Plus, you'll be able to better respond to inquiries from charities by explaining that your charitable giving is handled through a corporate fund, making it easier to streamline your ability to process requests. Don't forget that at MCF, a corporate donor advised fund offers contributions to be eligible for the Montana Endowment Tax Credit. Perhaps you even have employees who might be interested in contributing and receiving tax benefits as well.

Clue #2:  Where did this foundation come from?

It happens. Someone in the office is cleaning out a filing cabinet, recycling old papers, creating space, decreasing the carbon footprint. All good! And then that someone stumbles on an important-looking file. A file that doesn't appear to have been touched for a while. As in a few years. "Do we have a corporate foundation?" that someone asks. "I've never heard of it." Where did that foundation come from? Perhaps it got lost in the shuffle of the merger. Or maybe the person in charge of the foundation retired last year and it's just never been reassigned. Or maybe a handful of people know all about it, but everyone else is in the dark. It happens. And it's okay, because something can be done. Get in touch with your friends at the community foundation to help you organize your foundation structure through an easy-to-use corporate donor-advised fund. No new legal entity establishment is required and there are additional benefits in partnering for a corporate donor-advised fund. Contact us to learn more.

Clue #3:  Our budget is out of sync with our giving.

Your company supports a wide variety of causes by making monetary gifts to its favorite charities. Sometimes, though, the timing of those gifts is not quite lined up with the company's budget. For example, your company might have a terrific year and be able to give a lot to charity before December 31, but management is concerned that next year's budget might not be as flexible to make gifts to charities. Establishing a corporate donor-advised fund at your community foundation is a great way to meet both the company's budget goals and giving goals. For example, a company can transfer $50,000 to a corporate donor-advised fund prior to December 31, so it's a final transaction for purposes of the company's budget, taxes, and financial statements. Then, during the following year or over multiple years, the company can support charitable organizations with gifts from the donor-advised fund. The structure of the donor-advised fund allows you to plan the timing of your gifts to charities without worrying about balancing your giving goals with the company's budget. 

 

So, starting a donor-advised fund for your company has a number of advantages when it comes to making a positive impact in your community. Whether your organization has offices all over the country, the state or maybe it's a home office, there is a solution to be more thoughtful and strategic with your giving.

Interested in learning more about donor advised funds and the Montana Endowment Tax Credit? Businesses with Montana state income tax liability may claim a credit in the amount of 20% of their charitable contributions to a qualified endowment, which could be that same donor-advised fund. With new tax reform regulations in effect, your deduction limits may change, but the state credit is dollar-for-dollar in eliminating existing tax liability for the given tax year. C corporations may claim up to $10,000 per year while partnerships, LLCs and S corporations are allowed up to $10,000 per year, per partner.

Thank you for helping in your community and in our state. Remember, we are here to help.