Good news! Not all New Year’s Resolutions involve joining a gym! This year, we invite you to consider making a resolution to practice Smart Giving to Improve Communities. Here’s how:

Be Intentional

Your charitable giving is an expression of who you are so it’s important to make sure your philanthropy matches your values. Ask yourself:

  • What issues facing our world am I most passionate about?
  • Where am I already spending my time and energy?
  • Who are the people and what are the experiences that helped shape me?

Once you’ve answered these questions, identify any common themes. Now you’ve got a starting place to guide your giving. For those who have already established a fund with the Community Foundation, remember that our Development Team is always here to help!

Be Informed

Read the newsletters, subscribe to emails and “like” the Facebook pages of the nonprofits you support. By doing so you’ll see how your investment is being used to change lives, and you’ll also learn about any ongoing or unmet needs. Ask for a personal tour or consider volunteering for the agency. Nothing could be more informative than an up-close and personal experience working alongside the program’s staff and clientele.

Arkansas Community Foundation can also provide you with tools and resources to help you stay informed:

  • ENGAGE is a quarterly publication highlighting issues facing our state.
  • The ASPIRE report provides a county-by-county look at the challenges facing our state and the programs hard at work to find solutions.

Be Strategic (and SMART!)

Set a goal for your giving, create a plan, and follow it. And remember we’re here to help! Whether you care about a particular issue – hunger, access to the arts, animal welfare – a specific community, or an issue WITHIN a particular community, there are several ways to help:

  • Program Support – helps nonprofits fund the services they provide.
  • Operating Support – provides agencies the resources they need (facilities, equipment, staff) to get the job done.
  • Endowment – ensures the long-term sustainability of an organization.
  • Unrestricted Support – empowers the organization to use the funds where they are needed the most.

Keep in mind that there are many ways to give to charity besides writing a check, and by doing so, there are often significant tax advantages. Gifting highly appreciated stock, a paid-up life insurance policy, or an IRA rollover are just a few options. Visit with your professional advisor to find out what is best for you. You and your professional advisor can take advantages of the smart giving resources available on our website.

Be Contagious

Many people choose to quietly support the nonprofits in their community. And while that humility is admirable, we encourage you to consider it like this: When you see a great movie, experience a fantastic restaurant, or fall in love with a book – you tell your friends. Shouldn’t you do the same when it comes to philanthropy? Your support might just inspire others to join in!

Arkansas Community Foundation is your partner in Smart Giving. Call us anytime, we’re here to help!

  1. Make sure you’re using the right application. This year, in addition to our usual Giving Tree process focusing on a broad range of community needs, a few of our Community Foundation affiliates are also inviting proposals with a special emphasis on early literacy and grade-level reading (birth through Grade 3). Applicants who fit into the Grade Level Reading focus area should first contact the executive director in their local area to determine the local application process for that affiliate, and then apply online using the Grade Level Reading application form available at arcf.org/apply. Look for the application form titled “Grade Level Reading.”
  2. Begin your application early. Allow plenty of time to gather required information and submit well before the deadline. Sometimes unexpected circumstances can arise and could prevent an application being submitted on time. By submitting early, you can confirm with the grants administrator that your application was received and rest easy.
  3. Carefully read the instructions. By following the instructions in the application and providing necessary information in the correct order and place, the grant application reviewing committee will have a much easier time reviewing your application and understanding your program needs.
  4. Keep your audience in mind. The reviewing committee will use only the information contained in the application to understand your programs and why you’re requesting funding. Be sure the application and responses to the program requirements are complete and clearly written. Remember that reviewers are not familiar with your organization, service area, or what your program hopes to accomplish and through your application, you’re telling the story of your organization and the work it’s doing to make your community better. Finally, keep the review criteria in mind when writing the application.
  5. Be brief, concise, and clear. Clear, understandable applications are much more likely to be considered for funding. If you can provide accurate and honest information, including candid accounts of problems and realistic plans to address them. If any required information or data is omitted, explain why. Make sure the information provided in each table, chart, attachment, etc., is consistent with the proposal narrative and information in other tables. Your budget should reflect the proposed activities, and all forms should be filled in accurately and completely.
  6. Organization is key. If the reviewers can follow the thought process of the applicant or if all parts of the application fit together, you are more likely to receive a higher score.
  7. Show evidence of fiscal stability. Your application should demonstrate your ability to be a responsible steward of public funds.
  8. Take care when attaching documents. Before you attach additional required documents, it’s a good practice to name and file them on your computer accordingly. That way, when you go to attach the document, there’s a smaller chance of attaching something by mistake. After you attach your required documents, be sure to cross-reference all tables and attachments to the appropriate text in the application. Be sure to upload the attachments in the requested order of the forms.
  9. Print out, and carefully proofread and review your electronic application to ensure accuracy and completion. When submitting electronically, it would benefit you to print the application before submitting to ensure that formatting and information are correct. Check to ensure that you included all attachments before submitting the application.
  10. Submit all information at the same time. We will not consider additional information and/or materials submitted after your initial submission, nor will we accept e-mailed applications or supplemental materials once we receive your application.

If a local Community Foundation affiliate is accepting grant applications, you can begin your application by clicking below! Not sure where we’re granting? You can find out here.

Apply Now

Our funds and endowments help you invest in causes you care about. Here are four easy steps to set up a donor-advised fund with the Community Foundation:

Step 1 – Determine your charitable goals.

Consider how you want to make a difference. Are you passionate about a specific service area or are you more concerned about taking care of your local community for the long-term? We’ll start by asking you questions to create a plan according to your personal charitable goals.

Step 2 – Choose a name for your fund.

The name of the fund can include your name, a family name, or a meaningful word or phrase that allows you to be anonymous.

Step 3 – Contribute to the fund.

Because we are a 501c3 public charity, contributions to your fund are deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Arkansas Community Foundation also has the capability to receive complex assets and handle planned gifts.

Step 4 – Start making grants and improving your community.

Login to the online portal and easily submit a grant recommendation to the causes you care about.

Ready to get started? Call Ashley Coldiron or Jody Dilday at 501-372-1116 and they will walk through the steps with you.

The new tax legislation will impact most taxpayers and also presents a unique opportunity for 2017 year-end giving, particularly using donor-advised funds.

Here are few tax implications you might consider as the year comes to a close:

The tax reform increases the standard deduction so that fewer individuals will itemize deductions in 2018. If you are unlikely to itemize your deductions under the proposed new law, consider making a gift in 2017.

In 2018, many taxpayers will have a lower tax rate. To maximize the charitable deduction, consider making or accelerating your gifts in 2017.

Donor-advised funds allow you to make a gift now and choose in 2018 which charitable causes to support – and even beyond. We can help you create a donor-advised fund before the year ends.

The last business day of 2017 is next Friday, December 29.

We recommend consulting with your financial and legal advisors to determine the best giving solutions for your individual or business circumstances.

Arkansas Community Foundation is your partner in smart giving and we’re ready to help you make the most of the changing tax landscape. Thank you for your trusted partnership and best wishes for a very happy holiday season.

In Service,
Heather Larkin,
President & CEO

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

Produce, included in food distributions from the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas for just the past couple of years, is donated by growers, grocers and companies to help feed families in need.

“What efforts do we want to support in a sustainable way? What opportunity should we be exploring as a new way to combat hunger in our community?  Those are key questions Arkansas Community Foundation affiliates ask before every grant cycle of their Stop Hunger Funds.

When Aspire Arkansas data first came out in 2011, and before that in 2008 when an Arkansas Community Foundation Stop Hunger online initiative helped food charities during the recession, several of the 28 Arkansas Community Foundation affiliates determined that the fight against hunger would be one of their priorities.

Dick Freer, chair of the Craighead County Community Foundation Hunger Committee, said their goal is to build relationships where there is food insecurity, boost community support for the need and become a catalyst for making change.

Three Hunger Committee members went to the Student Council at Success Achievement Academy, a Jonesboro alternative school, to ask about hunger. “We got blank looks at first,” said Freer. “But the initial discussion got students thinking about their peers who were food insecure and eventually turned into a Food Race where students bring food to supply a food pantry on campus.”

“The Aspire Arkansas data was a catalyst for our stop hunger efforts,” said Freer. “It raised the level of awareness about the issue and identified hunger as one of the most pressing needs in our area. If we use our $8,000 to $9,000 a year in grant money to fund innovation, we can really make a difference.”

Many in Craighead County are realizing how much good could happen if fresh fruits and vegetables were more affordable to low income citizens. A physician on the committee came up with the idea that doctors could prescribe fruits and vegetables to low income patients so they could be reimbursed for the money they spend on these healthy foods.

The Craighead County affiliate has been instrumental in setting up the second Friends and Neighbors Network in Arkansas. A national FANN staff member from Atlanta trained volunteers to develop a community of people who are food insecure. These FANN members meet twice a month to unload and distribute healthy food that provides them an ongoing source of supplemental nutrition.

 “The Truck Patch, an organic food store in Jonesboro, has worked with our FANN,” said Charles Harris, FANN coordinator.  “Their generosity has added to the quality of food we can distribute.”

Some of their grants fund more traditional hunger programs. For instance, students in the Jonesboro Hispanic Center’s after school program enjoy healthy snacks like a choice of peanut butter crackers or apples and milk courtesy of a Community Foundation grant. A review of food pantries receiving grants that ensured minorities were represented led to a connection with New St. John Missionary Baptist Church food pantry.

Jennifer McCracken, executive director of the Cross County Community Foundation, said most hunger-related grants are determined by their local advisory board. For every grant they are able to make in the fight against hunger, they get 20-25 applications. About 70 percent of their hunger-related grants go to food pantries and backpack programs.

Their official Stop Hunger grants are awarded by the Youth Advisory Council. “It is good for youth to be a part of this,” she said. “The hunger grants give our young people a sense of making a difference where the need is great.”

Recently, the Cross County affiliate began working with a new nonprofit, 363 Feed the Need, led by Phoebe Curtis and Julie Boone. “We are tackling the problem of hunger through a backpack program and an event called The Table, where we served 400 plates of food to a diverse mix of people at an Interfaith event in Wynne,” Curtis said. “Lots of people help the hungry on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We want to help the other 363 days of the year.”

The 363 backpack program started in January of 2016 with 34 students and now they are stocking 125 backpacks each Friday. The cost is about $150 per child for the school year. Volunteers, youth groups and others pack the food that goes home with students on Friday afternoons at Wynne Primary, Intermediate and Junior High. Soon, they’ll be scheduled to work with the local high school.

“Access to weekend food relieves stress about where the next meal will come from. It helps alleviate mental, physical and emotional stress,” said Curtis. “The Community Foundation here has made a big impact with grants to us and others who work to stop hunger. There is no way we would be able to do our work without them.”

Dana Stewart, executive director of the White County Community Foundation, said the affiliate has

been working on food insecurity programs for more than a decade. They have made grants to Beebe School District’s Badger Family Food Pantry and to senior programs like the Bald Knob Senior Center. “At Bald Knob like most rural programs, volunteers who run the center do the grant writing, cooking – they do everything,” Stewart said.

Because the White County affiliate knows ending hunger will be difficult, they made a grant to purchase shelving to help sustain the program rather than only purchasing food and promoting smart shopping training that shares tips like buying dried beans instead of canned to stretch the budget.

“When we look at the Aspire data and other research, we see that hunger continues to be a real issue for our county,” Stewart said. “We may not have the numbers some other counties have, but in our local school district in Searcy, 40 percent of the students are on reduced or free meals. So this is not just a rural problem for us.”

A recent grant was made to Della’s Panty in a rural part of White County. Della Pantry volunteers told these stories:

“One of the things that strikes me the most is the percentage of our families who are older and are raising grandchildren. I would estimate that nearly 25 percent of all the families that visit our pantry are senior adults with at least one grandchild in their care. They live on a fixed income and struggle to provide for the children so they are resorting to visiting our pantry for help.”

“It’s sad how so many folks are struggling to get by right now. We see so many that are barely surviving. I’m glad we are here to help a little and give them someone to talk with. We try to find words of encouragement for them, but sometimes it’s hard to do when we hear of their situations.”

“A lady who has been battling cancer for several years came in today. Her daughter and grandchildren have just moved in with her and her teenage son. Her husband died of cancer about three years ago. She isn’t able to work, and with so many in the house to feed, she is coming to us for help.”

This story is from our November edition of Engage Magazine.

December is an ideal time to give to the charities you support in order to claim a charitable deduction on this year’s taxes. But what if you aren’t sure which causes you want to support? 

Perhaps your business performed better than expected this year, you inherited assets from a loved one or you simply haven’t had time to focus on your charitable giving this season. You know that there are tax benefits to making a charitable donation at year-end, but you don’t want to make a hasty decision simply to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to claim a tax deduction.

Here’s how Arkansas Community Foundation can help:

Take Your Time. When you partner with the Community Foundation, you can create your own charitable fund to benefit the causes you choose. If you make a donation to start your fund (or add to a fund you’ve already created) by Dec. 31, the gift is fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law on your taxes. After the new year, you can spend time considering which charities you’d like to support with grants from your fund. If you prefer, you can support the same organization/s on an ongoing basis, or you can make grants to different charities every year.

Get the Information You Need. If you need help identifying organizations that are working to address the issues that matter most to you, we’ve got tools to help.

  • Our donor services staff can help you research charities serving a particular cause or area.
  • You can gain a better understanding of the needs in your community by reviewing our Aspire Arkansas report, which provides county-by-county data on dozens of quality of life issues in Arkansas.
  • Or, we can even send you grant proposals from local charities who need support for specific projects. There’s no obligation for you to fund any of the proposals unless one interests you.

Support Multiple Nonprofits. With a single gift to the Community Foundation, you can support dozens of nonprofits. Here are a few ways we can help you make a broad impact:

  • You can designate that a certain percentage of your fund be used to support specific nonprofits each year. This is a great option if you want to provide long-term support for a handful of favorite charities.
  • You can also create a fund that allows you the flexibility to choose different causes to support from year to year. This option is great for families that want to involve their children in the giving process by allowing them to choose projects fund each year.
  • You can even donate to the community-based Giving Tree Endowment in your area; grants from these endowments are selected by committees of local leaders and are used to support dozens of charitable projects each year.

It’s not too late to make a difference this year. Contact our development staff to find out how to get started. We’re in the office through Dec. 31 to help meet your charitable giving needs.

by Jody Dilday

There’s no denying it…cooler temps, changing leaves, and the “fall back” from Daylight Savings Time all signal that the HOLIDAYS are here! 

For many of us, the end of year is an ideal time to make charitable gifts.  Every day, Arkansas Community Foundation works with Arkansans help them achieve their charitable goals for tax benefits, while helping make a difference across the state.

Here are 4 tips to help you giving at year-end:

  1. Give an asset that provides you with the maximum tax benefit. You know the old saying, “cash is king”? Well….that’s not always the case. Sometimes it makes more sense to give a non-cash gift to charity. Doing so can help you reduce capital gains, avoid estate taxes, or minimize taxable income, thereby supporting your overall financial strategy. Talk with your professional advisor about what makes the most sense for you and your goals. Arkansas Community Foundation is equipped to accept complicated gifts and distribute the proceeds to your charity of choice. We’d be more than happy to help.
  2. Utilize a giving tool that best fits your income level, your tax-savings goals, and your philanthropic priorities. How you give to charity may differ from your neighbor or depending on your stage of life. Whether you give modest annual gifts to causes you care about, want to continue supporting an organization close to your heart forever, or have the means to make a larger impact…the Community Foundation has flexible tools.
  3. Fund general operations to make the greatest impact for the organization you believe in. At year-end, most nonprofit organizations are striving to meet their budget. Gifts in support of general operating expenses are incredibly beneficial. These “unrestricted” gifts empower the organization to determine where and how the money will be used—whether for a major program development, hiring additional staff, or simply maintaining their facility.  Unrestricted donations also provide the charity flexibility and security to advance its mission by planning initiatives for the following calendar year. Similarly, a gift to your community’s Giving Tree endowment enables the Foundation to plan for and respond to the ever-changing needs in your community.
  4. Give Where You Live! By all means… give to support medical research, fund projects that provide clean water, or sponsor a global mission. But remember to Give Where You Live as well! At the Community Foundation we ASPIRE to improve the quality of life for all Arkansans. Let’s work together!

As the end of the year approaches, remember your friends at the Community Foundation are ready to help you.

Only 37% of Arkansas third graders read proficiently, according 2016-2017 school year data from the ACT Aspire assessment.

Thirty-seven percent.

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?

The Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is working to advance some simple, evidence-based strategies to achieve the goal that every child in Arkansas will read at grade level by the end of third grade. Arkansas Community Foundation has announced a partnership with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to make grants targeted at those five strategies. As a part of that partnership, we’re supporting programs the keep kids reading throughout the summer months; we call it our Summer Learning Initiative.

Why does summer learning matter?

When students are away from school over summer break, many of them – especially those from low-income backgrounds – lose as much as two to three months of reading skills. This “summer slide” can set kids as much as three years behind their peers by the end of elementary school.

What is the Community Foundation doing?

Each year for the past three years, we’ve offered funding for communities across Arkansas that are hosting high-quality summer camps that keep kids engaged during the summer months through academic and social enrichment.

What results are we seeing?

We’re seeing exciting results from the communities participating in the Summer Learning Initiative. In Year 1 of the program,

What have we learned?

Not only are these programs having a positive impact on students’ literacy scores; they’re also having a positive impact on behavior and students’ sense of belonging at school, according to the administrators participating in the program. It’s a win-win!

What can you do?

If you’re interested in supporting the Summer Learning Initiative or other efforts to increase reading scores in Arkansas, contact us at 501-372-1116.

Three years ago Danna Blubaugh saw a television news story about AR Kids Read’s immediate need for 300 tutors. She responded by going to the organization’s website and signing up to tutor at McDermott Elementary School in Little Rock. The mother of three young adults, Blubaugh had never been to the school before becoming a tutor.

Brightly colored walls, large photographs of students in action and an outdoor courtyard make McDermott an inviting learning environment. Principal Amy Cooper said reading tutors are an amazing addition to the school even beyond improving reading skills, “We are a school shaping the whole child. Having community volunteers come in helps our students understand what it is to give back and shows them that one day they can give back to children in their community.”

Blubaugh helps students from two second grade classes and has learned that most students see the ability to read chapter books as a big landmark. “The one-on-one experience with tutor creates a safe space for the students to learn,” she said. “Really, it is all about building their confidence.”

Teachers match students with tutors and provide books at the students’ reading levels, but Blubaugh brings a few tools of her own. She uses flash cards to help with word recognition and has found that a sticker book is a great icebreaker because all kids like stickers.

“I had to go online and get a new set of ‘Ranger Rick” because I love that magazine. Everyone likes to talk about animals,” Blubaugh said. “One of the things I like most is that I get to relive teaching my own kids to read.”

It gives her great joy to get to know the students, interact with them and make them better readers. “When they get interested in the story and want to read more and more, that is a success. What we are doing is instilling a culture of reading,” Blubaugh said.

She is not a professional teacher, and that is not a requirement for tutors. They can spend as much time at the schools as they choose since there are different levels of commitment in terms of hours per week. Blubaugh has been very happy with the support she receives, including seminars and packets of information that help tutors be more effective.

“Do it,” is her advice to those on the fence about being a reading tutor. “You get more out of it that you could ever give — the kids are always surprising you.”

After leading two successful businesses, raising kids, serving their community and traveling the globe, Bob and Cynthia East of Little Rock decided to start a fund at Arkansas Community Foundation that will benefit the causes they care about.

“I had looked into starting a family foundation but there was a lot of paperwork involved and it was so much easier to set up a fund at the Community Foundation,” said Bob, chairman of the board of East Harding Construction, which he helped found 43 years ago. “The Community Foundation fund is a good way to have a growing resource that we can use for a long time into the future.”

Bob has a history of service to his community as past chairman of the Little Rock National Airport Commission and a member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. He is now a board member for the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and the Arkansas Workforce Commission.

But at heart he is an adventurer. He climbed Mount Everest almost 30 years ago, has run with the bulls at Pamplona and floated down the Mississippi from St. Paul to New Orleans. Where was Cynthia? At base camp on Mount Everest, at the end of the course in Pamplona and helping as crew at stops along the Mississippi.

In between global adventures, she owns and operates Cynthia East Fabrics, a 40-year Little Rock institution providing quality, decorative fabrics. Cynthia has served on the boards of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and Volunteers in Public Schools. Her passion is public education, and she’s been a public school advocate since before their two adult children were students.

“My parents were involved in the 1957 crisis and that got me on the right side of the issue. I feel I got a great education, and I want to see that happen for every child.”