#CaliforniansForAll Initiative Seeks AmeriCorps VISTA Members to Help Food Banks/Other Nonprofits

Are you a passionate problem solver ready to step up and meet the moment through a year of service?

As part of the #CaliforniansForAll initiative, California Volunteers, Office of the Governor, is recruiting for AmeriCorps VISTA members to strengthen the volunteer infrastructure of partnering organizations, including food banks and other nonprofits.

Follow this link for more info about this opportunity.

New Web Portal, grants.ca.gov, Aims to Help Nonprofits Find State Grants

The State of California has launched a consolidated grant portal, grants.ca.gov, designed for nonprofits and local government agencies seeking grants and loans from state sources. The site was built by the California State Library with input from numerous stakeholders.

This is a new website that is still evolving, but it is definitely a wonderful grant research tool for our nonprofits. Kern Community Foundation encourages our nonprofit partners to check it out, especially the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section for starters.

We have also linked to it from our website: kernfoundation.org > KAN > Nonprofit Resources. Or just click here.

Happy searching for funding!

Nonprofits – Looking to Diversify Your Funding During the COVID Crisis? Think ‘Crop Gift’!

Are there any Kern County charitable organizations out there with grower friends in our county’s large and influential ag community?

Consider reaching out to them with information about Kern Community Foundation’s Crop Gifting Program: a way for farmers to turn their crops into cash for charity – perhaps to benefit your organization!

Especially during our challenging COVID-19 times, when agencies are desperately looking for new funding streams, a Crop Gift could be a game changer. Crop Gifting provides an innovative financial vehicle whereby growers enjoy a considerable tax break while creating long-lasting community impact by helping local charities. It’s a great way for farmers to “grow philanthropy” by doing what they do best: growing crops!

Here’s how Crop Gifting to charity through
Kern Community Foundation works:

• You introduce the program to a grower who believes in your organization’s work and mission. You can use the letter template and our downloadable pamphlet which you can access per the links below. And Kern Community Foundation’s Staff will be available to answer any questions you or your benefactor-grower might have.
• The grower then identifies an unsold crop with no prior sale commitment and contacts Kern Community Foundation.
• They transfer title of the identified crop to the Foundation, which will assume responsibility of their gifted crop through final sale via a broker.
• Net proceeds from the sale will be placed into a fund. This can be a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) used to manage the grower’s charitable donations. They get to direct the investment of the fund, receive quarterly statements, and can specify charities where their gift(s) will be donated—and, naturally, with your introduction, we expect they will choose to benefit your agency through their crop gift.
• The Foundation will assess a one-time fee of 0.5% per crop gift in addition to its regular fee schedule of 0.5% to 2% annually, depending on the balance and use of the fund.
• They achieve significant tax savings by making a pre-sale crop gift (as opposed to selling their crop(s) and then making a cash donation to charity), because gifted crops are not recognized as income, and federal, state and self-employment taxes are not assessed on their value.
• You, as a charitable organization, can turn your benefactor-grower’s Crop Gift into scholarships for youth, spay-neuters for dogs and cats, hot-cooked meals for seniors, personal protective equipment to prevent COVID-19 community spread, and so much more!

Reach out to potential benefactor-growers before harvest time.

Click here to download our suggested Crop Gift Request Letter Template.

Click here to download our official Crop Gifting Pamphlet.

You are welcome to contact Kern Community Foundation with specific questions by calling 661.325.5346 or writing to info@kernfoundation.org.

Happy Growing Community and Growing Philanthropy through Crop Gifting!

Report to the Community – Give Big Kern 2020: The Year COVID Couldn’t Stop Good!

Close to three quarters of a million dollars! That’s how much money was raised by 125 Kern County nonprofits through Give Big Kern, hosted by Kern Community Foundation. Observed as “One Day to Celebrate the Giving Spirit of Kern County!” on the first Tuesday in May, which this year was May 5, 2020’s Give Big Kern turned out to be our most successful Online Day of Giving yet, despite the COVID-19 crisis.

Click on the image or the following hyperlink to access a downloadable copy of our Report to the Community – Give Big Kern 2020: The Year COVID Couldn’t Stop Good!

In this report, you will find:

• An analysis of this year’s accomplishments and areas for improvement;
• The reasons for Give Big Kern’s continued success even in the face of our current era’s most overwhelming health and financial challenge;
• A listing of competitive and opportunity drawing prize winners;
• An acknowledgment of our sponsors;
• Important lessons learned that will help us plan for Give Big Kern 2021;
• A very telling snapshot of the aspirations and concerns of Give Big Kern’s participating nonprofits, with a call to action for more members of our community to get involved in helping to meet their needs;
• And more!

Please share this report with others–especially nonprofits, to encourage any that have not yet participated in Give Big Kern to consider doing so next year.

Also, save the date for next year’s Give Big Kern: May 4, 2021!

And as our Mascot, Billy the Give Big Goat, likes to say, “Happy r-e-e-e-a-a-d-i-n-g!”

FDIC Offers Online Resources for Unbanked and Underbanked Consumers

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC, fdic.gov) is an independent agency created by the U.S. Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system, including by insuring deposits made to banks. Its website boasts that “Since 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the FDIC has been working to develop resources that will make it easier for consumers without a bank account to find a bank where they can open an account online from a computer or mobile device without having to go to into a branch. They developed a new, easy-to-remember web page, fdic.gov/coronavirus, that was launched last week (available only in English at this time), dedicated to helping unbanked or underbanked consumers access the information they need to receive an economic impact payment (stimulus check) electronically.

Unbanked/underbanked consumers can do the following:

1. Follow the link above or click on the FDIC logo at right to watch a short video on how to open a bank account online.
2. Click on this link to access the Bank On Coalition’s list of banks that offer remote account opening with a $0 balance in anticipation of the Treasury deposit. The FDIC Coronavirus web page also links to the American Bankers Association’s list of banks that offer remote account opening all across the country (developed in response to the COVID-19 situation), along with additional resources for consumers. Changes to this page and information contained therein might change as the current crisis evolves.
3. Once someone opens their account, they can then provide the information to the Internal Revenue Service to receive payments electronically through the IRS portal.
4. The FDIC website has information available in Spanish, but it appears to be general in nature, not necessarily focused on COVID-19. Click here to view. The IRS portal has some information in Spanish about COVID-19 economic impact payments and the link to the English-language fdic/gov/coronavirus page. Click here to view.

The Bakersfield News Observer’s In-Kind Contribution to Give Big Kern is B-i-i-i-g!

Local Bakersfield weekly newspaper The Bakersfield News Observer is a returning sponsor of Give Big Kern this year. They really went all out for us again with a fantastic story series highlighting three different agencies in each of the three issues leading up to Give Big Kern Day.

Click on this link or the image at left to read and download the entire series in PDF format.

Want to know how the value of the Observer’s in-kind contribution, which includes layout, printing, posting online, linking through social media, and insertion of the Observer Interactive App capability that adds another layer of web linkage and visibility to each story on the printed page? Nothing short of $11,000! This is a huge to Kern Community Foundation and the Give Big Kern nonprofits, especially during these difficult COVID-19 times.

Thanks, Bakersfield News Observer, for your wonderful support of local charities!

Final Installment in Three-Part Series on Give Big Kern Nonprofits in El Popular

El Popular News, Kern County’s Spanish-language weekly, has been a steady Give Big Kern Sponsor over the years, but this year they really stepped up B-i-i-i-g by supporting our nonprofits with three full-page packages highlighting a total of nine charities and Kern Community Foundation. These were all contributed articles that the agencies wrote themselves and El Popular published for us. What would it have cost us to run three full-page ads? $5,340! That is the value of El Popular’s generous in-kind support this year. Thank you, Amigos!

This week’s installment of El Popular’s Nonprofit Showcase Series includes California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), Aspiranet, and Alzheimer’s Disease Association of Kern County (ADAKC). As you read about these agencies, consider donating to any one of them or the more than 130 other agencies you find on GiveBigKern.org.

Click on this link or the image at left to access the current issue of El Popular. You will find Give Big Kern participants’ stories on Page 3.

El Popular’s Series Showcasing Three More Give Big Kern Charities ‘En Español’ Continues

Spanish-language weekly El Popular News, a steady Give Big Kern sponsor over the years, continues its three-part series today (April 24) featuring three more agencies that are fundraising through Give Big Kern: Girl Scouts of Central California South, Kern Bridges Youth Homes and PathPoint.

El Popular has devoted a full page to highlighting these stories, thereby helping Kern Community Foundation and our partners to “Grow Philanthropy” among Kern’s Spanish-speaking community.

Click on this link or on the image to access the current issue of El Popular. You will find Give Big Kern participants’ stories on Page 3. Read B-i-i-i-g! Give B-i-i-i-g!

Give Big Kern Participating Nonprofits Featured B-i-i-i-g En Español in El Popular News

Spanish-language weekly El Popular News, a steady Give Big Kern sponsor over the years, has kicked off a three-part series today (April 17) featuring three agencies that are fundraising through Give Big Kern: Valley Center for the Blind, Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County and Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation.

El Popular has proven itself once again as a generous sponsor by devoting a full page to highlighting these stories, thereby helping Kern Community Foundation and our partners to “Grow Philanthropy” among Kern’s Spanish-speaking community.

Frank Ramirez, Executive Director of Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation expressed his gratitude for this opportunity in an e-mail to both El Popular and the Foundation:

“Many of our scholarship winners and applicants come from a household where Spanish is their primary language. I’m sure they will be pleased to see this article in Spanish. We are also trying to connect with more donors from the Spanish speaking community since one of our largest donors for our 2020-21 scholarship program is the Consulate of Mexico (Fresno Office). They will be pleased to see this article.

“In addition,” he continued, “I would also like to thank you for working with Kern Community Foundation on informing the Spanish-speaking community about Give Big Kern. Kern Community Foundation is helping so many nonprofits like us expand their fundraising efforts. They are a great organization that is helping nonprofits in Kern County grow.”

Click on this link or on the image to access the current issue of El Popular. You will find Give Big Kern participants’ stories on Page 3. Read B-i-i-i-g! Give B-i-i-i-g!