Support your local charity: Donations made easy.

by Bob Hoffmann, from the November 2002 Newsletter

It's not even the holiday season yet, and I'm finding it to be the season for giving. I must confess, ever since getting a pretty swell job at Washington State University, I've felt a little guilty that I have not increased my charitable donations. There are so many groups worthy of financial support, such as nonprofit environmental, education, arts, and social service groups. How can I gripe about all the problems in the world if I'm not willing to put my money where my mouth is? Now I've found the perfect, easy way to give money to worthy causes, through a program that your employer may have. At WSU, the name of the program is the Combined Fund Drive, which allows employees of the State of Washington to make charitable contributions through convenient payroll deductions.

At first I was hesitant to join the Combined Fund Drive. What if they gave my money to causes that I didn't believe in? I certainly could find some of these organizations in the lengthy CFD list of supported charities. Also, I was more willing to support some worthy causes that were not mentioned in the booklet. Being a new home owner, it was easy for me to find reasons not to part with some of my hard earned cash. But I was still nagged by guilt, so I started to search for reasons why I should give, and not reasons why I shouldn't.

To cut to the chase, here's what I found out. I was able to designate specific charities from the CFD list of participating groups, so my money would go to the groups that I actually wanted to support. Better yet, I was not limited to the list that they provided. I could use the fund drive to donate to any organization with 501 (c) (3) status–that is, just about any tax-deductible nonprofit group. Additionally, for every dollar I sent a group, it would receive an additional $0.04. This isn't a huge difference, but no group would turn down the money: an extra four dollars for every hundred bucks, and I save the cost of a stamp!

Many private employers have much more generous matching fund arrangements–I once worked for a company that contributed fifty cents on the dollar. And if you're employed with another governmental entity, they likely have a fund drive similar to that at WSU. The University of Idaho, for instance, participates in Idaho's Employee Charitable Giving Campaign, which is very similar to the Washington State campaign. The URL for WSU's Combined Fund Drive is www.wsu.edu/wsucfd/.

So which groups did I donate to? That's my little secret, but I'll give you a clue. I've listed below some local groups that are not part of the official CFD list. Two of these organizations will be receiving a monthly donation from me. The Combined Fund Drive requires addresses and phone numbers for groups not on the official list, so I'm including contact information for your convenience (hint, hint). You can find some other local groups, such as Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute and Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse, on the actual CFD list. So if your employer participates in a charitable donation campaign, think of a group or two that you would like to support, and sign up!

Local groups eligible for charitable donations include:

Friends of the Clearwater
P.O. Box 9241
Moscow, ID 83843
phone: 208-882-9755

Friends of the Moscow Library
110 South Jefferson Street
Moscow ID 83843
208-882-3925

Palouse Land Trust
PO Box 8506
Moscow, Idaho 83843
208-882-5248

Radio Free Moscow, Inc.
P.O. Box 8203
Moscow, ID 83843
208 892-9299

Copyright: Copyright on articles and recipes are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

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