Donate

How You Can Support
The Foundation…

The Northwest Lions Foundation depends on charitable giving to fulfill its mission. Your gifts are very important!

Your gifts to the Foundation can be applied to specific programs, services or funds (dedicated), or to the Foundation's general fund (unrestricted).

Dedicated gifts are restricted to the purpose or fund requested by the donor. The Foundation currently maintains funds dedicated to equipment purchases, education, training and travel opportunities, program development.

Unrestricted gifts are deposited to the Foundation's general fund, which is used for projects, programs and grant requests for purposes other than those covered by dedicated funds. Unrestricted gifts that are not consumed by grants are dedicated to the Foundation’s general endowment fund.

The Foundation is currently building a general endowment fund with the long–range goal to make meeting the Foundation's mission self–supporting.

What To Give

You can contribute to the success of the MD19 Lions Foundation's mission in many ways:

• One–time cash gifts.
• Annual cash gifts paid in monthly, quarterly, or other periodic installments.
• Appreciated stock, mutual fund shares, or closely held stock. Usually, a gift of appreciated stock or mutual fund shares can qualify for an income tax deduction equal to its current market value, and there is no capital gain tax when the fund shares are sold by the Foundation. Note: The Foundation for has an internal policy to sell stock immediately.
• Real estate or personal property. Consider a gift of real estate to make a substantial outright or planned gift. Gifts of valuable items like jewelry, antiques, or art can also create charitable legacies.
• Assets of a family foundation or other private foundations can continue to achieve a philanthropic objective while taking advantage of cost–savings, regulatory, administrative and excise tax burdens of self–administered funds.
• Gifts of IRAs and other retirement funds lessen the impact of income, estate and generation-skipping taxes on a family’s inheritance by naming the MD19 Lions Foundation as the beneficiary.
• Assignment of life insurance benefits. A donor can deduct insurance premiums by assigning a life insurance policy to the Foundation as owner and beneficiary. When the policy is redeemed, a permanent fund can be created to support the donor’s charitable goals.

Planned Giving

Planned giving strategies can help you make charitable gifts while enjoying tax benefits and preserving economic value of what you give for yourself and your loved ones. There are many ways for individuals to benefit the MD19 Lions Foundation long into the future through estate plans. For example:

• Bequests are the most common way to make lasting gifts. Simply list the Foundation as a beneficiary of your estate plan. Donors are encouraged to consult with our staff when preparing their estate plans to insure that the Foundation is able to carry out their wishes.
• IRA, 401(k), or other qualified retirement plan assets may be used to leave a legacy simply by naming the Foundation as the beneficiary.
• Life insurance can be used if you name the Foundation as the owner and beneficiary of a new or existing policy, perhaps a policy that is no longer essential to your financial goals. Premiums on the policy that you pay will then become tax deductible.
• Charitable Remainder Trusts allow you to receive income (or provide income for another person) with the knowledge that the funds remaining when the trust terminates will be used to support your charitable interests.
• Charitable Lead Trusts enable you to make significant charitable gifts in the near term while eventually transferring substantial assets to beneficiaries, who may benefit from significantly lowered gift and estate taxes.

Other Ways To Help

You do not have to spend money to help the MD19 Lions Foundation mission. The Foundation relies on volunteers to help raise awareness about its needs and the people it serves. You can help by:

• Become an event sponsor. The Foundation hosts charitable and fund–raising events each year. These events can not occur without the generous support of event sponsors who provide products or personnel.
• Donate prizes or complimentary gifts that the Foundation can distribute at its events.
• Volunteer time. The Foundation relies on volunteers to keep its operational costs low.
• Join us as a corporate partner. Investing in the Foundation is not only a rewarding philanthropic decision, it is just good business! Your company can take the spotlight with exceptional exposure to a premium potential customer base. The Lions Clubs of British Columbia, Northern Idaho and Washington are a part of the largest and longest serving service club organization in the world. If you would like more information about corporate giving, contact Bill Lundin by email atBill.Lundin@lwvi.org.

Thank You

Your gracious gifts help provide every community in Northern Idaho and Washington States receive the service and leadership that Lions are famous for. We thank you for your support.