IN THIS ISSUE

FOUNDATION NEWS
A Message From Our President & CEO
We’re Hiring a Director of Development
End of Year Giving Deadlines and Reminders

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Welcome to CFAAC
Community Leadership Circle Annual Campaign

COMMUNITY IMPACT
Understanding the Urgency for – and Hope around – Restorative Practices in AACPS

STRENGTHENING NONPROFITS
AAWGT 2022 Grant Applications

NEWS FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS
Helping Families Stay Connected Across the Miles and Generations
The Ever-Popular, Year-End Charitable Giving Checklist
Donor Advised Funds Grow in Popularity

FOUNDATION NEWS

During this season of gratitude, I am taking time to reflect on what an amazing year we’ve had at the Community Foundation. With your support, we were able to distribute 449 grants and nine scholarships to more than 200 different organizations, totaling nearly $3.4 million dollars in funding to date. This year, we also established 14 new funds, reinforced our staff by adding three new members, continued to strengthen local nonprofits by providing webinars and online training programs, honored eight deserving community leaders during our 21st Annual Celebration of Philanthropy, and grew our endowment by nearly $2.5 million to ensure our organization is financially sustainable for years to come. It was truly a team effort.

As we end 2021, we are saying goodbye to our longtime friend and coworker, Amy Francis. CFAAC was lucky to have her involved as a volunteer and staff member for 15 years; her dedication and knowledge helped CFAAC to grow into the strong organization it is today. We will miss her greatly and wish her the best in her new position.

I also offer my thanks to our generous donors, hardworking staff, devoted board and committee members — your vision, commitment, and leadership have allowed us to continue to make Anne Arundel County a great place to live. I am truly humbled and grateful for the enthusiasm and passion of everyone involved with CFAAC. I know that 2022 will be a time of resiliency and strength as we continue our role in the community as philanthropic advisors for our donors and fund holders as well as partners with our beloved local nonprofits.

Wishing you all joy during this special time of year. On behalf of our entire team at CFAAC, happy holidays to you and your loved ones.

Warmly,

Mary Spencer
President & CEO

Director of Development Job Description

End of Year Giving Deadlines and Reminders

On behalf of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County and the nonprofits you support, we appreciate your generosity and support of our community in 2021. CFAAC works to ensure that your donations make the greatest impact on the causes you care about while maximizing your tax-saving benefits. With that in mind, and so we can provide the best service and ensure your charitable gifts qualify for a 2021 IRS tax deduction, please keep the following dates in mind:  

• Credit card donations must be completed via our website by 11:59 pm on December 31, 2021.
• Checks must be postmarked by December 31, 2021.
• Cash donations must be completed by noon on December 30, 2021.
• Wire transfers should be initiated by December 22, 2021.
• Gifts of appreciated stock should be initiated by December 17, 2021 to ensure processing the 2021 transfer deadline. Note: Please notify CFAAC of the approximate number of shares and name of the company in advance. Shares received to CFAAC's ownership prior to the close of business on December 31st, even if not sold until 2022, can be claimed as a tax deduction for 2021. The stock market is closed on Friday, Dec. 24th and closes early, at 2pm, on New Year's Eve. Click here to read more about the benefits of donating stock.
• New funds may be opened immediately (during business hours) upon receipt of both a fully executed fund agreement and a cash or non-cash donation.

Please email Kathy@cfaac.org if you need wiring and stock delivery information.

If you are planning to make a grant from your fund to be sent to a nonprofit by the end of the year, please make the grant request by December 10, 2021. Fund holders can submit the request via your account at this link, or by sending an email to Rosalind@cfaac.org.

Our offices will be closed for the holidays on the following dates:

• December 24th - 27th
• December 31st

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Welcome to CFAAC

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County is thrilled to welcome the following to our family of funds:

• L.C. Cohen Fund: A Donor Advised Fund established to support the philanthropic interests of the fund advisor.
• Coach John Dockstader Fund: A Donor Advised Fund established to support causes in memory of Coach John Dockstader.
• Neil J. Weissman Fund: A Donor Advised Fund established to support the philanthropic interests of the fund advisor.

Community Leadership Circle Annual Campaign

Make a Gift to the Community Leadership Circle

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Understanding the Urgency for — and Hope around — Restorative Practices in AACPS

Date | January 26, 2022
Location | TBD
Time | 12:00 pm
Cost | Free to registered participants

Restorative Practices in schools have two components: community-building and productively addressing harm to that community when needed. Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) began its Restorative journey in earnest in 2016, with a district level School Climate Specialist position that would be held by Kathy Rockefeller, J.D. In this informative program, you will hear from Ms. Rockefeller about the Restorative journey at AACPS. Where are we now? What challenges remain? What are the next steps? How can families help?

Register & Learn More Here

STRENGTHENING NONPROFITS

AAWGT 2022 Grant Applications

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together (AAWGT) has announced their call for 2022 Grant Applications will go out on January 3, 2022. The deadline for receiving completed applications will be Friday, February 11, 2022 at 11:59pm.

The AAWGT 2022 Focus Statement:
AAWGT is particularly interested in proposals that support women and families and also prioritize issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to address the underlying causes of hardship and/or come from organizations with annual gross receipts of less than $100,000.

Grants will be awarded in amounts from $5,000 to $20,000. Going forward, organizations that receive grants for two consecutive years will not be eligible to apply for the following two years. Applicants will be asked to identify if and how the needs identified in CFAAC's Community Needs Assessment: Poverty Amongst Plenty VI, On the Road to Progress for All, are considered in their proposal. 

Learn more about the 2022 AAWGT Grants here.

NEWS FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Helping Families Stay Connected Across the Miles and Generations

Your philanthropic clients will thank you for suggesting they consider giving a charitable gift in the form of a charitable fund instead of the more typical “I made a gift to my/your favorite charity in your honor.” 

More and more parents and grandparents (and friends and colleagues) are giving a child, grandchild, friend, or co-worker a charitable fund, pre-established and pre-funded, in the name of the recipient. Frequently taking the form of a Donor Advised Fund, this gift allows the recipient to experience the benefits of working with the Community Foundation to support important causes.Read more.

The Ever-Popular, Year-End Charitable Giving Checklist

We’ve heard that many of you appreciate a quick checklist for charitable giving reminders each December. We know you receive this type of information from many sources, and frequently in great detail. We decided to break things down into three simple points. To dive deeper, we encourage you to reach out to our team at CFAAC.

First, in the midst of recent flurry surrounding the Build Back Better legislation, clients won’t want to forget about the charitable giving provisions from 2020 COVID-19 relief legislation that carried over to 2021, notably the $300 individual “universal deduction” even for non-itemizers. Helpful to itemizers is the allowance for cash contributions to charities to be deducted up to 100% of adjusted gross income. This allowance creates an ideal opportunity for your clients to “bundle” or “bunch” their charitable gifts this year, taking full advantage of the limited-time ability to offset significant levels of income. Donor Advised Funds are not eligible recipients of these cash contributions; however, Designated Funds and Field-of-Interest Funds at the Community Foundation can qualify and are very useful philanthropy planning tools. Read more.

Donor Advised Funds Grow in Popularity

For nearly 90 years, charitably-minded individuals and families have established Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) to help carry out their philanthropic wishes. Popularity of the DAF steadily grew, beginning in the 1990s, eventually resulting in official recognition in the Internal Revenue Code under 2006 tax law updates. Today, over one million DAF accounts hold nearly $160 billion in charitable assets, according to the latest numbers.

The growth of the DAF as a useful charitable giving tool has made this vehicle something of a celebrity. You and your clients no doubt have seen articles about DAFs pop up in mainstream financial publications, as well as in academic journals. A top priority for our team is keeping up with proposed legislation and commentary about charitable giving, including particular vehicles such as DAFs. As you talk with your clients about options for their charitable giving plans, please reach out. We would be happy to share perspectives and ideas that take into consideration current trends and legislative developments. Read more.