By Michele Egan, Chief Development Officer
Atlanta is home to many amazing organizations that fight on behalf of marginalized men, women, and children. Education, employment status, income, gender and ethnicity are among the myriad of social factors that are barriers to so many in our community. Some, like Communities in Schools, work to give underserved students a safe surround. Others, like the Partnership for Southern Equity, work to advance equity in the areas of energy, growth, health, and opportunity. We have global networks of nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity International who tirelessly advocate for fairer and inclusive housing policies. Our city has also long been touted as the center for global health because of the Centers for Disease Control, the Task Force for Global Health, MedShare, Emory Healthcare and other conveners who bring the best and brightest health practitioners together to work on global crises.
Unfortunately, Atlanta is also a city consistently ranked as having among the worst income equality in the country. This chasm between the haves and have-nots is a clear result of many years of systemic failures leading to unprecedented dependence on a shrinking social safety net.
What can you do to help? During this time of hope and giving, we sincerely hope you will provide your support in whatever way you are able to help us bolster these vulnerable communities struggling to provide essential health care services. Nearly one-third of annual giving occurs in December, with over a quarter of nonprofits reporting raising between 26 – 50% of annual funds from their year-end campaigns. At MedShare, our results are in line with industry averages.
In Atlanta and across the U.S., MedShare serves free and safety net clinics that provide critical medical services for our uninsured and underinsured neighbors who may not otherwise have access to quality healthcare. The medical supplies and equipment donated to these clinics help save considerable dollars and help increase resources related to direct patient care.
Once such clinic is located in the tightknit refugee haven of Clarkston, Georgia, where dental care had been all but inaccessible until Ethne Health opened its own dental clinic targeting uninsured and underinsured people in one of Atlanta’s most diverse neighborhoods. MedShare’s donation of a brand new Midmark M11 autoclave and a myriad of medical supplies has already made a significant impact on the early success of the clinic and health of the community.
As you reflect and plan for your year-end gifts, your contributions have never been more vital to the organizations you support. If you choose to support MedShare this year, your dollars will be put to work immediately as we continue to help provide access to quality healthcare to the at-risk men, women and children who need it most.
Here are a few helpful year-end giving tips:
- Complete your giving before midnight December 31, 2023 to ensure your charitable contributions are tax deductible for this calendar year.
- Many companies have established generous matching gift and volunteer grant budgets. Click here to see if your employer participates and double your impact!
- Save all gift receipts and acknowledgment letters for tax purposes.
- For most of us who make modest gifts, the basic charitable deduction rules apply but make sure the nonprofit organization is a registered 501(c)(3) organization.
- If you have the means and are considering a major gift, please consult your tax advisor.
- Consider a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), a popular tax-advantageous way to give now and over time.
- Gifts of stock, bitcoin, securities, or other property may provide more significant tax savings than giving cash.
- Check on extraordinary circumstances that may have carried over from the pandemic; more generous deduction rules and allowances may benefit you as a donor and the qualified nonprofit organization because of the extended economically stressful period.
- Sometimes a planned gift enables you to make a larger donation. Putting MedShare in your will or estate plans is a strategic way to give and minimize tax obligations.
- Say goodbye to 2023 by being the kind of good you want to see more of in 2024 – the people you serve will thank you!
