Foundation Sweetens Deal for Matching Funds

The Corydon Democrat

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

    For the past seven years, the Harrison County Community Foundation has been matching contributions up to $25,000 per donor into any new or existing endowment held by the Foundation which serves a Harrison County charitable purpose.

    For a limited time, the Foundation is expanding the offer.

     “The board of directors has authorized me to match individual contributions up to $100,000 into the Foundation from now until the end of the year, or until we match a total maximum of $1 million,” said Steve Gilliland, executive director. “This may be the sweetest deal our donors will ever see.”

      Since March 1999, more than $2.8 million in donations have created nearly 100 designated endowment funds in the Foundation. These donors leveraged $2.2 million in matching funds from the Foundation to support their chosen scholarships or agency endowments.
Why up the ante now?

     “A couple of things happened at the right time,” Gilliland said. “We had been talking about doing something special for our 10th anniversary celebration next month. Then President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act into law, allowing some individuals to donate up to $100,000 from an IRA to charity. We put two and two together and came up with $100,000.”

      The IRA Charitable Rollover provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows individuals who have reached the age of 70-1/2 to donate up to $100,000 per year from an IRA to a qualified public charity without subjecting the donated funds to income taxes. These contributions must be made in 2006 or 2007 tax years and other restrictions apply. Anyone interested should contact the Foundation staff at 738-6668.

      The Foundation was created in 1996 with an initial gift from Caesars Indiana of $5 million. Continued contributions from Caesars and donations by the public have made the Foundation one of the largest in the state, with assets currently exceeding $62 million. The Foundation has utilized its resources to provide more than $16.6 million in grants and scholarships.