Donate
How to Give
Donate by Mail or Phone
CFLS accepts check and credit card donations via mail or phone.
When mailing your donation, please make sure to include your name, phone number or email address, and mailing address so that we can send your tax receipt and acknowledgment of the donation. Please make your check payable to:
Community Family Life Services
305 E Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
To make your donation by credit card (Visa/MasterCard preferred), please mail us your credit card number, its expiration date, the amount you wish to donate along with your signature, to the address listed above or call us at 202-347-0511, extension 415 to make your donation by phone. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number (for clarification purposes only).
For your security, do not email credit card information or send currency through the mail. You are welcome to drop off your donation at our Community Center at 305 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C. across from the Judiciary Square Metro station.
Donate Automatically
If you pay your bills through your bank's online bill payment option, make your contribution to Community Family Life Services at the same time! Set up one-time or regularly recurring donations safely and securely to support of our programs.
Simply designate CFLS as a payee; when you pay your bills on-line, CFLS will receive your donation. It's that simple.
For more information on online bill payment options, contact your banking representative.
Donate Online
Make a donation that will change lives!
Community Family Life Services is part of Network for Good's online donation service. Click on the link below to donate on-line now:
Or type the following adress into your browser: www.helping.org. Click on advanced search and scroll down to option two — search by organization name — and look for Community Family Life Services.
CFLS receives 97% of donations made through Network for Good (the other 3% covers credit card processing costs). Be sure to check the box permitting Network for Good to provide us your name and email address, so we can thank you personally for your donation.
You can also make a donation in honor or in memory of a loved one. Note the person's name and contact information in the dedication section (if there is no room, send CFLS the honoree's contact information at development@cflsdc.org or call 202-347-0511, extension 415).
Please note that Network for Good provides you with the appropriate tax receipt.
Give While Shopping Online
Help fight homelessness when you shop on-line. Check out www.iGive.com or www.greatergood.com and see if your favorite online shopping site is registered.
From there, it's simple. Designate CFLS as your beneficiary and shop away. A portion of what you spend will come back to CFLS.
The companies enrolled through I-Give.com donate up to 26% to CFLS and up to 15% through GreaterGood.com.
Honor a Loved One
Not sure what to give that special someone for his or her birthday? Want to honor a loved one's memory?
Consider making a tribute gift in the name of your friend or loved one. Donate to CFLS directly or online through Network for Good.
Either way, let us know in whose name and why the gift is being made, and to whom we should send notification of the gift.
During the winter holidays, CFLS participates in the Gifts of Hope Program through which you can also make a tribute gift to CFLS in the name of a friend or family member.
Workplace Giving and Matching Gifts
Matching Gifts Now you can make your gift to CFLS work twice as hard! By taking just a few minutes to complete some paperwork, you can increase the effectiveness of your gift.
1+1=2. This math concept is one of the simplest we ever learned. Now, you can make your individual gift to CFLS even more effective! By taking just a few minutes to fill out a form, you can increase the effectiveness of your gift. Instead of helping one student get tutoring during the school year, you might be able to help two! Instead of helping one individual to get the training they need in order to enter the workforce, you and your employer can help two formerly homeless, low-income, or underemployed individuals get jobs and gain independence.
Ask your employer if there is a matching gift program at your workplace. It is a simple and easy way to increase your giving power! And some companies offer matches of more than 100%. Check with your company's corporate giving or community relations staff for more information.
Here's how a matching gifts program usually works:
- Fill out the donor portion of the matching gift form supplied by your employer and enclose it with your donation to CFLS.
- We then fill out the organization part verifying receipt of the donation, the amount of the gift and the portion that is tax-deductible, then return it to your company.
- We notify you once we receive the matching gift.
Also, if you are a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, you may be eligible for a matching gift. Click here to learn more about Thrivent's matching gifts program.
Combined Federal Campaign and Workplace Giving Campaigns
Every year, the federal agencies that call the District home encourage their employees to support non-profit organizations in the Washington Metropolitan Area through the Combined Federal Campaign. Private sector organizations and companies can participate in either the United Way or operate their own workplace giving campaigns.
Community Family Life Services (#60759) is participating in the Chesapeake Bay Area CFC, National Capital Area CFC, St. Mary's Co. CFC, Western MD CFC and Potomac CFC, and the United Way Non CFC Corporate Campaigns in the National Capital Area.
Legacy Gifts
Lutheran Planned Giving Consortium
Every day, being a have-not in a city of haves gets more dire: Hunger and homelessness is on the rise. Affordable housing is impossible to find. Thousands of families with children right here in Washington, D.C. have no health care. We at CFLS work hard to solve these and other problems facing our low-income and homeless neighbors.
That is why Community Family Life Services started a Planned Giving Program. What exactly is a planned gift? It's one that, of course, requires some planning beyond writing a check. It can come in the form of a bequest through a will after someone's death, or through gifts of stock and other annuities. Planned gifts can take many forms, and there are professional staff available to help you design a plan that best fits your situation.
CFLS receives planned gifts as a member of the Lutheran Planned Giving Consortium (LPGC). The LPGC is a group of eight organizations, including CFLS, that joined together to increase the potential of receiving planned gifts -- gifts that can be essential in sustaining an organization into the future. Since 1990, planned gifts received through the LPGC have totaled $1,994,876 for CFLS alone, and in excess of $24 million for the consortium as a whole from caring donors who want to make a difference in the lives of low-income Washingtonians. The funds CFLS has received thus far has helped hundreds of people get jobs, receive affordable housing, graduate from high school, go to college, and most importantly, get out of poverty. For those make this happen, their legacy lives on.
You too can help make this a better place in which to live. If you want to learn more about how you can help make a difference with a planned gift, please call development at 202-347-0511, extension 415. Or contact the LPGC Executive Director Alice Benson at 301.963.6570. Alice's services are covered by our LPGC membership and are free of charge to you.
"Giving is a pleasurable experience, a joyful experience...it is not insulting to anyone to invite them to be generous."
Writing CFLS into Your Will
A carefully written will can help you care for loved ones long after you are gone. Wills help with legal matters relating to the transfer of your estate. A will allows your affairs to be handled smoothly and without undue inconvenience to grieving loved ones.
A will can also help you now by helping you plan for the future. You can reduce taxes and costs by pre-designating your assets and determining who will handle the details. With a carefully designed estate plan, more of your estate may be available to family members or charities, like Community Family Life Services.
Your will provides insight into what was important to you during your lifetime. And bequests to a charity, like Community Family Life Services, speaks volumes about your values. When you include Community Family Life Services in your will you tell people that you value helping women, children and families leave poverty and homelessness behind. Your faith and trust in our vision is revealed, and you encourage CFLS to be good stewards of the resources you place in our hands.
Having a will says many good things about you. At Community Family Life Services we want you to experience the good feeling of having selected excellent stewards of your resources and the joy of leaving a legacy to help those in need.
If you would like help planning your will, making changes to your current will, discuss leaving a bequest to CFLS or want to talk about estate planning, including finding an attorney, please contact our development staff at 202-347-0511, extension 415 or email us at development@cflsdc.org.
Charitable Gift Annuities
Charitable Gift Annuities are gifts that keep on giving. They allow you to give money to a charity and still receive a monthly return.
Here's how it works:
You agree to make a transfer of cash, real estate, or other marketable securities of at least $1,000, to an organization such as Community Family Life Services. In exchange for your contribution, that organization contractually guarantees that they will pay the donor (or a designated beneficiary) a specified annuity based on the interest that your donation brings in.
For more information on setting up a charitable gift annuity, contact our development staff at 202-347-0511, extension 415 or email development@cflsdc.org.
Life Insurance
Many people own life insurance. By paying regular premiums, folks provide financial protection for their families or others named as policy beneficiaries.
Many, though, may not be aware that life insurance is also an excellent asset to donate to CFLS. You can do this in any of three ways.
You can give all or part of the death benefit to CFLS by using a change of beneficiary form. There's no cost to make the change and, as long as the policy remains in force, CFLS will receive the assigned portion of the proceeds you designated.
You can give all of the death benefit by making CFLS both owner and beneficiary of a new premium-due policy. An added bonus to this plan is that premiums can be deductible on income taxes if the person donates the premium annually to CFLS who, in turn, uses the contribution to pay the premium. Of course, you have to itemize deductions to receive this bonus benefit.
You can give all of the death benefit by making CFLS both owner and beneficiary of a paid-up policy. Since the policy is paid up, the gift idea is useful for folks who want to make a gift but do not want to purchase new insurance. Again, there's a bonus. Part of the previously paid premiums is deductible on income tax, if you itemize. The insurance company can provide you with the deductible amount upon request.
To discuss this or other types of planned gifts, call our development staff at 202.347.0511, extension 415 or email development@cflsdc.org.
Individual Retirement Accounts
Is there such a thing as a bad asset to leave to your heirs? From a tax perspective, the answer is yes! An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) can be such an asset.
An IRA is created with before-tax dollars and grows in value without being taxed. The IRA is paid on death as you have directed in your beneficiary designation. However, the IRA proceeds received by your beneficiary must be reported as ordinary income and, because the beneficiary will receive the entire amount in a lump sum, the entire account will be considered ordinary income for that year. The IRA proceeds may put your heirs into a higher income tax bracket, and the higher the income tax bracket of the IRA beneficiary the greater the income tax paid on the appreciation in the IRA. Close to 40% of the IRA could be lost to your heirs in income taxes.
To avoid this, consider naming Community Family Life Services as the beneficiary of your IRA. Community Family Life Services does not have to pay taxes, so it will receive the full benefit of the gift. Your heirs can then receive assets from your estate upon which they pay no income taxes (and perhaps no estate taxes). And the gift to Community Family Life Services would lower any estate taxes that might be due by means of a charitable deduction.
To further learn how a gift to CFLS can help your family, contact our development staff at (202) 347-0511, extension 415 or e-mail development@cflsdc.org. You can also learn more about planned giving ideas by visiting the Lutheran Planned Giving Consortium web site.
Alternative Ways to Give
There are any ways that you can support Community Family Life Services while you do every day things. Every little bit helps, and by keeping in mind these alternative giving methods, you can help CFLS provide more services to our clients.
Remember, every little bit helps.
Stock Gifts
There are tax benefits to giving stock. If you have securities held for over one year that have appreciated in value, selling them outright will result in capital gains taxes. However, when you donate your stock to CFLS, you can claim an income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the securities. In order to receive the benefit, do not sell the stock, but transfer it directly to Community Family Life Services. Full information about the tax consequences of charitable giving is in the IRS Publication 950. You should consult your tax advisor to find out how giving may specifically affect you.
You can initiate a stock transfer to CFLS by filling out the appropriate "Gift of Stock" form. If you are transferring the stock from a brokerage account, please use the "Brokerage Gift of Stock Form." Please send the completed Brokerage Form directly to your broker, send a copy to us, and keep a copy for your own records so that we can properly acknowledge your gift.
If you wish to donate a security in certificate form, use the "Certificate Gift of Stock Form." If you are giving a certificate, fill out the Certificate Form with the amount and kind of stock you are giving. Sign the "Third Party Release" before a notary and sign the "Irrevocable Stock or Bond Power" as your name(s) appears on the certificate. All owners must sign both forms. The Certificate Form and certificate should go directly to our agent, Perry Seiffert Investment Management. However, sending valuable certificates by regular mail is risky, so to ensure that your gift arrives, we recommend that you call the number at the address below to arrange for free pick-up of your security:
Community Family Life Services
c/o Perry Seiffert
Investment Management
4550 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 760-N
Bethesda, MD 20814
CALL: 301-951-1588 or Toll-Free 1-888-889-7897.
If you're interested in giving a security other than stock please call our agent, Perry Seiffert Investment Management, at 301-951-1588 or Toll-Free 1-888-889-7897.
Members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Are you a Thrivent member? Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will match a portion of your gift to CFLS through the Giving Plus Program or you can donate to CFLS on a monthly basis through Thrivent's Simply Giving Program.
Gifts of Hope
The Gifts of Hope program is organized each year by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). Every winter, CFLS and other Lutheran agencies in the metropolitan Washington area take part in this program to give a gift that brings joy, provides for a basic need or builds for the future. Gifts of hope can be made in the name of a loved one.
And remember, we would like to be able to thank you for your donation. Consider choosing to allow these companies to send us your information or shoot us an email at development@cflsdc.orgL so that we know you've made a donation to us and can thank you once the donation arrives.
