In the State of Illinois, the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations is working to create an income tax credit for individuals that give to a permanent endowment at a community foundation that benefits a not-for-profit in the state. President and CEO of the Galesburg Community Foundation Josh Gibb provides a real life example:
“A community foundation can create an endowment for any not-for-profit, so we have endowment challenges. We have over 30 individual endowment funds at the community foundation specifically for an individual not-for-profit. If a donor came to the community foundation, gave a gift for the benefit of Jamieson Community Center, they would be eligible to receive a tax credit for that gift, 25 cents. So if you give $100, that would be a $25 tax credit. The state is using the structure of a community foundation because the state wants everybody to care about not-for-profits and incentivize people to give, but they wanted a way to do it that was administratively easy for them. Using the small network of community foundations, they can use us as the vehicle to then distribute the credits to all of the organizations.”
The Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations will now go through the rules and implementation process to administer this income tax credit option in 2025.
