Your clients who are corporate executives have likely wondered at some point about the benefits of aligning their companies with philanthropy, whether specific causes or particular organizations. 

In general, a community engagement strategy can be good for business, if well-executed. For example, almost half of consumers view a brand favorably when the brand supports a charitable cause. Community engagement programs can help with employee retention, too. 

But what are the risks involved in mixing business with charity?

In the spirit of aligning doing good with doing well, some companies would love to set up their own nonprofit organizations as “charitable arms” of their enterprises. Corporate leadership may like the idea of efficiency, control, and tight alignment between the company’s offerings and the charity’s mission. For example, a company that makes swimming pools might think it’s a great idea to set up a charity to build swimming pools at community centers to give more kids access to water sports. The company would like to donate tax-deductible dollars to the charity and ask its suppliers and customers to do the same. The company’s executives would serve on the board of the charity, and the charity would purchase swimming pools from the company to carry out its mission. 

Is this a good idea? 

No. This strategy plays fast and loose with the rules. Beyond setting up an obvious conflict of interest, this practice would mean that a company effectively would be using charitable funds to benefit itself. This is not a “charitable purpose” in the eyes of the IRS and could result in the loss of the charity’s tax exemption. Plus, if the news got out about this structure, the company could suffer reputational damage.

The company, its executives, and the community are all better off if the company pursues more transparent and ethical charitable strategies such as establishing a corporate fund at the Community Foundation, setting up a volunteer program for employees, establishing a matching gifts program, or aligning with wholly independent charities on cause-related marketing partnerships.

Reach out to the Community Foundation to learn more about effective corporate philanthropy strategies. We are here to help as you work with your clients to achieve their charitable goals both at home and in the workplace.  

You’re well aware that donating highly-appreciated stock to a fund at the Community Foundation offers significant advantages for your clients over making cash gifts. Communicating this benefit, however, can be challenging when clients have emotional attachments to their shares. 

How can you overcome this hurdle and help optimize your clients’ charitable giving strategies?

Start by understanding the reasons a client might be reluctant to part with certain stocks in the first place:

–Legacy: “These shares have been in my family for generations.”

–Professional: “I worked at this company for decades; it’s the source of my wealth.”

–Simple preference: “I just love this stock.” 

Emotional ties like these can create psychological barriers to effective charitable planning. There is, however, a potential solution that can satisfy both your clients’ emotional needs and their philanthropic goals: The client donates shares of the highly-appreciated, emotionally significant stock to their fund at the Community Foundation, and then the client purchases shares of the same stock in their personal investment portfolio. 

Here’s why this can be such an effective strategy:

–Maximize tax deductions: Publicly-traded securities are typically deductible at fair market value (and the tax savings could potentially help fund the repurchase).

–Reset cost basis: This transaction effectively resets the cost basis of the stock in the client’s personal portfolio to its current market price, potentially reducing future capital gains taxes.

–Emotional satisfaction: Clients can support charities while maintaining their shareholder status in the company they like.

–Community impact: The Community Foundation can sell the donated shares tax-free, thereby maximizing the proceeds flowing into the client’s fund, and the fund in turn can be used to support the client’s favorite causes.

As you share this strategy with a client, be sure to acknowledge the emotional value of the stock and emphasize the client’s opportunity to maintain ownership in the company. Building on this, you can show the client how the tax benefits of giving stock allow the client to make an even bigger difference than if they’d given cash instead. 

As always, the Community Foundation can help you assist your clients with selecting the best assets to give to charity, evaluate tax implications of various giving strategies, and structure gifts to achieve strong community benefit. We look forward to a conversation! 

On June 21, 2024, Fordyce, Arkansas endured horrific violence when a gunman opened fire at a Mad Butcher Grocery store, killing four people and wounding nine. The entire state is heartbroken.

Were you or someone you know directly impacted by the Fordyce shooting on June 21? Below are some resources currently available. For questions, call Anita Busch at 213-440-1771.

To request immediate financial assistance or other resources, victimsfirst.org/intake or call 213-440-1771.

Click here to see a list of mental health providers.

Accepting donations to support victims, recovery efforts following mass shooting

Little Rock, Ark. (July 1, 2024) – Arkansas Community Foundation (ARCF) has established the Fordyce Survivors Fund in response to the devastating mass shooting event on June 21 in Fordyce, Arkansas. 100% of donations to the fund will provide financial support for survivors of the shooting.

“Like so many, we are shocked and saddened by this terrible tragedy. A shooting isn’t something you want to plan for,” said Heather Larkin, president and CEO of Arkansas Community Foundation. “But we have gained experience in helping rebuild communities following other disasters over the years, and we work with partners that have vast experience in mass shootings. The death of four Arkansans and the recovery needs of the survivors gives us an unfortunate reason to put some of the lessons we’ve learned to use.”

More information can be here.

“We are heartbroken at this senseless violence, right here at home,” said Sen. Matt Stone, District 2. “None of us ever imagined we would have to respond in the aftermath of a shooting in a peaceful town like Fordyce. But we’re determined to rally around this community to help it recover and heal. Working with the Community Foundation is an important step in that recovery.” 

Donations may be made to victims and survivors at arcf.org/fordycefund or by mail to:

Arkansas Community Foundation
Attn: Fordyce Survivors Fund
5 Allied Drive, Suite 51110
Little Rock, AR 72202

Contributions to the Fordyce Survivors Fund will be distributed with guidance from the Community Foundation and a community-led steering committee of Fordyce residents and local leadership.

The Community Foundation will be partnering with Victim’s First, a volunteer-led nonprofit helping with immediate needs, along with the Mass Violence Survivor’s Fund led by Jeff Dion, both national entities with experience serving communities following more than 50 mass shootings nationwide. The Community Foundation and these two organizations will ensure that the funds are managed in a way that is transparent, victim-centered and trauma informed.

The Foundation’s normal administrative fees will be waived and 100% of the donations will go to support victims. *A credit card company fee of approximately 3% will be applied to donations made by credit card.

For more information, visit arcf.org/Fordyce or contact Jessica Ford at 501-372-1116 or jford@arcf.org

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Arkansas Community Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization, provides resources, insight and inspiration to build stronger Arkansas communities – communities where our kids will want to raise their kids. The Community Foundation is the largest grantmaker in the state in the number of grants made each year. Since 1976, the Foundation has provided more than $460 million in grants to nonprofits. The Foundation staff works directly with donors, professional advisors and nonprofits to help strengthen Arkansas communities through strategic philanthropy and focusing on local needs. Its assets rank among the top 60 out of more than 900 community foundations in the United States. Serving statewide and local initiatives, the Community Foundation helps connect those who want to give to the causes they care about. Contributions to Arkansas Community Foundation, its funds and any of its 29 affiliates are fully tax deductible.

At first glance, you may think of charitable giving as mostly an individual act. Certainly, most of the time, the actual money or asset that constitutes the charitable donation comes from a single person, couple, or entity. Beyond that, though, it likely makes sense to think of charitable giving as a collaborative endeavor. 

Here are three examples:

For many people, involving other family members in charitable giving is one of the most rewarding ways to instill philanthropic values and transfer these values across generations. And we have the tools to help! Whether you’re teaching young children about the importance of helping people in need, or joining with siblings to develop a grant-making strategy for a family donor advised fund at the Community Foundation, you’re experiencing the joy of working together to make a difference in the lives of others. 

Working with the Community Foundation is itself a collaborative activity. When you organize your giving through a donor advised or other type of fund, you are working with multiple professionals on our team to help you plan your annual gifts, evaluate impact, structure tax-savvy contributions of appreciated stock, and so much more. Plus, the Community Foundation team often works alongside your attorney, accountant, and financial advisor to ensure that both your financial and community goals are top of mind.

Kids Sport Team Gathering. Children Play Sports. Boys in Sports Jersey Uniforms Having Shout Team. Coach Giving Young Soccer Team Instructions. Youth Sports For Children. Young Boys Soccer Sportswear

Thanks to fundholders like YOU, since 1976 the Community Foundation has granted more than $40 million to a variety of local nonprofits addressing the region’s most pressing needs. And those needs are always changing. Thankfully, our Giving Tree grants are designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of our communities.

The Giving Tree is the Community Foundation’s signature grantmaking program.  Your gift into the fund is pooled together with others for greater impact. The Giving Tree is an investment in our future—a seed planted and nurtured by local community-minded people like you. Your gift will be magnified by the collective power of other gifts, allowing the Community Foundation to award grants to a variety of programs that improve communities, in perpetuity.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together to build stronger communities, and to make Arkansas a place where our kids will want to raise their kids.  If you’re not yet working with the Community Foundation, we look forward to exploring the options! It would be an honor and pleasure to work alongside you and your family on your charitable giving journey. 

Welcome to summer! We’ve put together six tips to keep in mind as you plan your charitable giving for the coming months, years, and even decades. As always, the team at the Community Foundation is happy to be a resource!

Donate appreciated stock to your fund at the Community Foundation.

Yes, yes, we absolutely understand how easy it is to write a check when you want to boost your donor advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation. If you can remember to pause before you pull out your pen, though, it really does pay off to consider whether appreciated stock would be a better way to add to your charitable giving account. When you give shares of long-term appreciated stock, you can be eligible for a charitable tax deduction at the fair market value of the shares. Then, when the Community Foundation sells the shares and adds the proceeds to your fund, the fund–a 501(c)(3) charity–is not hit with capital gains tax. By contrast, if you were to sell those shares and give to your fund from the proceeds, you’d have a lot less cash to work with. Please reach out to the Community Foundation anytime to learn more about how easy it is to take advantage of this tax-savvy giving technique.  

Start paying attention now to the estate tax exemption sunset. 

The estate tax exemption–the total amount a taxpayer can leave to family and other individuals during their life and at death before the hefty federal gift and estate tax kicks in–is scheduled to drop, rather precipitously, after December 25, 2025. For 2024, the estate tax exemption is $13.61 million per individual, or $27.22 million per married couple, an increase over 2023 thanks to adjustments for inflation. Later this year, the IRS will issue inflation adjustments for 2025. For 2026, without legislation to prevent it, the exemption is scheduled to fall back to 2017 levels, adjusted for inflation, which would roughly total $7 million per person. That is quite a drop! This means a lot more people–maybe including you–could be subject to estate tax in the not-too-distant future. The team at the Community Foundation is happy to work with you and your advisors to explore how charitable giving techniques can help you avoid estate tax and leave a legacy for the community, especially if you start planning now.

If you can take advantage of the QCD, do it.

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (“QCD”) is a very smart way to support charitable causes. If you are over the age of 70 ½, you can direct up to $105,000 from your IRA to certain charities, including a field of interest, designated, unrestricted, or scholarship fund at the Community Foundation. If you’re subject to the rules for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), QCDs count toward those RMDs. Through a QCD, you avoid income tax on the funds distributed to charity. Our team can work with you and your advisors to go over the rules for QCDs and evaluate whether the QCD is a good fit for you.

Review your IRA beneficiary designations. 

As you review your assets and how they are titled, perhaps in connection with an annual financial and estate plan review, pay close attention to tax-deferred retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs. Typically, you’ll name your spouse as the primary beneficiary of these accounts to provide income following your death or to comply with legal requirements. But as you and your advisors evaluate whom to name as a secondary beneficiary of these tax-deferred accounts, don’t automatically default to naming your children or your revocable trust. You and your advisors may determine that naming a charity, such as your fund at the Community Foundation, is by far the most tax-efficient and streamlined way to make gifts to your favorite causes upon your death and establish a philanthropic legacy. A bequest like this avoids not only estate tax, but also income tax on the retirement plan distributions. That’s why non-retirement fund assets may be better-suited to pass to children and grandchildren. 

Embrace a holistic approach to philanthropy.

When you work with the Community Foundation, charitable giving is easy, flexible, and rewarding. As the hub of your charitable giving, the Community Foundation offers a wide range of fund types, services, and ways for you and your family to get involved with the community you love. Many of our fund holders use a donor advised fund to organize annual giving to charities. We can also help you establish a designated or field of interest fund to complement the function of your donor advised fund. A designated fund allows you to support a specific charity over the long term, while a field of interest fund focuses your support on a particular area of community need by leveraging the Community Foundation’s expertise. We’d also be honored to work with you and your advisors to structure a bequest to the Community Foundation in your estate plan to support important causes, as well as the Community Foundation’s work, beyond your lifetime. We are here to help you make the most of your philanthropic intentions, and it is an honor to work together. 

Little Rock, Ark. (June 5, 2024) – Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation (ABHOF) awarded $50,000 in grants to projects benefiting minority and under-served communities in an online grant presentation May 30. These grants support projects focused on education, health and wellness, youth development, strengthening families and economic development in Arkansas.

“We are pleased to support the efforts of grassroots and other nonprofit organizations in Arkansas through our grant program,” said Charles Stewart, ABHOF Foundation chairman. “Their work validates the mission of Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation. We are proud of our partnership with these great Arkansas institutions.”

Over the past 20 years, ABHOF has made $767,000 in grants to Arkansas nonprofits. This year’s grant recipients:

  • Arkansas Repertory Theater – Celebrating African Americans’ Journey Through an Artistic Lens This performance will incorporate classical literature, and music, along with other artistic contributions of African American artists and historical excerpts.
  • CASA of the Ouachita Region – Ouachita Children’s Coalition This organization serves abused and neglected children in Polk, Montgomery, Scott, and Sevier Counties. With this grant, they will offer bilingual advocates to help with resource navigation for their clients.
  • City Connections – Operation Restore “Back to Work Kits”
    Operation Restore (OR) is a temporary employment agency serving those emerging from incarceration or drug/alcohol rehabilitation programs in central Arkansas.  
  • Conway Cradle Care – Adolescent Parent Mentoring Program This program focuses on educating young parents on child development, birth, and childcare as well as helping advance their education and potential through tutoring and individualized life plans.
  • Girls on the Run of Central Arkansas – Scholarships for Superstars This grant will enable Girls on the Run to deliver their after-school program to 15 girls at the Dalton Whetstone Boys and Girls Club.
  • Goodwill Arkansas Education Initiative – Excel Center The first and only tuition-free adult high school in the state, this grant will help students overcome the barriers they face to earn their high school diploma. Barriers like transportation and access to healthy food for children who are cared for in Goodwill’s childcare center.
  • Haven of Northeast Arkansas The only safehouse for victims of domestic abuse in Mississippi County, this organization collaborates with several programs in the community to initiate services to help their clientele.
  • Hispanic Community Services/El Centro Hispano – Emprendiendo, “Entrepreneurship” This is the second year of the 9-week bilingual course for Hispanic and immigrant individuals interested in opening businesses.
  • Jamison’s Center of Kindness – ENRICHing the Weak Links This project involves purchasing materials to expand the existing E.N.R.I.C.H. (Educate-Nurture-Reach-Instruct-Coach-Help) Community Garden with fresh fruits and vegetables. It serves the Pinehurst neighborhood, a low-income, food-insecurity community in Texarkana.
  • Lee Street Community Center This grant will be used to purchase supplies and pay a small stipend to tutors. Because of the distance from Elaine to school – 30 miles away – most students do not have an opportunity to attend after-school programs or participate in tutoring offered after school.
  • Life Skills for Youth – Summer STEAM Academy These funds will support the LSY STEAM Academy expanding to Harrison Elementary School in North Little Rock.
  • Little Rock Diamond Foundation – Kappa League/Huddle Up
    Hosting two main programs, the Little Rock Kappa League and HuddleUP, both programs are in Little Rock and primarily serve minority African American students from lower-income families.
  • OneCommunity – Feed Your Brain, Alimenta Tu Cerebro
    This organization offers a bilingual family literacy program designed to increase reading, reduce summer learning loss, and provide families with bilingual and culturally responsive books.
  • Prevention Education Programs – Grand Prairie Healthy Families
    Focusing on single, pregnant first-time mothers under the age of 25, this program enrolls mothers during the pre-natal period, or before their child is 3-months old. Once enrolled they continue to receive services until the child turns three. The program primarily serving residents who reside in Arkansas County or the southern area of Prairie County or Monroe County.
  • Second Baptist Church – Healthy Highrise
    This program was developed to address three key challenges faced by low-income residents in three downtown Little Rock high-rises close to the church. The goals are to improve access to healthy and diverse food options by providing transportation weekly to a grocery store; provide quarterly Lunch & Learn programming on health and wellness; and build connections to health-related community services and programs.
  • Village Place – The Experiential Learning Lab Serving the South End community and surrounding areas, the lab provides hands-on opportunities for middle and high school students to learn trade skills like carpentry, masonry, beekeeping, welding, farming, plumbing, electrical work, and HVAC repair, and pathways to trade careers.

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

Arkansas Community Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization, provides resources, insight and inspiration to build stronger Arkansas communities – communities where our kids will want to raise their kids. The Community Foundation is the largest grantmaker in the state in the number of grants made each year. Since 1976, the Foundation has provided more than $460 million in grants to nonprofits. The Foundation staff works directly with donors, professional advisors and nonprofits to help strengthen Arkansas communities through strategic philanthropy and focusing on local needs. Its assets rank among the top 60 out of more than 900 community foundations in the United States. Serving statewide and local initiatives, the Community Foundation helps connect those who want to give to the causes they care about. Contributions to Arkansas Community Foundation, its funds and any of its 29 affiliates are fully tax deductible.

In the aftermath of the tornadoes that ripped through North Arkansas on May 26, Arkansans are doing what we do best- responding to the needs of our neighbors. Whether with chainsaws, hot meals, cold drinks or cell phone charging stations: this is what community looks like.

If you’d like to provide financial support to one of the many relief organizations on the ground, please consider using your donor advised fund at the Community Foundation to support one (or more) of the following*:

*This is a short list of national and/or state-wide relief organizations. We know there are countless groups, formal and informal, who are responding to the very unique needs in their community. Please support whichever organization(s) you know and trust that are responding in this time of need.

Our hearts go out to all of the people, businesses and communities who were impacted by the storms. Stay strong Arkansas.

Callie and Dustin Kellums had twins in 2020, a boy named Luke and a girl named Kate. Born prematurely, both newborns required care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. After a week, Luke was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, and it quickly became apparent that he needed more advanced care.

Luke was med-flighted to Arkansas Children’s in Little Rock, splitting the babies up between two hospitals, two hours apart.

“It wasn’t easy having one baby in Jonesboro and one baby in Little Rock,” said Dustin. “We were so lucky to have Callie’s parents near and a great group of friends to help us. Plus, this was during COVID so only one person at a time could visit the babies. That obviously made things more difficult.”

Luke Kellums

The couple also had a 2-year-old son, Ben, at home, which added to the complexities of caring for their family. “I received some good advice from a doctor at St. Bernards,” said Callie. “She told me that our newborns had excellent around-the-clock care in both hospitals. And it was okay to focus on Ben so things could be as normal as possible for him. I appreciated that advice.”

Fifteen days after the twins were born, Luke succumbed to bacterial meningitis and passed away.

“When Luke died, we wanted to do something positive with our grief,” said Callie. “We received such amazing care at St. Bernards in Jonesboro for both of our babies, we decided to help expand their NICU so that families in this area didn’t have to go hours away for better care. We raised nearly $100,000, and recently pledged another $70,000 to the NICU.”

A friend of the Kellums, Wade Bowen, suggested that Dustin and Callie use Arkansas Community Foundation to help manage the donations. The couple started the Luke Kellums NICU Fund – Benefiting St. Bernards.

“We saw a level of care in Little Rock that northeast Arkansas just didn’t have,” said Dustin. “We wanted to see that same level of staffing and equipment become available to families here. The latest expansion at St. Bernards is named after Luke. This keeps his memory alive and gives our children something to be proud of.”

“Our hope for the future is that if anyone else is faced with having a baby in the NICU,” Callie continued, “that they can be as close to their babies as possible, for as long as possible.”

Ujima Maternity Network trains birth professionals to address maternal health disparities

By Adena White

Maternal deaths from pregnancy-related causes continue to rise. From 2018 to 2021, for every 100,000 live births in Arkansas, 44 mothers died from pregnancy-related complications before their baby’s first birthday.

Socioeconomic and racial disparities exacerbate this crisis: Black, non-Hispanic mothers are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white, non-Hispanic mothers.

One proven solution to the maternal health crisis is ensuring that all women have access to doula support. Doulas provide physical and emotional support to pregnant women during pregnancy and beyond and are different from midwives in that they give no medical care. Visionary doulas across Arkansas have come together to form a doula association, with technical assistance provided by Excel by Eight. The doulas’ vision is to advance the profession of birth work through advocacy and education, improve access to doula services, and ensure the consistency and quality of those services. In particular, doulas are advocating to have their services reimbursed by Medicaid and health insurance plans.

Nicolle Fletcher is one of the doulas leading this effort. When she completed her doula certification training in 2010, little was known about the nation’s growing rate of maternal deaths. She became a doula to help women “reclaim the power of birth,” providing guidance and support to women during labor as well as serving as a lactation counselor, childbirth educator, and an apprentice midwife.

“When it comes to the maternal health crisis,” Fletcher said. “Doula care should be accessible to the people who need it most, regardless of their socioeconomic status.”

Fletcher first noticed in 2017 that poor health outcomes for Black mothers began to grab national headlines. Around this same time, she was at a point in her career where she felt discouraged and considered quitting the profession altogether. But an increase in clientele — particularly among Black women who were concerned about the alarming statistics in the news — reminded her of her purpose.

Nicolle Fletcher, Executive Director and doula for Ujima Maternity Network.

“I’m here on purpose, and I think about so many lives that have been impacted by me following my purpose, which has opened doors for others to do the same.”

As one of the few Black doulas in Arkansas at the time, Fletcher recognized a need to train more Black women to become doulas to address these growing concerns. What was initially designed to be a one-time, weeklong training for aspiring doulas became the creation of a new nonprofit, Ujima Maternity Network.

Fletcher — along with doulas Sarita Hendrix, Amber White, Regina Chaten, Shenika Reed, Erika Davis, and Shakia Jackson — founded the nonprofit on December 28, 2018, the third day of the seven-day African American holiday of Kwanzaa. The principle of Ujima (pronounced oo-JEE-mah) is the focus that third day, which means “collective work and responsibility” in the Swahili language.

“Ujima is about collective work. We’re going to work collectively; we’re going to own our responsibility, and we’re going to bring about solutions,” Fletcher said.

Since it was established, Ujima Maternity Network has trained 25 doulas of diverse ethnic backgrounds in hopes of reaching more women across the entire state. Six women are currently enrolled in the training program, and the goal is to train 40 doulas across the state this year.

“It’s fundamental to have an advocate as far as doula support that looks like you and can meet you right where you are without having to explain certain things,” Fletcher said. “There is an uncommunicated understanding that exists.”

During the six-month certification program, doulas-in-training are required to read and report on at least five assigned books, attend at least three birth experiences, participate in monthly training sessions with other members of their cohort, and complete a research paper. The participants are paired with a mentor doula and attend outreach events, emphasizing the importance of communal care.

Since Ujima’s founding, Fletcher has witnessed a decrease in cesarean sections and an increase in birth satisfaction, resulting in mothers who feel educated, supported, and empowered during their birth experiences.

“People do a lot of missions overseas, but Arkansas is a mission field,” Fletcher said. “And I think we need to look at it that way.”