Let’s Keep the Lower Shore Warm this Winter

As cold weather settles into our area once again, it is time for us to think of our neighbors who are less fortunate.  Again, many local families and senior citizens will face difficult choices this winter.  They may have to choose between purchasing food, vital medications or keeping warm.

If you or someone you know is having trouble keeping up with energy bills, the Maryland Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) offers assistance to income-eligible households. Information on the program can be found by calling 1-800-352-1446 or by checking with the Local Home Energy Programs Office for your county (see the Maryland Office of Home Energy Programs website www.dhr.state.md.us/ohep).

Unfortunately, due to Congressional budget delays and cuts at other levels of government, program funding will be substantially lower this year than in the past.  It will fall to local not-for-profit organizations and churches to make up the difference for many local families.

To help provide assistance with heating bills, you may donate to the Help Your Neighbor Fund at the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore.  One-hundred percent of the funds collected are distributed to local grassroots organizations for energy, prescription or food assistance.  Another option is to seek out one of the many organizations throughout the area that provide direct assistance to families in need.  Our area is blessed with organizations that have a long track record of getting assistance to those in need in a highly efficient and effective way.  Whichever option you choose, you will be making a difference for our neighbors in need.

I can’t think of a better way to express the true spirit of Christmas.

Happy Holidays to All,

Spicer Bell 
President - Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore 

Free Non-profit Webinars for January 2012

24+ free non-profit webinars scheduled for January. Topics include: events; recruiting with LinkedIn; proposal writing; leadership engagement; fundraising planning; social media marketing and lots more. 

Read More Here

IRS Extends Filing Deadlines

Tax-exempt organizations with January and February filing due dates will have until March 30, 2012, to file their annual returns, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

The IRS is granting this extension of time to file because the part of the e-file system that processes electronically filed returns of tax-exempt organizations will be off-line during January and February.

The agency stressed that the rest of the e-file system will continue to operate normally and urged all individuals and businesses to choose the accuracy, speed and convenience of electronic filing.

In general, the extension applies to tax-exempt organizations whose normal filing deadline is either Jan. 17 or Feb. 15, 2012. Ordinarily, these deadlines would apply to organizations with a fiscal year that ended on Aug. 31 or Sept. 30, 2011, respectively.

The extension also applies to organizations that already obtained an initial three-month filing extension and now have an extended filing deadline that falls on Jan. 17 or Feb. 15, 2012. The majority of tax-exempt organizations will be unaffected by this extension because they operate on a calendar-year basis and have a May 15 filing deadline.

The extension applies to affected organizations filing Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, or 1120-POL. Form 990-N filers will not be affected. No form needs to be filed to get the March 30 extension.

To avoid receiving a late filing penalty notice, a reasonable cause statement should be attached to the tax return. If organizations receive late-filing penalty notices, they should contact the IRS so that these penalties can be abated. The IRS encouraged these organizations to consider either e-filing early -- before the end of December -- or waiting until March to file electronically.

Reprinted from The NonProfit Times

IRA Charitable Rollover

A tax-free, charitable opportunity…

There is a tax-free charitable giving opportunity some local residents may not want to miss.  While the fate of the IRA charitable rollover law remains uncertain for 2012, this year it continues to offer people aged 70 1/2 and older a special, tax-free opportunity to make a significant charitable gift.

How does the IRA charitable rollover work?

If you are at least 70 1/2 and required to take a minimum distribution from your IRA, you can transfer up to $100,000 of your IRA assets directly to a public charity. The transferred assets will not be recognized as income, so they will be free from federal income taxes today and estate taxes in the future. If you and your spouse both are subject to required minimum distributions, you can achieve the charitable gift of a lifetime by transferring up to $100,000 each.

The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore offers a number of options to achieve your charitable objectives through an IRA charitable rollover:

• You can establish or add to a designated fund benefiting one or more nonprofits of your choice.
• You can establish or add to a field of interest fund in support of a particular area of interest in the Lower Shore area, such as the arts, education, or the environment.
• Through a transfer to the Lower Shore Fund for Community Needs, you can help the Foundation address the most critical unmet needs in our area.

Please keep in mind that at present, only IRA withdrawals qualify for this special charitable treatment. The withdrawals cannot come from any other type of retirement plan, nor do they qualify for any additional charitable deduction. Although expanding the charitable IRA rollover has been discussed in Congress, it currently does not apply to other charitable alternatives such as donor-advised funds, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and private foundations.

To learn more about this and other charitable giving strategies, contact the Community Foundation at 410-742-9911.

Spicer Bell
President
Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

National Community Foundation Week

These are difficult times for many in our community. Unemployment remains high, paychecks don’t go very far, and every day it seems another public service is being curtailed in the interest of budget cuts. That’s why the kinds of innovative investments being made by philanthropy—particularly community foundations—have never been more important on the Lower Shore.

National Community Foundation Week 2011, November 12 thru 18, spotlights the vital role of more than 700 community foundations nationwide in supporting essential services such as health care clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, libraries, and volunteer fire departments. In 2010, these foundations granted an estimated $4 billion to a variety of nonprofit activities in the arts, education, health and human services, the environment, and disaster relief. Though they could never replace the role of government-funded services, community foundations can help nonprofit organizations and others by using their private resources for the public good.

Community foundations’ financial independence allows them to take risks, sometimes achieving extraordinary results and affecting change.  As a part of our 2011 Homelessness Community Initiative, the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore made grants to local community outreach groups, food banks and homeless shelters.  Those grants helped to provide utility and prescription assistance to those in need, provide food for thousands of local citizens, provide a day facility for the homeless, reconnect homeless individuals with employment and provide shelter for homeless families. 

Community foundations know that the investments they make today will help people for many years to come. By marshaling the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses, we can address unemployment, stagnant economic growth, hunger, and poverty issues. By strategically working with others, community foundations equip communities to more effectively deal with such future challenges.

To find out more about how you can become a part of this important philanthropic movement, contact the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore at 410-742-9911 or through our website www.cfes.org. 

Spicer Bell
President
Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

ShoreCAN Marks Tenth Anniversary of 9/11 with Volunteer Event

The Community Foundation and ShoreCAN Volunteer Center is observing the tenth anniversary of 9/11 by hosting a Just In Case Emergency Kit Event on Saturday, September 10 at 10:00 a.m. at the MAC Senior Center building, 909 Progress Circle Drive in Salisbury.

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, thousands of volunteers responded to the needs of their neighbors and provided emergency relief and funding necessary to rebuild those communities.  This event is a tribute to those generous efforts.  Citizens of all ages can volunteer alongside others while assembling emergency disaster kits designed for older adults and their caregivers.

In partnership with Meals on Wheels, the emergency kits will be distributed to 425 seniors living at home in our local community the week of 9/11.

Volunteer opportunities ranging from creating care cards, emergency kit assembly and packaging will be available.  We invite you to bring your family, your friends or your service organization to contribute your time to this special effort.

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please call Heather Towers, Assistant Program Officer, Community Foundation ShoreCAN at 410-742-9911.  ShoreCAN is also accepting financial contributions to support kit materials for this project. 

Strike Out Hunger Food Barrels

The Maryland Food Bank came yesterday to pickup TWO barrels full of donated food for our Strike Out Hunger campaign.  There's plenty of time for you to still donate - all the way up to the Shorebirds All-Star game in June. Stop by our offices today.