One of the beneficiaries of the Northwest Healthcare Foundation is the ALERT helicopter service. Inter Lake file photo

Year-end giving opportunities abound with local foundations

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

The Daily Inter Lake

Christmas is here today and gone tomorrow, but the giving doesn't have to end.

Several local foundations stand ready to help individuals and businesses with year-end giving that yields considerable tax savings while helping charitable causes.

"Folks shouldn't forget about the Montana Tax Credit, and to take full advantage of it, it needs to be done before the end of the year," said Mike Jenson, president of the Whitefish Community Foundation.

The Montana Tax Credit provides an opportunity to reduce state taxes by directing money to endowment funds set up through most foundations. It involves a direct credit against the tax when a donor makes a charitable gift for the benefit of a qualified endowment.

Large businesses can claim a $10,000 maximum credit for all contributions by a corporation doing business in Montana; the credit is limited to 20 percent of the charitable contribution. Partnerships, limited-liability companies, small businesses and estate beneficiaries are allowed the same tax credit. Direct gifts of cash, securities, real estate or other assets qualify for the tax credit.

State law requires individuals to donate through a charitable planned gift and allows a tax credit of up to 40 percent against Montana income tax owed. The maximum credit is $10,000 or $20,000 if filing jointly. Cash, securities, real estate, and other assets can be used to fund a charitable planned giving instrument to qualify for the tax credit, including charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities and life-estate agreements. A paid-up life insurance policy also can be used.

Senate Bill 15, passed by the Legislature in 2002, made several changes to the way the credit is calculated. The Montana Department of Revenue Web site has more information at www.discoveringmontana.com/revenue/content/pdf/qualified_charitable_endowment_credit.doc

Beyond the Montana Tax Credit, there are numerous ways to donate to foundations.

A charitable bequest is one of the easiest ways to make a gift that will make a lasting difference, Jenson said. The savings in estate taxes can be dramatic, and bequests can take a variety of forms. Donors can leave the foundation a specific sum of money, a percentage of the estate or a specific piece of property.

Cash gifts are 100 percent tax deductible and also may reduce one's taxable estate.

A contribution of appreciated securities can produce significant tax savings, Jenson said. Benefits to donors are twofold. An immediate charitable deduction is realized for the fair market value of the securities contributed, and donors are not subject to any capital gains tax on the appreciation.

Gifts of real estate can include a house, apartment building, farm, vacation home, commercial building or land. Donors can make an outright gift of real property now or use it to fund a planned gift that provides income.

Major foundations in the Flathead Valley include those for the two area hospitals - North Valley Hospital Foundation and the Northwest Healthcare Foundation. Flathead Valley Community College also raises money through its foundation. Whitefish Community Foundation focuses its charitable mission on Whitefish, and the Glacier Fund helps raise money for Glacier National Park.

North Valley Hospital Foundation

The North Valley Hospital Foundation has raised about $3 million since it was established in 1999.

The increasing costs of providing health care make it difficult to provide necessary program enhancements and service improvements, said foundation director Carol Blake.

Proceeds from annual fund-raisers such as the M*A*S*H Bash help pay for new equipment. Money is currently being raised for new patient beds and an EKG machine.

Donors can designate where money will be used within the hospital.

"One-hundred percent goes to the intended purpose. Nothing is taken out for administration," said Blake, whose foundation salary is an in-kind donation from North Valley Hospital.

The foundation plans to raise $6.3 million that will go toward construction of a new hospital near the intersection of Montana 40 and U.S. 93. About $1.3 million was raised in an earlier campaign for hospital expansion before plans were made to build a new facility.

"Once we get to the halfway mark for the capital campaign, we'll get a visible effort going within the community," Blake said.

There will be many opportunities for giving within the new hospital, where rooms and sections of the building can be named after donors.

"Through their gifts, donors help communities like Whitefish preserve their heritage and maintain their standards of performance," she said.

Northwest Healthcare Foundation

Created two years ago, the Northwest Healthcare Foundation aims to build a comprehensive giving program for both long- and short-term needs of Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Nationally, reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid are shrinking and more hospitals are relying on foundations to help pay specialized equipment that offers the most up-to-date technology, said foundation director Brad Holmes. Year-end letters were recently distributed to raise money for a $50,000 transport isolette that keeps premature and health-impaired babies warm during transport by helicopter or airplane.

Donations can be designated to restricted funds such as heart care, cancer care or diabetic care, as well as to the foundation's "greatest need" fund.

People choose to donate to health-care facilities because they want to touch another life, Holmes said. There's often a sense of urgency that accompanies the goal of making a difference in the community.

The ALERT air-ambulance program is one service of Kalispell Regional that needs philanthropic support from donors, Holmes said. The hospital loses $500,000 a year on the ALERT program, but it's a vital part of overall health care in the Flathead Valley.

A separate foundation for ALERT was merged into the Northwest Healthcare Foundation. Donors may give to a restricted fund for immediate operational needs of ALERT or to an endowment fund.

Flathead Valley Community College Foundation

Flathead Valley Community College Foundation dedicated a donor wall last year celebrating more than $4 million raised for scholarships, equipment and technology through the foundation's "Connecting for the Community's Future" campaign.

Initiated in 1999, the college's first capital gifts campaign focused on two areas identified as college and community critical needs. The first priority was scholarship funds and the second was equipment and technology.

"This campaign success story is also one of support for endowed philanthropy and the Montana Tax Credit," FVCC President Jane Karas said.

More than $2.3 million in donations was put in scholarship endowments. Flathead Valley Community College Foundation awards assistance to students from the interest earned on 23 such programs, ensuring the funds' survival into the future.

The second priority for the campaign was to upgrade classroom equipment and develop an endowment fund for technology.

Fund-raising is ongoing for the FVCC Foundation.

Glacier Fund

Founded in 1999, the Glacier Fund is an initiative of the National Park Foundation. It was the first local fund to be created by legislation directing the national foundation to support philanthropic programs at the local level.

"We're just a few thousand dollars shy of having given back our first million to Glacier Park," said Glacier Fund director Jan Metzmaker.

The fund currently supports 17 priority projects in Glacier National Park and seeks to connect people from all over the country to the park.

Among the new projects planned for 2005 are a "Discover Glacier" Education Program, the Wolverine Ecology Project, and rehabilitation of the Highline, Lunch Creek, and Autumn Creek trails. A new roof for the Gunsight Pass Shelter Cabin and more bear-proof food storage lockers for campgrounds are also being funded, Metzmaker said.

In addition, funding for multiyear research projects for bighorn sheep and songbird distribution will be continued.

The fund has also been actively involved in the creation of a fund-raising specialty Glacier National Park license plate that is available for Montana residents.

The Glacier Fund accepts a variety of donations ranging from cash contributions to bequests, but isn't set up to offer the Montana Tax Credit, Metzmaker said.

Whitefish Community Foundation

The Whitefish Community Foundation has a goal of reaching $10 million in endowment funds by 2010. To date, the foundation has between $6 million and $8 million in bequests and $250,000 cash in its endowment fund, according to president Mike Jenson.

This year, Whitefish Community Foundation awarded $366,400 in foundation and donor-advised grants to 36 Flathead County nonprofit organizations, bringing the total to $921,000 distributed to nonprofits over the past four years.

An affiliate of the Montana Community Foundation, the Whitefish Community Foundation strives to serve as a leader, catalyst and resource for philanthropy, Jenson said.

Area foundations aren't the only outlets for charitable giving. The Flathead Valley is home to dozens of nonprofit groups that help myriad causes. United Way, in its final week of fund-raising for the annual campaign, is the umbrella organization for 26 member agencies that provided 63,865 acts of assistance in 2003.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com