Society of Color Bearers

Support the N-SSA !!! The Society of Color Bearers

Wayne Jordan, Charitable Giving Committee

Friends and Fellow Skirmishers,

The Society of Color Bearers is made up of the hundreds of skirmishers who have made donations to the N-SSA in recent years. These members all have their reasons for giving extra money to the organization, but the common bond is that the N-SSA is a big part of their lives, an activity that we put a part of ourselves into and becomes a part of our identity. They have enjoyed many days and nights of the camaraderie and competition in this unique activity, often with close friends and family. They donate out of a sense of pride, of appreciation, of a desire to give back, and a desire to see the N-SSA thrive and last for a long time to come.

Will you support the N-SSA with a monetary donation this year? Join the Society of Color Bearers if you haven’t already. The N-SSA is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization which makes your donations tax deductible. Please review your annual giving plans as we approach year’s end.

Donations to the General Fund, or to a specific project, will strengthen our organization today and lay the groundwork for future years. A donation to the new Advance Guard Endowment Fund will help ensure that the N-SSA will be here for future generations of friends and family. There will be more details about the endowment in a separate article in the following pages.

“If you want to see our unique sport endure, you will want to seriously consider an investment in the Color Bearers for today, and the Advance Guard Endowment for the future.” – Bruce Miller, 1st Michigan Vol Inf, 33 year member.

There are numerous ways to maximize the benefits of giving to the N-SSA. Besides the satisfaction of supporting our organization, there are often significant tax advantages to donating to a nonprofit. In effect, you are giving some of the government’s money to the N-SSA. Below I’ll discuss some of the ways you can donate.

FIRST, THE EASIEST AND CHEAPEST WAY TO DONATE – Sign up for Amazon Smile on the Amazon website. Then sign in to the smile.amazon.com site to make all purchases. Amazon will donate a small amount of each purchase to the N-SSA. These small purchases have added up to over $4200.00 in recent years. Or maybe Employer matches or grants to nonprofit organizations like ours are available where you work. Large companies will often match or double your donations. Some will even give grants to your favorite nonprofit if you put in volunteer time, as we all do to operate the N-SSA. For example, Dominion Resources and Chevron have made significant donations at the behest of their employees and retirees who skirmish.

SECOND, THERE ARE TAX BENEFITS TO GIVING YOUR MONEY – Besides simply donating from your bank account, there are numerous other ways to donate tax efficiently. YOUR IRA ACCOUNT – If you have reached 70 ½ you can donate directly from your IRA account and avoid paying any taxes on the money, which for many people is significant. If you’ve reached the age of 72 and must take money out (the RMD) and you don’t need it, this is a great way to minimize

taxes and avoid the Medicare penalty (IRMAA) that the additional income can cause you to incur. If you have a 401k or certain other tax deferred retirement accounts, you can often roll the money from those accounts into an IRA and then use the money for tax free donations. APPRECIATED SECURITIES - If you have stocks or other investments that have big taxable gains in them, you can avoid taxes on those gains by giving some of those securities directly to the N-SSA. THIRD, IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR LEGACY – We are all amassing an estate that will be left behind when we are gone. For many of us this is a very significant amount of money. We may not have heirs, or we may have enough to share with our favorite nonprofits as well as our heirs. A BEQUEST - You can leave behind a bequest in your will, or directions in your Living Trust. It can be in terms of a certain sum, or of a percentage. This can help avoid estate taxes if the estate is large enough to be subject to them. LIFE INSURANCE, ANNUITIES, IRAs, OTHER RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS - These types of assets pass to beneficiaries whom you have listed in the account paperwork, not through a will. You can name anyone, or any organization, as a beneficiary, a partial beneficiary, or contingent beneficiary on any of these accounts. In many cases this will also help to avoid large amounts of taxes.

“The N-SSA has been since 1993 a passion that I want to support now and in the future. I have made the N-SSA a beneficiary of my life insurance policy with an eye toward making our collective passion available to future generations.” – Walt Kreitler, 12th Regt US Inf LASTLY, IN MEMORIUM – We’ve received many donations in memorium to fallen skirmishers. Recently, we received the first donation in memorium to the Advance Guard Endowment from the Heuer Family in memory of William L. Heuer. Last year our largest donation was from the Dana Family in memory of Anne Dana. Any amount can be given in memorium and will be listed in the annual report.

There are many ways to donate to the N-SSA and many benefits available to donors. If you have any questions, or ideas you’d like to discuss, feel free to contact me at wvjordan@aol.com, or call me at 703-407-2445, and I’ll help you any way that I can.

PLEASE USE THE ATTACHED ENVELOPE TO SEND IN YOUR DONATION

All donors will receive a decal like the Society of Color Bearers logo at the head of this article. Please place it on your vehicle, gun cart, trailer, etc. Show other skirmishers that you are a proud donor to the cause and maybe they will also become donors.

SPECIAL PROJECT THAT NEEDS YOUR DONATION !!!

ROAD REPAIRS AND PAVING – Have you noticed the roads in Ft Shenandoah recently? There have been many repairs, fewer potholes, and even some new paving. But there are still potholes and areas that allow vehicles to kick up a lot of dust. Road work isn’t cheap, but Tim Scanlan would like to do more of it. All he needs is the funds to cover the work and we’ll continue to see improvements in our roads. Less dust, a smoother ride, and no need for an alignment when you return home – if that sounds good to you, please donate. There is no limit to what is needed, but for now the goal is to raise $10,000 for the roads. As with other projects, any donor of $1000 or more will be listed as a Sponsor Level Donor.