explore ways to give back

ver the past year, as the Missouri FFA Foundation has increased funding for agricultural education activities across the state, we’ve been fortunate to receive donations from individuals looking to support this expansion and growth. Recently, the Missouri FFA Foundation Board of Directors met to establish gift acceptance and gift handling policies. Recognizing that the act of giving is deeply personal for donors, these policies provide donors with clarity on how their donations will be used, ensure equal treatment of all donors, and help foster sound mission and fiscal management of the organization.

If you have considered supporting the Missouri FFA Foundation, the Board of Directors has identified a variety of methods of giving enabling you to choose the most appropriate for your circumstances and interests.

Cash Donations

Cash is acceptable in any form, although check and credit/debit card donations are the preferred forms.

Tangible Personal Property Donations

The Foundation may accept gifts of tangible personal property, including agricultural products, works of art, jewelry, antiques, coin, stamp and other collections, automobiles, manuscripts, lithographs, and books. Before contributing a gift of tangible personal property, please consider if you are willing to allow the Foundation to dispose of the property.

Gifts Of Securities

You may be able to donate publicly-traded securities, shares of stock and other interests in closely-held companies, bonds, and government issues to the Foundation. As a general rule, all marketable securities shall be sold by the Foundation upon receipt.

Based upon review of the Board of Directors, the Foundation may also accept shares of closely-held securities in the same manner as publicly-traded securities. The Foundation will not accept any donation of general partnership interests. It is the Foundation’s policy to convert closely-held securities to cash.

Real Estate

The Foundation may accept a gift of real estate including residential, condominiums, commercial, farm land, rental property and undeveloped land, after a thorough review of a multitude of factors, including the usefulness and/or marketability of the property; the existence of restrictions, encumbrances, and carrying costs; fair market value in relation to the costs; and an environmental audit.

OIL, GAS, AND MINERAL INTERESTS

When appropriate, the Foundation may accept your gifts of oil and gas property interests. Prior to acceptance of an oil and gas interest, the gift shall be approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and if necessary, by legal counsel.

Gifts Through Life Insurance

As a donor, you may assign to the Foundation an existing life insurance policy that is no longer needed for family protection, irrevocably making the Foundation both the policy owner and beneficiary. The gift is valued at its interpolated terminal reserve value, or cash surrender value, upon receipt. It may also be possible for you to purchase a new life insurance policy for gift purposes to the Foundation.

Each of these gifts have different tax-advantages and it’s prudent to consult with your tax advisor to identify which may provide you with the best benefits.

Also, if you work for a larger company, consider checking with your HR department to see if the company offers a giftmatching program. With this type of program, companies will often match your donation up to a certain amount. While the maximum donation amount companies are willing to match will vary, this can effectively double your contribution and your gift’s impact.

You can support programs for Missouri FFA members, along with other agricultural education students and teachers by donating online at https://donorbox. org/moffafoundation. If you would like to discuss other ways to provide support, including additional criteria or procedures for accepting each of these types of gifts, please contact Heather Dimitt-Fletcher, Missouri FFA Foundation executive director at heather@missouriffa.org.