Page 30 – Arkansas Community Foundation

Fort Smith native and former Western Arkansas Community Foundation board member Talicia Richardson came home after living away for 20 years to become the executive director of the 64.6 Downtown nonprofit.

A woman who is always looking for ways to give back to her community, Talicia was attracted to serving on the Community Foundation’s local board because its goal of improving communities through smart giving was aligned with both her personal and professional goals.

“Philanthropy is important because it bridges the gap between public engagement and private resources,” she said. “It can come from individuals or organizations that recognize community needs and work to meet those needs.”

Public engagement is one of Talicia’s special talents. At 64.6 Downtown, they practice creative placemaking. Placemaking is a hands-on approach for improving a neighborhood, city or region and inspires people to collectively reimagine or reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. They do this by bringing events to town, creating parks and fostering an appreciation of artists and artworks. 64.6 Downtown works to transform community assets into economic development opportunities. “Unexpected” is one successful example of creative placemaking that has drawn international artists to town for a week to generate experiences downtown.

“We draw attention and awareness to arts and culture,” she said. “That drives tourism, plus draws the eyes of people who want to do business downtown.”

To learn more about the work being done at the Western Arkansas Community Foundation, you can follow them on Facebook or contact westernarkansas@arcf.org.

Eva Terry, Development Director
Peace at Home Family Shelter
Fayetteville, AR

Guest Blog by Eva Terry,
Peace at Home Family Shelter

Peace at Home Family Shelter provides safe shelter and services for victims of domestic violence and their children in Northwest Arkansas. As a safety precaution, we do not publicly share our location. This can make it harder for people to know about us, which is why we are excited about the new Arkansas Nonprofit Directory powered by GuideStar.

As a nonprofit, we are proud to be doing good work. But, we also strive to do good work well. Peace at Home programs help adults and children escape abusive homes and build new lives. The Arkansas Nonprofit Directory gives us a tool to share about these programs and their impact.

While many people do not know where we are located, anyone can view our profile on the website. When you look at our profile, you will find: financial reports, a list of board members, program descriptions, metrics and goals.

People in our community can use this tool to learn about Peace at Home. They can also explore our financial documents and feel confident knowing how dollars are spent at our agency. All of this makes it easier for people to know if they would like to be a part of our mission.

Through the Arkansas Nonprofit Directory and our Platinum profile, Peace at Home can say: This is who we are. This is what we do. If this work is important to you, please join us.

Explore charitable organizations working on behalf of the causes and communities closest to you at arcf.org/directory.

An online, searchable database of Arkansas nonprofit organizations is available from Arkansas Community Foundation at arcf.org/directory.

“If you are considering a year-end gift and thinking about where your dollars could make the most difference, you can use the Arkansas Nonprofit Directory to explore and vet charitable organizations to identify causes that interest you,” said Heather Larkin, Arkansas Community Foundation president and CEO.

Made possible by support from the Walmart Foundation, the online directory of 501c3 organizations is powered by Candid (formerly known as GuideStar), a national organization that provides data and research on nonprofit organizations. The database is searchable by: county; organizational characteristics like cause area, type of nonprofit; transparency rating; and financial characteristics like revenue size or assets pulled directly from an organization’s IRS Form 990 and updated on a monthly basis.

Clicking the names of individual organizations in the directory reveals more information like the organization’s mailing address, mission/cause area and, and in some cases, an enhanced profile including annual reports, videos, photos, goals/objectives, metrics and board lists. Information can be copied and downloaded to share with others in the community.

“As more information is added to the listings for Arkansas charities, the directory will be even more beneficial,” Larkin said. “Arkansas nonprofits interested in updating or enhancing their profiles in the directory can visit https://learn.guidestar.org/update-nonprofit-report.”

Candid offers a program that incentivizes nonprofits to share information about themselves beyond the bare minimum that is included in the IRS database. Nonprofits can claim their profile in order to gain access to it, edit it and add supplemental information they want to share with potential donors.

The more supplemental information the nonprofits provide, the higher their ”Seal of Transparency,” a rating badge indicating they’ve taken action to share information about themselves.

For more information, explore the Arkansas Nonprofit Directory.

Diane and Steve Higginbothom’s family grows cotton in Marianna but they grow more than crops through the Lee County Community Foundation. What started as a fund benefiting the local pound and honoring Diane’s birthday has since become a diverse charitable fund that benefits a host of Marianna’s nonprofits.

You can find a half-dozen rescue dogs and cats most anytime at their home in the middle of Marianna’s downtown. The Higginbothoms both love animals, and despite their sons’ misgivings, they don’t plan to stop taking in rescues anytime soon. In fact, they’ve built a miniature house in their back yard that keeps the dogs and cats safe when they can’t be in the main house.

“The city has an officer at the pound and takes care of the facility. But every animal there has issues, and many come in critical condition. In addition to funding veterinary bills for the dogs in the pound, we volunteer to take dogs and cats to be spayed and have exams,” Diane said. “It has become a tradition in town that many children ask for bags of dog food for the pound on their birthdays.”

A former board member of the Lee County Community Foundation, Steve knows the importance of smart charitable giving.

“It is quite obvious when you look at what the Foundation has done in 28 years,” he said. “Thousands of dollars in grants have gone into the community to do good. The effects are exponential on what the funds have done to help nonprofits operate and sponsor activities in our impoverished county. I also see the Community Foundation helping bring our community together across racial and socio-economic lines.”

For the Higginbothoms, the Community Foundation is a family tradition. Their involvement was inspired by Steve’s uncle Charles West, one of the founders of the Lee County affiliate, who set up funds that benefit the library, historical buildings, education and more. Today Diane and Steve’s sons, West and Drew, represent a new generation of Community Foundation leaders in Lee and St. Francis counties.

The ripple effects of tax reform have meant that less than 10% of taxpayers now itemize deductions. A smart strategy for your charitable clients who want to maximize deductions under the new tax laws is to make two or more years worth of charitable contributions in a single year. Known as bunching, bundling or stacking gifts, this giving strategy can push taxpayers over the itemizing threshold to reap the benefits of deducting the full value of their donations.

Learn more about how bunching gifts in an Arkansas Community Foundation fund can help your clients achieve greater impact with their charitable giving.

Visit Advisor’s Corner for more news, tips and tools for professional advisors.

Attorneys, accountants and financial advisors hold trusted positions with philanthropic families to offer not only suggestions for tax planning in support of favorite causes, but also to be aware of perspectives that will make the charitable giving experience meaningful for all members of the family. Indeed, not all members of a single family will see philanthropy in the same way.

Here are tips for working with three common points of view within a single donor family.

Impact-Focused. Family members who have a strong impact focus will be interested in learning more about how to help favorite nonprofits better communicate the outcomes of charitable investments. A recent study by Oracle NetSuite reported only 29% of nonprofit organizations are able to effectively measure the results of dollars invested. News like this is very much on the minds of impact-focused family members.

Legacy-Focused. Most families have at least one member whose top concern relates to establishing charitable values and passing them along to the next generation. Family members like this are no doubt seeing behaviors in younger generations that are different from their own. For example, research indicates that 10% of Gen Z want to start their own nonprofit organization. Keeping up with trends like this will help you counsel legacy-focused members of your client families.

Investment-Focused. Family members interested in dollars and cents are still going to ask about tax planning, which assets to give to charity, and how to time gifts to optimize tax benefits under the current laws. As you address these issues, it’s a good idea to also share the perspectives of legacy-focused and impact-focused family members. This helps investment-focused family members see the big picture and focus on the holistic elements of the family’s entire philanthropy plan.

Arkansas Community Foundation is your partner as you work with families like these and the variety of personalities that come along with them. With our expertise, we can assist you in navigating family philanthropy dynamics and structure meetings to ensure all voices are heard. Drawing on our research into community priorities and important social issues, we can help you build multi-generational relationships with targeted nonprofits in the community that are making a difference in your clients’ chosen areas of focus.

To learn more about how Arkansas Community Foundation can help you help your clients when it comes to family philanthropy, click here.

Visit Advisor’s Corner for more news, tips and tools for professional advisors.

Arkansas Community Foundation has issued a call for nomination for its annual Smart Corporate Giving Awards recognizing statewide businesses demonstrating outstanding corporate social responsibility through charitable giving, community leadership and employee volunteerism.

“Each year, we ask for nominations from individuals, businesses and nonprofits throughout the state to recognize companies that invest generously in the communities that have invested in them,” says Heather Larkin, Arkansas Community Foundation president and chief executive officer.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.arcf.org/nominate through October 18.

“Corporate giving is vital to our local charitable organizations and the people whose lives are impacted by those charities, and it’s a great investment for companies,” says Larkin.

“Arkansas Community Foundation is in the business of fostering smart giving to improve communities,” says Larkin. “That’s why it’s so important to us to acknowledge extraordinary corporate philanthropy and to encourage a culture of giving among all companies in Arkansas.”

Formerly known as the Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation Awards, the recognition program is now entering its 16th year.

Any for-profit business or corporation in Arkansas is eligible for consideration except for previous award winners within the past 10 years. Nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies are not eligible.

Winners will be selected from among the qualifying nomination by a panel of business leaders to receive Smart Corporate Giving Awards at the Arkansas Business of the Year Awards in March 2020.

Denice Eaves has been named executive director of White County Community Foundation, an affiliate of Arkansas Community Foundation.

“We’re excited to welcome Denice on board,” said Heather Larkin, President and CEO of Arkansas Community Foundation. “As a longtime resident of Searcy, Denice brings a history of knowledge and expertise to her role that will make prove beneficial to our work in White County.”

Eaves comes the White County Community Foundation from the Searcy Country Club where she had served as office manager since 2015. Prior to that, Eaves spent 12 years as SAFEKIDS Coordinator at White County Medical Center..

Active with the Imagine and Believe Foundation, Eaves has previously served on the boards of Main Street Searcy and the Wise Coalition and is a former junior auxiliary member.

3 headshots of Tracy Cude, Kandice Bell and Heather Loftis

Arkansas Community Foundation has named Kandice Bell, Tracy Cude and Heather Knight Loftis as the three newest members of its statewide board of directors.

Bell, of White Hall, is an attorney who serves as senior counselor and Southeast Arkansas district representative in the office of Governor Asa Hutchinson. An alumnus of the University of Arkansas, Bell received a Juris Doctorate degree in 1997 at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville.

Cude, of Bentonville, is chief financial officer of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. An alumnus of the University of Arkansas, Cude earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is a certified public accountant. She has previously been named Nonprofit CFO of the Year by the Arkansas Business Journal and Accountant of the Year by the University of Arkansas.

Loftis, of Mountain Home, is corporate sales manager at KTLO 97.9 FM and co-owner of Bookworms Café a the Library. An alumnus of the University of Central Arkansas where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing, Loftis previous worked in healthcare philanthropy at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation in Mountain Home.

Summer will soon be here, bringing along the fun and excitement of special vacation planning.

Researching your destination, shopping for the best airfare prices, and gathering the proper travel gear may top your checklist, but as you update your passport or purchase travel insurance, why not also use this opportunity to review your will and consider creating a legacy plan?

It is tempting to avoid the topic, but estate planning is vital to ensuring your intentions are carried out in the event of your death. Many Americans are unaware lack of estate planning may cause their assets, after death, to be disposed of by default to unintended parties through the complex process of probate.

You have a passion for life that involves helping others and caring for your community, and Arkansas Community Foundation is here to help you create a generosity plan designed to support those causes closest to your heart even after you are gone.

For more than 40 years, the Community Foundation has been stewarding the legacies of community-minded givers like you. Whether your nest egg is large or small, an array of options is available to help you protect your financial interests and provide for your family while also leaving an enduring impact on your community. Some planned gifts can, in fact, provide you with additional income for life or even offer tax advantages for you and your heirs.

Utilizing a Community Foundation fund for your generosity plan is a simple, significant way to continue your legacy. Simply by adding a provision in your trust or making a specified beneficiary designation, you can use a planned gift to add to or create a Community Foundation fund.

So before you set off on your summer vacation, check estate planning off your list and travel securely with peace of mind. Contact our staff or your professional advisor to guide you through the steps of adding a charitable fund into your legacy plan.