By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As area families make plans for this holiday season, nonprofit organizations look to gather funds that will be used for projects throughout the following year during “the giving season.”
The end of the year has historically been when the overwhelming majority of donations to nonprofits are received, with days like Giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and National Philanthropy Day driving awareness.
“Eighty percent of charitable giving happens during the months of November and December,” said Heartland Community Foundation Executive Director Sarah Meitner.
She said while many give as a part of their seasonal traditions, there is a more practical measure for some.
“One, it's just the spirit of the holidays, and people are feeling more generous,” Meitner said. “But from a practical sense to, of course, there's maybe some tax liabilities that people are facing, and they might want to lower that taxable income and make it a charitable gift. And that's a great way to do it.”
This year looks to be no different, but as residents deal with rising prices due to inflation and the continued economic uncertainty brought by it, those organizations are hoping donors can continue giving at levels similar to, or higher than in the past as those non-profits struggle to deal with those same economic factors.
Meitner said while she understands the impact on personal budgets, she hopes residents understand the importance to the community of those donations and look to give what they can.
“I would still encourage you to do something,” Meitner said. “Still model that for your kids. Still set that aside.”
Grow Hays Executive Director Doug Williams said it is also important for the community to understand while large gifts may be more noteworthy, small donations can have a significant impact as well.
“It's not about the celebration and the notoriety of giving a large gift. It's about the actual giving and what that gift does,” Williams said. “It's not that the large gifts are not great, and it does some amazing things – I mean, we've got some amazing things at Hays Med, wings of the hospital that wouldn't be there if it wasn't for people who really stepped up and made those contributions – but most people can't do that. But people can participate. And the level of participation is not as important as the actual active participation and the giving of whatever they can.”
And for those new to donating to non-profit organizations, organizations like the Heartland Community Foundation and Grow Hays can help.
“At Heartland, we have a number of different fund types, but one we have a donor-advised fund, and this allows a donor to direct money for charitable giving at the very end of the year when they might not quite know where they want that money to go yet, but they can direct it designated as charitable giving, take that deduction on their tax in their taxable income. And then they can decide later where it goes,” Meitner said.
After the money is in the fund, she said she can help guide the final decision on where those dollars would go.
“They can have that discussion with myself or with one of our board members and things about what projects in town they might want to steer that money toward. We have great relationships with our non-profit directors in town, and that then allows us to kind of know a little bit about what they have going on. And so, when people might not know where they want their money to go, we can be a resource. We can let them know about some of those projects.”
Williams said Grow Hays could also be a resource for making charitable giving choices.
“We would be happy to talk to anybody regarding what we know about these organizations,” Williams said. “We all have causes that are kind of near and dear to us. It might be domestic violence, it might be children or whatever the case might be. And so, a little bit of research can go a long way on knowing which of those organizations might fit your personal mission as to who you want to support.”
He said a popular choice in Ellis County is the United Way. As an umbrella organization, they give to other area non-profit organizations. As an organization with a large footprint, they can then combine those small donations into powerful action.
“I think all of them will tell you that there's no gift that's too small,” Williams said. “Obviously, they have budgets, and they have dollars they need to raise, but steady contributions from a large group can be very meaningful. … I think sometimes people say, ‘Well, I can only give X amount of dollars.’ That's not the important thing, the important thing is the gesture and the act of giving. And if we all do a little bit, it becomes a big deal.”
Last year, Heartland Community Foundation gave out about $350,000 to other local nonprofits, Meitner said, but it is important to note that money cannot be used for operating costs.
“So, our nonprofits depend on their holiday appeals,” she said. “You might get the letters in the mail, their holiday appeal time to really make up the difference for closing those gaps for their operating budget. Looking ahead for the coming year, it's vital to their being able to keep the lights on and the doors open to do the good work that they're doing.”
Alongside the philanthropic work of area non-profits, Williams said there is an impact on the greater area economy.
“It's that buy local mentality, support local,” he said. “That's what we want to do as much as possible, and for the most part, I think our community is doing a great job of doing that. I think we have strong supporters of many of these organizations. And fortunately, we have good people who will step up.”
Those efforts then create a more inclusive and supportive community.
“When you give locally, and to some of the organizations we've been talking about, the vast majority end up going to where you would hope they go as a donor, to helping people,” Williams said. “And that's what really matters at the end of the day, helping people, helping victims of domestic violence, helping people who are homeless, helping people who have lost their job and they've been evicted from their apartment or about to get evicted from their apartment. That's what matters in a community because you don't want people to suffer needlessly if it can be avoided.”
Cover image courtesy Pixabay.