A story from our 2018 Annual Report

The first Crawford County grant of the newly expanded Western Arkansas Community Foundation helped fund a summer arts camp at the Center for Arts and Education in Van Buren.

Ken Kilgore, a board member of both organizations, explained that the grant to fund the summer program for students from nine communities in Sebastian and Crawford counties exemplifies the spirit of cooperation between the two counties that led the Fort Smith Area Foundation to expand its territory to Crawford County and become Western Arkansas Community Foundation.

This year, 500 students obtained life skills needed to become successful adults. “Students learn the fundamentals of art, and they gain skills in communication and problem solving.” said Jane Owen, CAE executive director. “Parent and teacher feedback is that art activities teach their students good work ethic and build self-confidence.”

In its first 30 years as a Community Foundation Affiliate, Western Arkansas Community Foundation has granted more than $12.6 million while engaging people, connecting resources and inspiring solutions to make western Arkansas a great place to live now and in the future.

“Expanding to Crawford County was the right thing to do,” said Matthew Holland, chair of the Western Arkansas affiliate. “We added more resources, more ideas and more imaginations to reach our goals.”

Our network of 28 affiliate offices helps us understand the unique needs of each town and city. Each office is staffed with a part-time executive director that provides support for the local people who want to give and nonprofits who are providing programs and services to local citizens. Wherever you are in Arkansas, there’s a Community Foundation office nearby. For a full list of affiliate offices, visit arcf.org/affiliates. 

Does tax season get you thinking about how you gave in 2018? What goals did you create for yourself and how did you reach them? Year-end sneaks up on all of us, especially as we consider tax-deductible donations. We may find ourselves rushing around to respond to the needs of multiple nonprofits or hastily deciding what to give without really considering long-term benefits or impact. 

Either way, tax time can serve as a great – and timely! – reminder to start thinking about the impact of our charitable giving throughout the year so that we can be prepared for the upcoming year-end. Whatever your hopes are for improving your community, the Community Foundation is here to help. Here are four tax-wise giving strategies to consider for the months ahead: 

  • Donor Advised Funds (DAF): A DAF is a giving tool that provides you with immediate tax benefits and allows you to support the charities you choose by recommending grants over time. DAFs provide a simple and efficient solution by giving you the flexibility to take immediate action or create a long-term difference in your community. This option may also be appropriate as an alternative to a private or family foundation. Learn more about the advantages of giving with a donor advised fund. 
  • Bunching: Did you know? You can use a donor advised fund to bunch multiple years’ worth of donations in a single year and itemize to receive maximum tax benefits for your charitable contributions. Then, in following years, you can take the standard deduction. Assets in your DAF can be invested, so your charitable dollars grow tax-free, allowing you to provide ongoing support for your favorite nonprofits, even in the years you claim the standard deduction. Learn more about bunching your donations.
  • IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD): If you’re over the age of 70 ½, you’re eligible to receive a tax break if you donate up to $100,000 as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from a traditional IRA. A QCD can count as all or some of the IRA owner’s required minimum distribution (RMD), and the QCD amount is not added to taxable income as an RMD normally would be. The QCD is a particularly smart giving move for those who take the standard deduction and would miss out on writing off charitable contributions. Learn more about IRA QCDs.
  • Highly Appreciated Stock: When you make a gift of appreciated stock to the Foundation, your gift qualifies for a tax deduction based on the stock’s market value. Instead of selling, you can avoid capital gains taxes and establish a charitable fund that benefits the local causes and organizations you care about most. With gifts of appreciated stock, your stock market earnings translate into community impact and provide a rewarding return on your portfolio. Talk with our staff about donating highly appreciated stock. 

Depending on your giving goals, our staff can help you find a tax-smart solution to supporting the causes you love. Contact Ashley Coldiron at 501-372-1116 or acoldiron@arcf.org for more information.

School Counts! 

This workforce development partnership between Morrilton’s business community, the county’s K-12 schools and the University of Arkansas at Morrilton is supported by the Conway County Community Foundation because of its clear relationship to community growth and personal opportunity.

“Since it started back in 2006, our local Community Foundation has made significant contributions to School Counts,” said John C. Gibson, Conway County Community Foundation executive director. During the three-year period beginning in 2006, the local Foundation contributed $16,406 to the organization, of which $6,000 was a Giving Tree Grant. In addition, other endowment funds held at the Conway County Community Foundation have contributed $111,484 to School Counts! since 2006.

School Counts! concurrent student Jeb Johnson (pictured above), a 16-year-old junior from Springfield, is studying Industrial Maintenance and Mechanical Technology at the new 53,843-square-foot Workforce Training Center officially opened by U of A Morrilton in April. The state-of-the-art facility also offers training in the high-wage, high-demand occupations of HVAC, automotive service technology and welding. 

“I’m interested in the electrical field, and after graduating I plan to get an associate degree and then a full four-year degree,” said Johnson. “This way I’ll have the skills to get good summer and part-time jobs I won’t have a lot of debt when I get out.”

He found out about the program at his high school, Nemo Vista, from Lawana Lyon of the Conway County School Counts! Foundation. “I have a fun job – I get to talk to all students in schools in Conway County about the School Counts! program,” Lyon said. “Students learn the importance of having great attendance, setting career goals, being a quality employee and always giving their best effort.” 

As students enter high school, Lyon begins to recruit for specifics like the concurrent credit program. This program, including technical and general education credits, is making a big difference in giving eligible students a real jump-start with a post-secondary education. “I love it when I see 12th graders recognized with School Counts! honor cords at graduation ceremonies,” she said.

U of A Morrilton Chancellor Larry Davis said the concurrent student program works because area schools pay a portion of the tuition, School Counts! pays a portion of the tuition and the college waives the fees. “It’s all about the students,” he said. “Lawana does a fabulous job focusing on the kids.”

“I don’t know if we’d exist without the Community Foundation,” Lyon said. “They have helped make our programs financially possible.” 

Thirty years ago, the late H.L. and Janelle Hembree began one of the first donor advised funds at what is now the Western Arkansas Community Foundation with a gift of $104,000. To date, Hembree family members have made almost $2.2 million in grants to nonprofits in Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas from the proceeds of that endowment.

“The focus of my parents’ generation was higher education and youth development. They made donations to the U of A Fayetteville, U of A Fort Smith and Boy Scouts of America.” said Lawson Hembree, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in Fort Smith. 

The pool of nonprofits eventually broadened to include other needs like St. Edwards Mercy Hospital Hembree Cancer Center and St. John Episcopal Church. Today Lawson is coaching the next generation of givers, Lawson’s two sons and his late brother Scott’s two daughters. 

“We just started allowing the grandchildren to make grant decisions. The oldest is 30 and the rest are in their 20s,” he said. They are interested in community-based organizations like local schools and the Community Services Clearing House back-pack hunger program.”

The Hembrees chose to hold their funds at the Community Foundation rather than establishing a private family foundation because with the Community Foundation, they can focus on being philanthropists, not administrators. 

“We can fully focus on the requests we receive and make the best grant decisions without having to engage accountants and lawyers,” said Lawson. “Costs at the Foundation are reasonable for the services they provide.”

His mother and brother served on local and state Community Foundation boards. “Participating in the Community Foundation allows collaboration among philanthropists and helps in identifying community needs,” he said.  

Arkansas Community Foundation works with families to help them establish a legacy of giving across generations. We have options that enable you to be flexible about the causes you support from year to year as your family grows and interests evolve. Even after your lifetime, your heirs can continue to use your family’s fund to keep your giving legacy alive. 

Contact a member of our development staff to learn more: 

In Central Arkansas – Ashley Coldiron, 501-372-1116, acoldiron@arcf.org 

In Northwest Arkansas – Jody Dilday, 479-335-5721, jdilday@arcf.org

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a direct transfer of funds from a traditional IRA account to a public 501c3 nonprofit, such as the Community Foundation. A QCD can count as all or some of the IRA owner’s required minimum distribution (RMD), and the QCD amount is not added to taxable income as an RMD normally would be. 

The QCD is an effective smart giving option, particularly for those who take the standard deduction and would miss out on writing off charitable contributions. But even those who itemize can benefit from using a QCD because keeping taxable income lower may reduce the impact of other tax credits and deductions, including Social Security and Medicare.

Right: Collins Andrews of Little Rock, Arkansas made a gift from his IRA to the Community Foundation to create a fund that will continue to support the causes he and his family care about most. 

Here are some things to remember about IRA qualified charitable distributions:  

  • A donor must be 70½ or older to be eligible to make a QCD.
  • The amount gifted to charity is not counted toward the donor’s ordinary income.
  • Donors can request multiple direct transfers from their IRA to qualified charities in a year, but only up to $100,000 can be excluded from income as an IRA QCD 
  • If a client is married, their spouse is also eligible to contribute up to $100,000 from their IRA
  • The QCD must come directly from the instituti on holding the IRA account (IRA checkbooks are ok) to a designated or unrestricted fund at the Community Foundation. Funds distributed directly to IRA owners which they in turn give to charity do not qualify as QCDs.
  • Because the IRS counts the first distribution from an IRA each year towards satisfying the RMD requirement, a QCD should be directed first before taking the RMD to ensure that the QCD satisfies that obligation. 

Qualified charitable contributions from an IRA cannot be gifted to donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, private non-operating foundations, charitable gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts.

Click here to to learn more about gifting an IRA QCD to the Community Foundation. 

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

Hot Springs Village residents Jim and Becky Gifford used an IRA QCD to create a Community Foundation designated fund for the charities they love. Gifford explains that the attraction to him was the ability to make almost all of his charitable donations tax-exempt. “We support various charitable causes throughout the year.  With our charitable fund, we estimate our total annual giving, make one IRA withdrawal each into our fund with Arkansas Community Foundation, and use that to make donations to our list of charities.”

Arkansas Community Foundation created the Aspire Arkansas report to provide a county-by-county look at the quality of life in Arkansas. From that report, we learned that only 37.8% of our state’s third-graders can read on grade-level.

Only 37.8%.

A mountain of education research confirms that third-grade reading levels are a strong predictor of future success in school and beyond. So what can WE do to move these numbers in the right direction? 

We’ve partnered with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to make grants targeted to advance some simple, evidence-based strategies so that every child in Arkansas can read at grade-level by the end of third grade. Through that partnership, we’ve invested more than $350,000 statewide to support local programs working to improve our state’s reading scores.

We’ve got a lot of work to do. By partnering with the Community Foundation, you can make a difference. Here are four ways you can get involved:

  • Explore AspireArkansas.org to learn about grade-level reading in your community. 
  • Reach out to your local affiliate office or our central office staff to learn about organizations working to improve local reading scores and opportunities to give.
  • Create a fund or endowment with the Community Foundation focused on supporting reading programs for the long-term. Contact our staff to learn more about your options.  
  • Monitor your community’s progress as Aspire Arkansas data is updated each year. 

For three years, Misty Ward of Magnolia’s East Side Elementary dreamed of having a book-mobile that would deliver reading programs to kids during the summer. After doing some research and finding what worked for other Arkansas school districts, she decided to form a plan. 

With only 29 percent of Magnolia K-3 students reading on grade-level, Ward knew that providing a high-quality summer program would be key in helping boost local students’ reading scores. Known as the “summer slide,” summer learning loss happens when students lack access to quality reading programs during their months off from school. This backwards slide can often leave children up to three years behind their peers by the end of fifth grade.

Past summer reading programs in Magnolia had experienced low attendance due to rural transportation challenges and were often expensive for schools to operate. Ward believed a book-mobile could solve these challenges while providing quality programs in the most efficient way.

After Arkansas Community Foundation launched its Grade-Level Reading Initiative, Ward presented her plan to the local board of directors. With a $5,000 grant from Columbia County Community Foundation, a bookmobile program was finally within reach. “Our board was really excited to support the idea of a traveling summer reading program in Magnolia,” said Janet Rider-Babbit, Executive Director of the local Community Foundation affiliate. “Our work is about collaboration. We wanted to support programs that are working and Misty had the relationships and expertise to see a program like this succeed.”

With funding in place, Ward began the Reading and Rolling program and worked with the local school district to secure volunteers, bus drivers and transportation. She recruited colleagues, including Denise Phillips, to co-lead and visited with mayors, churches and community centers to identify locations that could serve as easy-to-access bus stops.

“We sent letters home with over 900 children in the district letting them know about the program and where the bus stops would be so they could attend,” said Ward. “We had great attendance and hope to reach more kids next summer.”

In its inaugural year, Reading and Rolling served about 30-40 children each week. Principals drove the bus with literacy coaches and teachers to local parks, churches and community centers. Each program lasted about 30 minutes and children in attendance left with a new book to take home and use for reading practice.

Ward and Phillips hope to continue to build the program so that it can become a community staple, ultimately boosting reading skills and improving grade-level reading scores for children across the county each summer.

Learn more about grade-level reading statistics in your community at AspireArkansas.org.

Online Proposals Due by April 1

The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation, in partnership with Arkansas Community Foundation, is awarding grants to programs that benefit families in African-American or other underserved populations in Arkansas. Programs focusing on education, health and wellness, youth, and small business development are encouraged to apply online at www.arcf.org/ABHOF now through April 1.

“The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation grant program allows us to make impactful grants to communities with underserved populations,” said Charles Stewart, ABHF Chair. “This year, we’re especially excited to invite programs that are working tirelessly to support and strengthen Arkansas families.”

Since 2004, ABHF has invested more than $624,000 into nonprofits across the state. Projects supported through this grant program range from mentoring efforts for promising young math and science students to exercise classes for low-income families in rural areas. 

“Our long-standing partnership with the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation helps provide a support system for Arkansas nonprofits working to create positive change for underserved populations,” said Heather Larkin, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “We’re proud of this investment and the programs that continue to support local people working to improve their communities.”

Grants will typically range from $1,000 to $2,500 but may approach $5,000 in special circumstances. Funds from Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation cannot be allocated for salary support or to support general operating budgets outside the specific proposal or project.

All geographic sections of the state are eligible, but scholarship requests will not be considered. Only 501(c) (3) nonprofit organizations, hospitals, public schools and government agencies are eligible to apply. Organizations that do not qualify for tax-exempt status are not eligible.

Priority consideration will be given to:

  • Applications that show multiple sponsoring agencies/organizations
  • Proposals that include evidence of local financial support (including, but not limited to, in-kind support)
  • Proposals that demonstrate collaborative ventures among organizations within the community
  • Proposals that have promise for sustainability beyond the period of the grant 
  • Proposals that show an innovative approach to community challenges. 

Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation aims to provide an environment in which a future generation of African American achievers with Arkansas roots will thrive and succeed. The Foundation honors the contributions of African Americans through its annual Black Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and awards grants to support charitable endeavors in black and other under-served communities throughout Arkansas. Learn more at www.arblackhalloffame.org. 

Look for it soon in your mailbox or read it online – the 2018 Arkansas Community Foundation Annual Report tells the story of how the people of our state are giving smart, together. It’s got all the numbers on the Foundation’s progress during the fiscal year July 2017 to June 2018, when $42 million in Foundation grants helped improve our communities.

Read about how a grant to the Center for Arts and Education in Van Buren helps fund a summer arts camp for students from nine communities. This gift exemplifies the spirit of cooperation that led the Fort Smith Area Foundation to expand its territory to Crawford County and become Western Arkansas Community Foundation.

Find out how Foundation grants throughout our state are working with the Grade Level Reading Initiative to reach the goal of each student in the state reading to grade level by third grade. See how a $5,000 grant from the Columbia County Community Foundation is combatting the “summer slide” with a book-mobile that delivers summer reading programs to Magnolia students.

Meet Little Rock attorney Shaneen Sloan who uses Arkansas Community Foundation giving tools to help her clients give smart. She works with charitable-minded people who want to make a positive impact in their communities long after they are gone.  

Discover how Conway County Community Foundation support for School Counts! helps tie personal opportunity to community growth. This workforce development partnership between Morrilton’s business community, the county’s K-12 schools and the University of Arkansas at Morrilton Foundation allows high school students acquire the technical skills they need to succeed.

Learn how three generations of one family have changed the landscape of nonprofits in their community. From a $104,000 donor advised fund created 30 years ago, Hembree family members have made almost $2.2 million in grants to nonprofits in Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas.

A message from CEO Heather Larkin explains that the Community Foundation has learned over the years is that better information leads to better problem solving. In 2018, the Community Foundation launched the new edition of Aspire Arkansas, an online, county-by-county indicators report about the quality of life in our state. It’s one of the most important tools the Foundation can provide to Arkansans. 

The 2018 Annual Report can help you find out for yourself how smart giving, together, is helping transform our state.

After a glorious autumn in the Natural State, there’s no denying that the gift-giving season is now upon us. While some of us relish in carefully selecting the perfect gift for each person on our list, others consider the task of holiday shopping as one more to-do to mark off our list before truly enjoying everything this special season has to offer. 

Whether you’re in the first category or the second, chances are you’ve got someone on your list who is practically impossible to buy presents for.  For those folks who have everything, we’ve got the PERFECT gift idea! 

Give a gift to charity in honor of a loved one this season! 

You can make an honorarium gift any time of the year, but the holidays seem especially appropriate. Including someone else in the act of charitable giving is a gift you can both feel good about!  There’s no need to worry about choosing the right color or size…a gift to charity is always in style. Here are three easy steps to get started!

  • Make it meaningful.  Think about your loved one’s interests and the community they love when choosing the charity to support.  Are they an animal-lover? A patron of the arts? An avid outdoorsman?  An active volunteer? Consider a gift to a charity that aligns with their passions. And if they have varied interests, consider giving to their community’s Giving Tree Endowment that supports many different causes for the long-term.  
  • Make it personal. When you make your gift to charity, note “in honor of ______” and be sure to include your their mailing address. The Community Foundation will notify them of the contribution. (Generally, nonprofits will notify the honoree that a gift has been made, but rest assured – they will not disclose the amount.)  Of course, you too can notify the recipient that you’ve made a contribution in their honor – in a greeting card or through other means. Be creative! 
  • Make it a tradition. Giving to charity is a great alternative to consumerism, an opportunity to teach children to think of others and a way to truly celebrate the season. We know many families who have discovered that supporting charitable causes has become their favorite holiday tradition. Consider creating a Donor Advised Fund with Arkansas Community Foundation and allow us to help your family create a legacy of giving.

Our staff at the Community Foundation would be happy to help you give the PERFECT GIFT this season! Contact us at 501-372-1116 or arcf@arcf.org.