Inspiring People to Give Back to Sustain and Advance the Community We Love

Door County Community Foundation
January 2015
   

Imagine making a contribution of $25,000 to your favorite charity only to have the Internal Revenue Service disallow your tax deduction. This nonprofit horror story may sound absurd, but if you're not careful, it could happen to you.

It starts with a nonprofit that you've been giving to for many years and know very well. It's a legitimate 501(c)(3) public charity as recognized by the IRS. You know members of the board of directors and have met regularly with the professional staff. It truly is a great organization and unquestionably, your gift will do wonderful things for the charity and the community it serves.
 
Several years pass and you see the impact of your gift, and you couldn't be more pleased. But during a routine audit of your taxes by the IRS, your $25,000 deduction is suddenly, and completely, disallowed.

You're confused and don't understand what you did wrong. This is a legitimate nonprofit organization. You did not receive anything in exchange for your gift. Everything about this gift and the charity involved was honest and appropriate. It turns out the IRS disallowed your gift because of the omission of a single sentence.
 

If you're lucky enough to be in Door County right now, we hope you're enjoying this remarkable winter wonderland of snow!
Bret N. Bicoy
President & CEO
Door County Community Foundation
Grants Awarded to Door County Medical Center and Crossroads at Big Creek

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded the Door County Medical Center Foundation a Sustainability Grant from the Health and Human Needs Fund. This grant provides financial support for further development of the Ministry Memory Clinic.

"The Door County Community Foundation is committed to supporting the aging population of Door County through this grant to the Memory Clinic," said Mike Felhofer, board member of the Community Foundation.

Learn More about the grant to the Door County Medical Center Foundation...
The Door County Community Foundation also awarded Crossroads at Big Creek a Sustainability Grant from the Education Fund. This grant provides financial support for the installation of cabinetry in the new, lower level learning space.

"The Door County Community Foundation is pleased to support Crossroads at Big Creek as it continues to provide exceptional educational opportunities for community members and visitors of all ages," said Marcia Smith, board member of the Community Foundation. 

Learn More about the grant to Crossroads at Big Creek...

These are just a few of the grants awarded by the Family of Funds at the Door County Community Foundation. The Community Foundation has several granting programs that offer financial awards to charity from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Education Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, Healthy Water Fund, and the Women's Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation's services and various grant programs, please visit us online or contact us. 
Margaret Lockwood Featured in Winter Exhibition

The community is invited to attend a reception on Saturday, January 23rd from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Door County Community Foundation to open its Lobby Gallery Winter Exhibition featuring works by artist Margaret Lockwood. The Community Foundation is located at 342 Louisiana Street in Sturgeon Bay across from the Post Office.

Margaret has a constant desire to paint canvases that create the feeling of space. Her tools are color relationships, layers of atmosphere, and rhythmic interludes. Margaret says, "I want each work to gently welcome viewers into a peaceful place within the painting and within themselves. My work sometimes begins with looking at the surrounding landscape or often begins as a conversation with the painting before it." No matter how they are started, the real work comes in the doing, while she is in the middle of it all. Margaret is required to have trust in the unknown and yet-to-be, remaining open to change and chance along the way, but also to direct the creation.

The Community Foundation's reception is being coordinated with the "You Draw & Paint on What?" exhibit at the Miller Art Museum that same evening. The exhibition will feature works of 12 Wisconsin artists who draw and paint with traditional and non-traditional media in new and surprising ways. Guests are encouraged to visit Sturgeon Bay and drop by both the Miller Art Museum and the Community Foundation Lobby Gallery opening receptions.

Refreshments will be served at the Door County Community Foundation by Morag Hornsby and her team at Serves You Right Catering.

Learn More about the January 23rd Opening Reception... 
List Your Scholarship on the Scholarship Network

The Door County Scholarship Network is now updating its online searchable database for the 2016 scholarship season. 

If you are a scholarship program that provides scholarships to students from any Door County high school, please download and complete the Scholarship Listing Form so we can list your scholarship program in our online database.

There is absolutely no cost for a scholarship program to be listed on this website. In addition, each individual scholarship program will continue to control its own assets, make its own decisions, and award scholarships in their own name. The Scholarship Network's searchable online database is designed to simplify the search process for the students.

Learn more about listing your scholarship on the Scholarship Network...
Endowments in Action: Gibraltar Schools

The Community Foundation is honored to administer the Gibraltar Area Educational Endowment. 

It is the mission of the Gibraltar Schools, in partnership with the family and community, to strive for excellence in educating each of our children to live responsible, creative, and fulfilling lives in a global society.

The Gibraltar Area Schools serve the northern Door County, Wisconsin communities of Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay, and Ellison Bay. The Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and District Offices are located on a common campus in Fish Creek. 

Both U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek Magazine have declared Gibraltar High School to be among the "Best in America."

Please consider incorporating gift to this endowment in your estate plans. Speak with your attorney, accountant or other estate planning professional. Or contact the Community Foundation and we'd be glad to help facilitate your generosity.
Give Door County: The Blog!


We've recently launched a new blog to bring you the latest activities of the funds of the Door County Community Foundation and news about charity in on our peninsula. Whether it be a grant to an innovative new program, information about funding opportunities, or ways to use the most tax-efficient giving tools, we'll be posting it on Give Door County: The Blog!
Give Door County Publications Available for Download
Guide to Endowments

The Community Foundation produces several publications and information sheets to help you craft a strategy to give back in the most effective - and tax efficient - way possible. There are also wonderful ideas of where you might choose to give. Download them from the Community Foundation.

Our Guide to Endowments highlights different charities so families have options to consider when giving back - either today or through their estate plans. You can download an Introductory Brochure that explains the most popular charitable Funds at the Community Foundation - along with information sheets for Donor Advised Funds, Discretionary Funds, Scholarship Funds and more.

Download any these documents and more, or contact us and and we'd be glad to send them to you. And if you're an attorney, accountant, investment adviser, or trust officer, we'll send a supply of Guides, Introductory Brochures, or other materials (and display holders) for use in your office. Just contact us at the Community Foundation.

This is just another way the Community Foundation is encouraging people to give back to sustain and advance the community we love!
The Community Foundation's Board of Directors

Dave Eliot, Chair  ~  Polly Alberts, Vice Chair  ~  Dick Egan, Secretary  ~  Richard Hauser, Treasurer  ~  John Herlache, Past Chair

Bill Boettcher  ~  Jacinda Duffin  ~  Mike Felhofer  ~  Mark Jinkins  ~  Linda Laarman  ~  Frank Maxwell  ~  Kaaren Northrop  ~  Sally O'Brien  ~  Jeff Ottum  ~  Grace Rossman ~ Nancy Sargent  ~  Marcia Smith  ~  Jane Stevenson
 
Door County Community Foundation, Inc.
Mail: P.O. Box 802 Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Office: 342 Louisiana St. in Downtown Sturgeon Bay
(920) 746-1786    www.GiveDoorCounty.org
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