How to show you CARE in a difficult time
Right now is a scary time in our world. So many things have changed seemingly overnight.
Gone are the stories about the 2020 presidential race. Instead, we’re all glued to information about COVID-19 and its impact on our health and economy. Time that we used to have with our friends or loved ones has been replaced with conversations over FaceTime or Hangouts. And many of us aren’t going to work anymore—either because we work from home or worse, because we’ve been laid off.
These are trying times, friend. For all of us, including the nonprofits out there fighting to solve the many problems you are so passionate about.
I also know that for many of us, this time has left us feeling unsettled about our future. What will tomorrow hold? Will you have the things you need? And that may be leaving you a bit anxious about supporting these causes, even though they need you now more than ever. That’s because many nonprofits are already seeing donations stop coming in as this pandemic wreaks havoc on our health and economy.
But there are many ways you can continue to show you CARE about voting reform and all the other causes you support, even if times are tough right now. Here are a few options to consider.
Donate the money you would have otherwise been spending
Are you lucky enough to be working from home now? If so, are you finding that you’re spending less now that you’re making your own coffee or have traded in your dry-cleaned suit for your pajamas?
Even if it only feels like a little bit to you, consider donating that money you would have spent to a cause you love, like voting reform. At CES, we’ll be using those funds to expand the educational programming we provide digitally.
Take advantage of the CARES Act
Last week, Congress passed the CARES Act—a package of legislation that helps small businesses, nonprofits, and individuals like you. There’s a lot to cover in that package, but there are two big opportunities you should know about if you’re interested in continuing to support the fight for fairer, more representative voting methods.
- Donate $300 now, if you can. Every taxpayer can donate $300 to any qualified charity this year, without having to go through the trouble of itemizing their donation. This means that you can reduce your tax liability by $300 and support the nonprofits you love. So if you can, this is a great time to donate!
- Don’t need your stimulus check? Donate it. The CARES Act also means you may soon be seeing $1,200 from the federal government, so long as you make less than $75k. Are you still employed and don’t need that extra money right now? Consider donating it! There are no limits on how much you can itemize this year—making it a great time to invest in our next campaigns to empower voters with fairer, more representative elections.
Consider gift planning
I know many of you reading this may have recently lost your job, had your hours reduced, or otherwise be experiencing financial hardships. Our hearts go out to you during this trying time. If you’re in this situation, I encourage you to consider looking into charitable gift planning.
Charitable gift planning is essentially a fancy phrase that means there are tools you can use to pledge now to make gifts later. This means that if you are experiencing financial hardships, you can let us—or any other nonprofit you love—know that you still want to help us achieve our mission.
Over the next several months, we’ll be rolling out blogs on what charitable gift planning is and how to use these (seemingly) complex planning tools to your advantage. We’ll also be happy to meet with you one-on-one. Our goal is to make sure you have the information you need so you can plan for your family’s own financial needs and continue to show the nonprofits you love how much you care during this time.
Have questions about how this works? Contact Kirsten for more info: kirsten@electionscience.org.
