We love our Nonprofits Making a Difference Bus Tours! Once per quarter, we take our fundholders and their guests to places outside their typical travels. We visit a selection of nonprofit organizations making a difference in a variety of ways in our community. These visits are often the first time our guests have been to the frontlines where community needs are being met. When the tour ends, we hear a popular refrain, ‘I had no idea of the level of need in our own community and the dedication of the people working to meet those needs.’
On a recent tour we visited three different nonprofit locations and heard from another three nonprofit representatives on the bus. At Simple Needs GA, we saw room after room of new and used silverware, pots, and pans, sleeping bags, mattresses, clothing for all ages and a lot of happy volunteers keeping it all straight in a warehouse unit with no air conditioning. At MUST Hope House, we saw a newly opened, carefully planned facility prepared to feed and house hundreds of homeless individuals and families each month in addition to clothing them and preparing them to work. And the Mostly Mutts animal shelter housed more than 75 adorable dogs and cats in various degrees of health as they were loved and prepared to be fostered/adopted. Back on the bus we heard stories of the families of officers recently fallen in the line of duty from the Cobb Public Safety Foundation. We heard about how single parent families are struggling, but that there is a group out there known as the 10 Women of Hope to help them stay afloat in a crisis. We also learned about Revved Up Kids’ robust program designed to combat the sexual exploitation of youth and children.
At the end of the tour, one of our guests was compelled to act. She was looking for an impactful way to give back to her community and was inspired by the partnerships she saw between CCF and community nonprofits. To support CCF’s vision of a thriving Cobb, she decided to entrust a gift to CCF’s Unrestricted Community Fund where she knows her contribution will be used in her community where it is most needed. Instead of giving cash, she requested a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from her IRA.
Like anyone over 70 ½, she could direct up to $100K from her IRA to any fund at CCF other than a donor advised fund. Because her IRA distribution is being sent directly to CCF without going first to her, it is excluded from her adjusted gross income (AGI), potentially allowing the benefits of her standard deduction to remain intact and eliminating various other taxes and costs that a higher AGI could trigger. With the QCD, she leveraged greater tax benefits for herself and by directing it to our Unrestricted Community Fund, she leveraged CCF’s knowledge and expertise for her community. It was a win-win.
Want to learn more about the mission of Cobb Community Foundation and the benefits of using a QCD to make the most impact with your charitable dollars? Or perhaps you would like to join us on our next nonprofit bus tour? Reach out to our team at CCFTeam@cobbfoundation.org or visit cobbcommunityfoundation.org.
