Did you know that the Rush County Community Foundation and/or your local community foundation accept gifts of grain?  Gifting grain is a wonderful way to maximize tax benefits for charitable contributions.

If you are interested in giving grain, you must transfer the grain to the foundation before the sale in order to be IRS compliant, a process in which all grain elevators within Rush County are familiar.  Transferring grain is simple:  a dollar amount or number of bushels can be designated at the grain elevator by filling out an easy form, the Rush County Community Foundation receives notification, and you receive a letter confirming your charitable contribution to a qualified tax-exempt 501(c)(3).

Donating grain provides maximum tax benefits.  With the transfer of your grain, you have the potential to receive a premium of more than 35%.  When transferring the sale of the grain to your community’s foundation, you remove the sale proceeds from farm income and therefore eliminate federal, state, county, social security, and Medicare taxes while potentially claiming a tax deduction for the charitable gift.

Until April 1, 2016, qualified grain contributions will be matched $1 for $1 to benefit the Rush County Community Foundation’s community grant funds.  These funds are utilized to support programs, equipment, materials, and resources for local nonprofit agencies.  Since the first grant was awarded in 1994, 110 organizations have benefitted from community grants and more than $900,000 has been distributed.   If the Foundation meets our goal of raising $250,000 by March 31, 2016, an additional $25,000+ will be given back to our community, each year, forever.

For additional details on our Harvesting for the Future of Rush County program and to learn more about how community grants impact you and your community, call us at (765) 938-1177, visit our office at 117 N Main St., Rushville, or stop by our website at www.rushcountyfoundation.org.