TEN REASONS WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE TO GIVE THROUGH THE LIMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

  1. We are a local organization with deep roots in the community. Since 1965, The Lima Community Foundation has been helping the Lima region help others by being an effective steward of community charitable resources. Representatives of diverse local leadership are elected to the Foundation’s Governing Board, which oversees all facets of the Foundation’s operations.
  2. We build endowment funds that benefit the community forever and help create personal legacies. Each year we assist hundreds of donors and award thousands of grant dollars to charitable organization for worthy causes. We take pride in the role we play in carrying out the dreams of our donors and in keeping our community strong.
  3. We multiply the impact of gift dollars by pooling them with other gifts and grants. Combining unrestricted and field-of-interest contributions from Community Impact Endowment Funds provides a source of funding to help the Foundation respond to current and future community needs through the Foundation’s discretionary grant making process,  project and leadership initiatives. Coupled with contributions from hundreds of donors, they produce a collective force for community good.
  4. We provide highly personalized service, tailored to each individual’s charitable and financial interests. Whether you want to give now or in the future, locally or nationwide, we can customize a charitable-giving plan to make your philanthropic and financial goals a reality. We will meet with you and your professional advisors to discuss your charitable-giving needs and how we can best fulfill them.
  5. Our charitable funds help you invest in the causes you care most about. We offer an array of endowed fund options that allow your fund to be positioned for growth over time and to provide lasting support for the charitable causes most meaningful to you. You can select the degree of involvement and recognition (or anonymity) you desire in awarding grants to charity.
  6. We accept a wide variety of assets and can facilitate even the most complex forms of giving. You can gift cash, appreciated stock, real estate or other assets and receive maximum charitable and tax benefits. You can also plan future gifts through bequests, lead trusts, life insurance policies and other arrangements. Tools, such as a charitable gift charitable remainder trust, can provide an income stream for you and/or a loved one, while generating an immediate tax deduction and creating a charitable legacy with the remainder interest.
  7. Our professional staff has broad expertise regarding charitable-giving vehicles, as well as community issues and needs. We have a staff of experts to help you and your professional advisors focus your giving and make it more effective.
  8. We partner with professional advisors to create highly effective approaches to charitable giving. Every day, local professionals provide invaluable tax, financial and estate-planning advice to clients who are charitably inclined. A significant percentage of donors are introduced to the Foundation through their trusted advisors. We work with donors and their advisors to develop the best and most tax-wise, customized and effective charitable-giving plans.
  9. We offer maximum tax advantages under state and federal law. Gifts of cash to The Lima Community Foundation are deductible up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI); gifts of appreciated, long-term capital gains property are deductible at fair-market value, up to 30 percent of AGI. We can also offer solutions to help reduce estate-tax liability.
  10. We are a community leader, convening agencies and coordinating resources to create positive change. The Lima Community Foundation brings together community leaders  and nonprofit organizations to identify emerging problems and opportunities in our region, as well as to find new ways to work together to meet challenges. Our leadership initiatives address large-scale community issues, may involve major, long-term grant commitments and foster partnerships between interested parties, funders and local service providers. By combining the knowledge and resources of multiple organizations, these partnerships have the opportunity to create a greater impact on our community than any one organization could accomplish alone.