The past year has been busy in the community foundation world. We had two new community foundations join our ranks with Glencoe Area Community Foundation and Cottonwood Area Community Foundation (pictured) coming onboard.
Thousands of gifts have been received to help grow endowment funds and make new community projects a reality. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been granted to nonprofits and local governments to help meet our communities’ needs and seed new dreams. Thank you for all you do to help make this work a reality!
Many donors use this time of year to make gifts with the expectation that their gift will be processed in the current tax year. Please take a moment during the first days of the new decade to check your mailboxes. Gifts can be entered online through the portal, but the physical check must reach our office by January 8, 2020, in order to be applied to the donors 2019 taxes.
Change to online grant application link
Online grant application forms for community foundations have moved to a new site. This means the link to grant applications has a new URL address. If you have provided this link to grantees in the past or linked it on your website it will need to be updated before you do another grant round.
To access the correct link use the following steps:
- Log in to the portal.
- Select the “Funds” tab.
- Choose the fund you wish to grant from.
- Select the “Grant Application” tab. This will open up a new window.
- Cut and paste the website link from the browser window.
This is the new link you can use to share your grant application via email, social media or on your web page. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Online Giving Update
As many of you have already heard, Southwest Initiative Foundation is preparing to transition to our own online giving platform. We will no longer use GiveMN.org to accept gifts following this transition. Some of the reasons for this change include:
- Greater flexibility in page design and layout
- Ability for donors to choose from multiple funds
- Lower fees
- Quicker processing time for gifts
Online giving continues to gain popularity with donors, and we are working to create giving options that are simple and rewarding to use. Look for more information in the coming months as we get closer to making this change!
We’re here to help! Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns by emailing [email protected].
