One of my favorite quotes has always been words spoken by Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Whether it is time, talent, or treasure that is given, each of us can make the world a better place, and when we work together to make a difference, our impact and reach is even greater.

The Paso del Norte Community Foundation exists in part to help bring your philanthropic vision to reality. We embrace the roles of the public sector, private enterprise, religious institutions, and a generous spirit of philanthropy to promote the well-being and development of the communities in the region. Long-term success depends upon collaborative and trusted partnerships among all the forces at work in our region.

The Paso del Norte Community Foundation has responsibility for donor-advised funds for individuals and families; designated Funds for more than 60 community initiatives and projects in Mexico and the United States; education funds for scholarships, teacher development, and support for both classrooms and school districts; health funds focused on mental health, healthy kids, health leadership, prevention of tobacco and alcohol abuse, and healthy eating and lifestyles; and two major supporting organizations – Paso del Norte Health Foundation and FirstLight Community Foundation.

The people in the region are our most-valuable asset and they have demonstrated their generous spirit for many local nonprofit organizations, most recently through El Paso Giving Day and Giving Tuesday. As the end of 2018 approaches, we encourage you to consider making an investment in our community through the Paso del Norte Community Foundation.

It is important to be mindful of some of the tax benefits available through year-end giving. With the tax reforms implemented earlier this year raising the standard deduction to $12,000/year for individuals and $24,000/year for couples, here’s a creative idea to reach the itemized charitable deduction threshold: Donor Bundling through a Donor-Advised Fund in the Paso del Norte Community Foundation.

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are popular charitable giving funds that allow donors to make larger, tax-deductible contributions in a single year and then recommend grants to the charitable organizations of the donors’ choice over multiple years. Donors can achieve this by “bundling” multiple years of charitable giving into a single tax year and, if given to a Donor-Advised Fund, granting over multiple years.

Consider this illustration: You are a couple with $10,000 in deductions and $14,000 in charitable gifts, equal to the new standard deduction. In this scenario, you do not receive an incremental deduction for your $14,000 in charitable gifts. However, if you were to bundle two years of giving into a single tax year by donating $28,000 into a DAF, you would have $38,000 of itemized deductions, including the additional $14,000 in deductions in your tax bill, a tax savings of over $5,100 for donors in the higher tax bracket. You can request that the DAF gift the $28,000 over two years to support the charitable organizations of your choice.

Another tax-beneficial giving tool is the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). If you are 70½ or older, you can make a QCD of up to $100,000 to qualified nonprofit organizations. QCDs are exempt from taxable income and can satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution from your IRA in a given year.

If you’re blessed to be a position to take advantage of these new tax benefits, imagine the difference you can make in our community by partnering with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation. You’ll not only be making a life through what you give, but also changing lives for the better for the people in our region as well.