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Donor Opportunities

At Pella Community Foundation, we work to be your trusted resource for community generosity.  Since 1991, we have partnered with individuals and families, businesses and non-profits, to create and grow charitable gifts that allow you to preserve the heritage and enhance the quality of life for the people of Pella.

 

When we do this together, good grows here.

 

The Pella Community Foundation accepts a variety of gift types to support charitable giving funds and meet your giving goals in tax-wise ways.

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Learn more:

Support charitable funds and meet your giving goals in tax-wise ways.

Types of Giving

Giving to the Foundation is as simple as writing a check or clicking on the Donate button, but donors would be wise to consider optional methods of support which can provide special tax benefits, payment over time, or designed uses. We can provide information, but an attorney, tax consultant, life insurance consultant, or estate planner should be consulted if complex procedures are envisioned.

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Cash

Direct gifts of cash in lump sum or pledged over a period of time, are a convenient and immediately satisfying way of establishing a fund. Charitable income tax deductions are available for such gifts.

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Appreciated Securities or Real Estate

Gifts of appreciated securities held long term may be made prior to their sale, normally avoiding capital gains and providing a charitable deduction of their full market value. Gifts of appreciated real estate may be of advantage to donors also.  It is often beneficial to the donor to make a gift of a future interest in real estate during a lifetime. For example, a couple might retain the right to live in a a residence for the balance of their lives, giving the remainder interest to the Foundation. Such a donation gains an income tax deduction in the year of the gift and eliminates tax on the property.

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Gifts by Will

A donor's gift may be a specified amount, a percentage of the donor's estate, or specific assets. Such a provision often makes it possible for a donor to give large amounts for community good.

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Gift Annuities, Trusts and Life Insurance

There are a number of arrangements that can be made using annuities, special trusts and life insurance. These provide special advantages for particular donors and are usually designed in consultation with personal advisers. In some cases life income is retained by donors without loss of tax advantages. Important among these is the Gift Annuity in which the donor makes the gift with a related immediate tax deduction and receives for life a determined rate which is partly tax free at time of receipt. Current rates on such contracts can be very attractive relative to short term interest rates and serve well those who wish to give but need continuing income.

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Transfer of Endowments

In some cases organizations with small endowments may wish to transfer them to the Foundation while retaining all rights to income. This would assure competent investment management, an assured income, and a system of continuing use of assets if the organization itself ceases to provide the services for which the endowment as intended. Major shifts from private foundations may be facilitated by establishing special funds within the Pella Community Foundation​.

Types of Giving

The non-profits we support provide programs which directly and effectively serve the community. 

Fund Types

Fund Types

Funds may be established for different purposes as long as they are consistent with the Foundation’s objectives. Gifts of any size may be made to existing funds. The Board will require a minimum contribution to establish new funds.

 

Board Directed Fund

Income from this type of fund are not restricted to any one field or individual charity.  Rather they are used to meet the most pressing community needs and to seize the most promising community opportunities. This is the more dynamic type of Fund. It provides great flexibility for the Board of Directors to respond to changing public needs, and to accommodate changes in the quality of service provided by various organizations. It is the primary focus of the Foundation’s mission and assures an adaptive and effective use of funds in perpetuity.

 

Field of Interest Funds

Funds of this type are established by donors who wish to support particular areas of special interest such as health, education, historic preservation, culture, religion or recreation. The Foundation Board invites proposals from agencies offering services in the designated field(s), and selects projects that seem well-conceived.

 

Designated Funds

The donor who establishes this type of fund requests that income from the Fund benefit one or more named non-profit organizations, such as a church, hospital, museum, or college. This is an excellent way to permanently endow annual gifts to a particular agency such as the Pella Historical Society. In the event a designated Charity disbands or fails to provide the intended services, the Foundation’s Board may redirect the charitable proceeds to a similar non-profit agency in the community.

 

Donor Advised Funds​

This fund allows donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax benefit and then recommend grants from the fund over time. An easy way to think about a donor-advised fund is like a charitable savings account: a donor contributes to the fund as frequently as they like and then recommends grants to their favorite charities when they are ready.

  • Gifts to the fund are irrevocable.

  • The assets of the donor advised fund are owned and controlled by the Foundation.

  • Contributions to the fund may be made using cash, publicly traded securities or other property.

  • Up to three advisors and three successor advisors to the fund may be named when establishing the fund.

  • Grants from the fund must be for charitable purposes.

  • Advisors may recommend grants to any 501(c)(3) organization other than private foundations, and to most units of government (e.g. public schools, colleges and universities, town and municipal governments, police departments, etc.)

  • Pella Community Foundation suggests at least 50% of the total grant amounts in any year be made to organizations or units of government which fulfill the Foundation's mission to preserve the heritage and enhance the quality of life for the people of Pella.

 

Agency Funds

In some situations organizations may want to earn income on excess funds but wish to reserve the right to withdraw them in whole or in part under unusual circumstances. The Foundation may accommodate this desire with an Agency Fund.

Fund Types

Our mission is to ​preserve the heritage and enhance the quality of life for the people of Pella

by transferring funds from people who wish to help others, ​​to non-profit organizations that do.

Endow Iowa Incentives

Endow Iowa Tax Credit Program

The Endow Iowa Tax Credit Program offers a unique opportunity for donors to give to their communities and receive generous tax benefits in return. It’s a smart tool to help you get more from your giving. The state of Iowa has established  a tax credit fund of $6.0 million, making it easier for donors to receive state tax credits by making charitable gifts to the Pella Community Foundation.


Donors who give to one of the endowed funds listed below are eligible to receive 25% tax credits for their donations and  will also be eligible for federal deductions. Because tax credits are issued on a first come, first served basis, it’s important to act early in the calendar year.


Tax credits apply only to gifts made to the following permanent endowment funds administered and held by the Pella Community Foundation. These include:

  • Bethany Christian Services – Clinical Director's Endowed Chair Fund

  • ​Central College​                                                                         

  • Crossroads – General Endowment Fund

  • Crossroads – Director's Endowed Chair Fund  

  • Dollars for Scholars                                                                  ​

  • Friends of the Pella Public Library                                      ​

  • ​Fund for Educational Excellence 

  • Garden Chapel Endowment Fund

  • Gary D. Dirksen Endowment Fund                                      

  • Howard and Helen Glendening Mental Health Fund   

  • H.O.P.e (Housing Opportunities in Pella)

  • Lakeview Camp and Conference Center

  • Many Hands for Haiti

  • ​Pella Christian High School

  • ​Pella Community Foundation – Board Directed Grants

  • Pella Community Foundation – Operational Endowment Fund

  • ​Pella Historical Society

  • ​​Pella Regional Health Center

  • Tulip City Golden Agers

  • Union Street Players

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​Establishing a new endowment fund which qualifies for the Endow Iowa Tax Credits requires a gift of $10,000 or more. Endow Iowa gifts are just one way the Pella Community Foundation works with donors to achieve their personal, financial and charitable goals while gaining maximum benefit under the law.

We welcome the chance to discuss the Endow Iowa charitable giving opportunity with you.

Grow Pella allows farmland owners to create a lasting legacy that will benefit the community.

Grow Pella (Farmland Legacy Program)

Grow Pella Program

Farmland has always been a crucial part of Pella; it's part of the reason for our founding and it's part of our legacy as a community. Grow Pella allows farmland owners to create a lasting legacy that will benefit the community, preserve our heritage and enhance the quality of life for the people of Pella.

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Create a Lasting Legacy for Pella 

Grow Pella allows landowners the ability to make a gift of farmland either as an outright gift or a retained life interest. The Pella Community Foundation is committed to retaining the farmland and keeping it in production for many years. The land continues to be farmed and donor selected charities will benefit from this legacy.

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Grow Pella provides a number of options for landowners to structure the gift of farmland:

  • Make an outright gift of farmland in which the rental income benefits charities of the donor’s choice immediately.

  • Make a gift of farmland as a retained life interest and receive farm income for lifetime.

  • Recommend a tenant farmer for the land.

  • Establish the type of fund to use for the rental income which include:

    • Donor Advised Fund

    • Designated Fund

    • Field of Interest Fund

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What are benefits of Grow Pella?

Grow Pella is an important tool for retaining one of our communities' greatest assets, farmland, while providing these benefits:

  • Landowners receive a tax deduction for the charitable portion of the gift.

  • The gift may be eligible for a 25% Endow Iowa Tax Credit depending on how the endowment funds are structured.

  • It removes the asset from the possibility of estate taxes.

  • The landowner can recommend a tenant farmer to continue farming the land.

  • The gift will benefit favorite charities and the Pella Community Foundation.

  • Charitable organizations, as directed by the donor, will receive a legacy of sustainable funding.

  • Pella Community Foundation will benefit from long-term support through funding of permanent endowment funds.

  • Grow Pella will keep farmland in production as farmland.

  • County governments will continue to maintain the tax base as the farmland will stay on the property tax roll.

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How it Works

Grow Pella provides a vehicle to keep valuable farmland producing and providing a lasting legacy to the Pella area community. Farmland gifts can be made as outright gifts or as a retained life interest based on the landowners desire.

 

  • Outright Gifts

    • A gift of farmland is used to provide charitable giving opportunities and tax benefits for the donor.

    • The landowner gifts ownership of the land to the Pella Community Foundation where the land stays in production and is managed by the Grow Pella program.

    • The annual rental income is used to fulfill the landowner’s charitable wishes through a fund at the Pella Community Foundation.

    • Donors receive an immediate charitable tax deduction and are potentially eligible for Endow Iowa Tax Credit.

    • The landowner can recommend a tenant farmer to continue farming the land.

    • The Pella Community Foundation will manage the property using best practices.

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  • Retained Life Interest

    • The donor makes a gift of farmland but maintains the ability to live on the farm and/or retain the income from the farmland for life, while receiving a tax deduction on the charitable portion of the gift immediately.

    • Upon the demise of the donor, the rental income from the land is used to fulfill the donor’s charitable wishes through a fund at the Pella Community Foundation.

    • The remainder interest is passed to the Pella Community Foundation and the land stays in production with the property being managed by the Grow Pella program.

    • The landowner can recommend a tenant farmer to farm the land.

    • The Pella Community Foundation will manage the property using best practices.

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