What's Important to You is What's Important to Us

The Prairie Star Elementary School cookie dough sale is my latest experience with a volunteer-driven fundraising effort. Unfortunately I was an embarrassment to my first grader when I was the only mom who failed to pick up the perishable order on time and had to be reminded by a very gracious parent volunteer!Did you know that the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation can help support your volunteer-driven community initiative? We already provide behind-the-scenes help to over 100 such causes in the area, offering over 87 different services. You pick and choose what we do for you. Here are examples:

• We establish a charitable structure qualified to receive tax-deductible contributions under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code with one simple document—no legal filings, no legal fees, no filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
• We help you structure special events that meet the tax regulations so that your donors can have confidence in the fiscal oversight of the dollars they give.
• We process all incoming gifts to your cause—including checks or stock—and all payments out of your fund to vendors and/or grantees.
• We offer a variety of investment options, allowing you to earn interest on your money while you raise it for the cause.
• We maintain a database of your donors, complete with contact information and amounts given.
• We issue the tax receipt to donors to document each donor’s charitable deduction.
• We help you manage a budget and we can track actual revenue and expenses to your budget.
• We help you develop a grant process that meets Internal Revenue Code standards so that your donors can have confidence in your charitable cause. We can even be your behind-the-scenes manager of a competitive grant process.
• We work with your Web designer to construct an online donation page to accept credit card contributions for your cause.
• We offer 24/7 online access to your account information—balance, donations, expenses, and grants.

With the paperwork out of the way, you and your fellow volunteers can focus on the rewarding work of getting the word out, raising money for the cause, distributing the dollars for your charitable purpose, and--ha ha--calling delinquent participants like me. What's important to you is what's important to us!