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South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund Provides Aid To The Food Bank Of South Jersey

By Andy Fraizer
February 18, 2021
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Due in part to a $40,000 grant from the Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) COVID-19 Response Fund, The Food Bank of South Jersey was able to purchase vital life-sustaining needed food and fortify its food distribution model to service the rise in food insecurity throughout South Jersey. The Food Bank currently serves 210 partner agencies throughout Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem, counties.

When the pandemic began, The Food Bank of South Jersey quickly discovered there was no established protocol to support the rapid rise of the region’s food-insecure population, so leadership had to modify the organization’s food management and distribution practices. Community food drives were eliminated due to safety concerns, increasing the necessity to purchase food to supplement with government-allocated goods. During 2020, the Food Bank’s community donated food supplies dwindled by more than 300,000 pounds. Coupled with a 200% increase in food requests, operating costs skyrocketed.

In addition to purchasing food, the Food Bank had to transition from a “choice model,” where clients would visit its partner network and choose their own food, to an emergency hunger-relief food distribution model in order to distribute food safely outside of the facility. As part of the transition, the Food Bank used a portion of the grant to hire temporary workers who prepared the individual food boxes. During 2020, more than one million emergency food boxes were distributed, supporting the organization’s service of feeding more than 95,000 people each month.

The South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund was launched in March of 2020. It is currently the only private campaign focused solely on the eight-county Southern New Jersey region. It was established to provide flexible grant dollars to nonprofits helping South Jersey neighbors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The dramatic spike in food insecurity throughout our service area has been one of the more troubling results of the COVID-19 pandemic and something we felt compelled to address,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “For as long as I have been a resident of South Jersey, I have respected and admired The Community Food Bank of South Jersey for all of the work they do for the community, especially in this most challenging of all years.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented need for emergency food,” reports Fred C. Wasiak, President and CEO, Food Bank of South Jersey. “The Community Foundation of South Jersey’s generous grant means those who are facing food insecurity will be able to get some relief during these tremendously difficult times. Without their support, many South Jersey residents would not have enough food on the table. Just knowing we are helping these individuals drive us to do more each and every day.”

The needs of local nonprofit organizations remain significant during this ongoing public health and economic crisis. For more information on how individuals or organizations can make a donation, funding priorities, and how to apply for a grant, please visit southjerseyresponsefund.org.

CFSJ Adds New Member To The Governing Board

By Andy Fraizer
January 15, 2021
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The Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) is pleased to announce the addition of Lori A. Pepenella, CDME to the CFSJ Governing Board.

Lori Pepenella offers over 13 years of experience in nonprofit development and marketing in Ocean County. She has worked as Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce since 2016 but began her focus on nonprofit development at United Way in 2007.

Lori was the first woman in New Jersey to achieve Destination Management Executive Certification through Purdue University and works with colleagues statewide to advance small business and community efforts. Throughout her time in Ocean County, Lori has served in various leadership roles and received honors and recognition for her work and commitment.

“South Jersey is extraordinary and has a special place in my heart, and I am extremely honored and excited to join the CFSJ Governing Board,” said Lori A. Pepenella. “I look forward to helping my board member colleagues and the Community Foundation of South Jersey as a whole accomplish their mission of harnessing philanthropy to make an equitable and positive change throughout our community.”

“We are excited to welcome such a great individual like Lori to the Community Foundation of South Jersey’s Governing Board,” said CFSJ Board President Joe Tredinnick.

“Lori’s relationships throughout Ocean County and an understanding of regional assets and opportunities amplifies the Community Foundation’s impact,” added Executive Director Andy Fraizer.

Other members of the Governing Board are President Joseph Tredinnick (Market President, Republic Bank), Vice President Kyle Ruffin (Founder, K Ruffin & Associates), Treasurer Justin Van Fleet (Partner, Friedman LLC), Secretary T. Christian Rollins (Chief Development Officer, Samaritan), Joseph C. Atkinson (Principal, PwC LLP), Hon. Raymond A. Batten (Retired) (Of Counsel, Archer), John Connell, Esq. (Partner, Archer), Hon. Alisa Cooper (Commissioner, NJ Casino Control Commission), Lois Greco (Grants & Program Officer, Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities), Wanda Hardy (Managing Principal, WP Hardy Consulting), Mark S. Hodges (Strategic Planning, Quality Management & Organizational Development Consultant), Joseph E. Murphy, Esq. (Certified Ethics and Compliance Professional), Richelle Todd-Yamoah (Vice President of Programs and Operations, Pascale Sykes Foundation), Anne Marie Liotta (US Wealth Strategist, Cohn Financial Group), and Valeria Galarza (Principal Consultant, ALTA Impact Partners).

Ten Ways to Make the Most of Your Year-End Giving (2020 Edition)

By Andy Fraizer
December 17, 2020
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For more than a decade, The Community Foundation of South Jersey has partnered with philanthropists and civic leaders to meet our mission and realize the vision of an eight-county region thriving where all neighbors aspire, succeed, participate, and give.

The year 2020 has reinforced the critical role charitable giving plays in community resiliency. Whether you are a donor who has $10 to give, or $10 million, when, where, and how matters. With giving, you experience personal rewards and dream of the good done for your neighbors and in the world. The Community Foundation can assist in identifying the mechanisms or building a process that allows you to achieve your philanthropic goals.

Here are 10 ways to make the most of your year-end giving. 

  1. Talk to your advisor. Before making any significant gift to charity, consult with your CPA, attorney, or other advisors to understand the impact on your taxes and estate.
  2. Consider your income. Take time to understand your tax liability for the year. Did your unearned income increase? Did you sell any appreciated assets? The answers to these questions may determine how much you want to give by December 31, 2020. 
  3. Review your stocks. If you’d like to make a year-end charitable gift, consider giving appreciated stock. Selling stock will incur capital gains on the appreciation, but if you gift stock, you will receive a charitable deduction for the current market value of the stock—just as you would with a cash gift. Such gifts are deductible up to 30% of your adjusted gross income and you can carry the deduction forward for up to an additional five years. 
  4. Complete your gift by December 31.  A gift by check is complete when mailed (postmarked) to the charitable recipient, even if not cashed until the following year. Gifts by credit card are complete when your credit card account is charged. Gifts of stock and real estate are more complex; don’t wait until late December to make these gifts as it may be too late to make the necessary arrangements.
  5. Know the organizations you support.  Only donations to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations are tax-deductible. If you give through the Community Foundation, we will document the status of all nonprofits prior to making a gift on your behalf and can help you identify organizations that are qualified to receive your gift. Review CFSJ’s Proven and Promising portfolio of South Jersey nonprofits.
  6. Do you have more than enough? If you’re receiving taxable income from retirement plan assets or life insurance policies, there are a number of tax-advantaged ways to make these assets work for you and the causes you support. The Charitable IRA Rollover Act, for example, allows donors age 70 ½ or older to donate up to $100,000 from their IRA without counting the distribution as income. 
  7. Explore employer gift matching programs. Many companies offer gift-matching programs that can increase—even double—the impact of your donation.
  8. Give now—decide later. If you are planning for a charitable tax deduction this year but are undecided about which nonprofits to support, consider opening a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation of South Jersey. You can claim a deduction for contributions to your fund now even though distributions from the fund might be made in future years.
  9. Create a giving plan. The Community Foundation team can help you create a giving plan to help you think strategically about how you give and to what organizations. This ensures that your donations make the greatest impact on the causes you care about while maximizing tax advantages. 
  10. Let the Community Foundation do the legwork. Working with the CFSJ team gives you access to our extensive knowledge of the local nonprofit community and the broad charitable needs and opportunities of our region—so you can stay informed about the organizations you support and the effect your giving will have on the future of South Jersey. 

What’s unique about 2020!

Several tax changes went into effect for 2020, some of which directly impact charitable giving. As you work with your advisors on year-end planning, consider some of these giving strategies that will allow you to support charitable causes important to you while accomplishing tax savings.

  • Deduct up to 100% of Adjusted Gross Income – This year only!

Individuals can deduct qualified cash donations to the Community Foundation of up to 100% of adjusted gross income (“AGI”) as a result of the CARES Act pandemic response legislation in Congress. This temporary increase in the AGI limitation does not affect the other deduction limits for gifts to public charities in effect prior to the CARES Act. Those limitations are based on the nature of the property contributed (e.g. cash, long-term capital gain) and the type of charity to which the donor contributes (e.g. supporting organization, donor-advised fund).

The limit for gifts of cash to a field of interest fund such as Impact 100 South Jersey, our CFSJ general operating fund, or endowment at the Community Foundation is 100% of AGI. The limit for gifts of cash to donor-advised funds is 60% of AGI. The limit for gifts of appreciated long-term capital gains property (e.g. real estate, publicly traded securities) to the Community Foundation, including donor-advised funds, is 30% of AGI.

  • Make IRA gifts at age 70½ plus. IRA accounts have no required minimum distribution (“RMD”) in 2020 only!

But those age 70½ or older can still make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) directly from an IRA to the Community Foundation up to $100,000. This is a gift of pre-tax dollars which also reduces income tax liability for future years as the IRA account is reduced by the QCD amount. Donor-advised funds do not qualify for qualified charitable distributions.

  • Maximize your IRAs in 2020.

Required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) from your IRA will return next year for those age 72 plus. A qualified charitable distribution from an IRA or IRA rollover to charity reduces RMD. It’s a great way to give!

To do this with a 401(k) or 403(b), you must convert the retirement account into an IRA rollover. But conversion requires first taking any RMD from the 401(k) or 403(b). You must pay taxes on that distribution. You can avoid taxes by making the conversion this year. There are no RMDs in 2020. So, you can convert your 401(k) or 403(b) into an IRA rollover in an amount equal to that waived distribution (up to $100,000). And you can do it without paying any taxes, even if you are over age 72 plus as the waived distribution is not subject to the 10 percent early withdrawal tax for distributions prior to age 59½ and is not subject to mandatory 20 percent withholding. Then, you will be set up to make future donations from the IRA rollover whenever you want.

In addition, in 2020 if you are between ages 59 ½ and 70 ½, an IRA withdrawal up to $100,000 this year only creates no penalties. But the withdrawal is taxable. This year, cash gifts to charity can be deducted up to 100% of your adjusted gross income. If you are already itemizing deductions this can help offset the tax impact from an IRA withdrawal.

  • Give appreciated assets. Donating appreciated assets (e.g. marketable securities, closely-held business interests, or real estate) creates TWO tax benefits. You receive a tax deduction PLUS you avoid paying capital gains tax.
  • Bunch gifts with a Donor Advised Fund.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 created much higher standard deductions. Fewer people can use charitable deductions because they aren’t itemizing. Open a donor-advised fund with the Community Foundation to “bunch” charitable gifts. Read this blog post from CFSJ board secretary Chris Rollins for an example of the implications on his employer Samaritan.

  • Charitable Gift Annuities

Charitable Gift Annuities allow an individual to make a gift of cash or marketable securities to the Community Foundation, and the Community Foundation agrees to pay one or two beneficiaries selected by the donor a fixed, lifetime dollar amount. Any endowed unrestricted fund, field-of-interest fund, or endowed donor-advised fund can be the ultimate beneficiary. Certain nonprofit agency endowment funds with the Community Foundation also qualify as a remainder beneficiary.

As recently reported by Barron’s, charitable gift annuities have had a spike in inflows. “According to a BNY Mellon Wealth Management study, in 2019, assets in gift annuities were up 21 percent over the prior year, and the average gift was 56 percent larger. The surge in popularity in gift annuities is likely a result of donor’s desire for a guaranteed lifetime annuity at a time when yields are at historic lows in the fixed-income market, and hesitation to sock money into a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT).”

  • IRA beneficiary v. gift in a will

Many people like to include a charitable gift in their will to support a cause that has been important in their lives. One tax-smart strategy is to leave part of an IRA, 401(k), or 403(b) account to a nonprofit by changing IRA beneficiaries. Heirs pay income taxes on this money. Starting this year, heirs (except spouses) must take out all funds (and pay taxes) within 10 years of inheriting. But any part left to a nonprofit avoids these taxes. So, if you are leaving assets to a nonprofit, consider using IRA assets.