Greetings Friend,

You’re probably aware of two of the largest bills that authorized billions of dollars in investments in communities over the past few years - the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. But did you know that both bills still offer time-sensitive funding opportunities for your community foundation today?

I’m happy to invite you to a webinar that I’ll be moderating on October 2: Accessing Federal Dollars to Strengthen Communities. With the help of Kristin Tracz of the Community Foundation Climate Collaborative and David L. Thompson and Jessica Mendieta of the National Council of Nonprofits, we’ll explore how to access and use two funding opportunities that can help you better serve your community. 

Elective Pay, also known as Direct Pay, was passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and provides a tax credit for building clean energy projects. Kristin will provide the background of this provision, how your foundation can receive this funding, and an example of a philanthropy project that is already using Elective Pay to invest in clean energy. 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) may sound familiar from the pandemic era, as these resources were implemented through the American Rescue Plan Act to help our country recover from the COVID-19 public health crisis. These funds can still be invested in charitable nonprofits, and our friends at the National Council of Nonprofits will explain how they can be applied to support your community nonprofit partners.

You don't have long to take advantage of these opportunities! State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) must be distributed by December 31, 2024, and your chance to take advantage of Elective Pay tax credits may dwindle with a new administration. Join your peers for our webinar on October 2 to make sure you don’t miss out on dollars that could go directly to bolstering your community’s infrastructure. Hope to see you there! 

In partnership,

Upcoming Events

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Peer Learning Circle

September 26 | Virtual | Peer Discussion

Looking to 2025: What's at Stake?

October 1 | Virtual | Webinar

Accessing Federal Dollars to Strengthen Communities: Elective Pay and State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

October 2 | Virtual | Webinar

National Standards Monthly Session - October 2024

October 9 | Virtual | Webinar

Global Grantmaking Essentials

October 9, 10, 16 | Virtual | Training

DEI Roundtable - Self & Community Care for DEI Practitioners: Strategies for Resilience and Overcoming Resistance

October 10 | Virtual | Peer Discussion

Retreat for New Community Foundation Executive Leaders

October 16-17 | San Francisco, CA | Executive Retreat

Virtual Meet-Up: Community Foundation Donor Services

October 23 | Virtual | Peer Discussion

Looking to 2025: Making Sense of the Elections

November 14 | Virtual | Webinar

2024 Annual Member Meeting

November 19 | Virtual | Webinar

Leading Locally 2025

June 10-12, 2025 | Minneapolis, MN | Sector Event

New Member Spotlight

Welcome to the community foundations that have joined as new Council members since our last newsletter! We're excited to have The Community Foundation Martin St. Lucie, Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia, and Hillsdale County Community Foundation as new members.

Resources You Can Use

Legal Question of the Month with Remy Barnwell, Staff Counsel

Question: Are there are any IRS restrictions against an IRA distribution upon the death of the donor to their children’s donor advised funds? And would that count as a qualified charitable distribution from the estate?

Answer: Qualified charitable distributions may not be made to donor-advised funds regardless of who the owner/donor-advisor is of the fund. A donor may make a QCD to other funds types but not to DAFs, private foundations, or supporting organizations.

Council members are able to send their questions to our legal team for expert advice and analysis. You can take advantage of this member benefit by becoming a member today.

CF Insights Highlight

Custom Peer Dashboards, Prepared by Council Staff

Through CF Insights and the Council’s Plus Membership offering, your community foundation can request a customized dashboard compiling several reports to share with your senior leadership and board, comparing you to a set of peers we help you identify. Use the data to assess your growth trajectory, fundraising performance, available staff capacity, and more. We’ll also help you make sense of the data to inform and advance your internal conversations.

Want to learn more? Visit cof.org/cfinsights or email cfinsights@cof.org.

Annual National Conference for Growing Community Foundations

Tailored for small to medium-size foundations in rural, urban, and suburban communities, this conference offers practical training for all. Get ready for more sessions with more speakers and sites, and new this year, join our pre-conference Legal Matters workshop and embark on site visits to local organizations. We'll see you in Wichita on October 16-18!

Funding for Community Foundations in the South Central and Mountain West

The Fidelity Charitable® Catalyst Fund has released a request for proposals for community foundations looking to inspire donors to give more to promising nonprofits. If you are a community foundation based in the South Central or Mountain West and want to offer more donor education and engagement or nonprofit fundraising offerings in your community, sign up for a webinar on September 24 to learn more about the opportunity and RFP. Applications are due October 18.

Philanthropy Exchange Conversations for You

• Nonprofit Co-Work/Shared Service Models
• Sample Scholarship Packet
• Fund Portal Transition - Blackout Period?

News Articles

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy: America’s Giving Crisis — and the Plan to Fix It
• The NonProfit Times: NextGen Philanthropists Aspire To Be Changemakers
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Nonprofits, Legal Experts React to the Fearless Fund Decision to Shutter Grant Program to Black Entrepreneurs
• Nonprofit Quarterly: Nonprofit Boards Remain Overwhelmingly White—Here’s How to Change That

Keep in Touch!

Share your organization’s impact story with us at
cofcommunications@cof.org.

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