You’re ready to roll into a new year, and that includes staying involved with the nonprofits you love, whether as a donor, volunteer, board member, or all of the above.
The team at The Community Foundation of Frederick County is here to support your charitable endeavors, no matter where your passions lie. Our county is full of nonprofit organizations that are doing amazing work to improve the quality of life for everyone. Indeed, across the country, there are hundreds of thousands of nonprofits making a difference every single day.
Occasionally, you may be asked by a friend or colleague to donate to a nonprofit you’re not too familiar with, or perhaps a nonprofit that’s not been around very long asks you for financial support. When you partner with the Community Foundation, we are here to help you gather the information you need to be confident in your gifts to any organization, large or small, new or well-established.
The overwhelming majority of nonprofits are above board, ethical, governed by top-notch board members, and run by highly qualified professionals. Unfortunately, though, every once in a rare while, there are instances when a nonprofit might not dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. Although very infrequent, it’s still worth considering leaning on the Community Foundation to help you with due diligence for a few reasons:
- You’ll want to make sure the nonprofit is not behaving in a way that puts it at reputational risk.
- You’ll want to validate that the nonprofit is not facing significant or unusual legal or financial risks.
- You’ll want to avoid scams, which, unfortunately, are on the rise.
A big perk of organizing your giving through a fund at the Community Foundation is that our team always has its finger on the pulse of what’s going on with nonprofit organizations in our community. We can research the status of longstanding nonprofits, check into a brand new one, and everything in between. Our goal is to help ensure that your charitable contributions have the greatest possible impact. Our Philanthropic Services team looks forward to assisting you and can be reached at 301-695-7660 or via email at giving@FrederickCountyGives.org.
The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.