IN THIS ISSUE

FOUNDATION NEWS
A Message From Our President & CEO
Welcome New CFAAC Board Members

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Welcome to CFAAC
Herzberg-Wild Scholarship Fund is Presented $20,000
Endow Maryland Tax Credits

COMMUNITY IMPACT
Environment Anne Arundel Awards $12,500 in Grants
Understanding the Urgency for — and Hope Around — Restorative Practices in AACPS

STRENGTHENING NONPROFITS
AAWGT 2022 Grant Applications

NEWS FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS
Philanthropy and the family business: A chance to ask great questions 
Giving hard-to-value assets: It’s not just for real estate anymore
Transfer of wealth: Following the money

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FOUNDATION NEWS

The decorations may have been stored until next year, but I still feel the holiday spirit in our community as we welcome 2022 with open arms and hearts. It is because of you that we are able to celebrate a New Year of hope and optimism. We are forever grateful for your support in 2021 and look forward to sharing new beginnings with you in 2022.

This month we are saying goodbye to two loyal board members while welcoming four new members. 

Greg Strott has been with the Community Foundation since its very beginning when he joined the board in 1999. In fact, he and his wife, Trish, opened CFAAC’s very first Donor Advised Fund. Greg remained on the board until 2010 when his business pulled him away. In 2016, Greg re-joined the board and has been a vital part of CFAAC ever since. His wealth of knowledge, dedication to CFAAC, and commitment are hard to match. To that end, Greg has been elected to serve as an Emeritus Trustee with CFAAC. We can’t thank you enough Greg. 

Renee Kremm joined our board in 2018. As a professional financial planner, she has provided valuable insight to the Community Foundation during her years of service. Renee has also served in various leadership roles over the years for the Anne Arundel Estate Planning Council. Thank you, Renee, for your generous support, help, and experience.

We are indebted to both Greg and Renee and wish them well as they move on to new challenges. But, of course, as former board members, they will remain part of the CFAAC story as they have helped steward our organization with care over many years.

As we begin 2022, we welcome four new members to the CFAAC Board. Each of them brings unique experience to strengthen our organization. Their diverse backgrounds and expertise will be a great asset to our board. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Coryse Brathwaite, Larry Burrows, David Irving, and Dr. Neil J. Weissman. You can read more about them in this newsletter. 

As we welcome our new incoming board chair, we first would like to say thank you to our immediate past chair, Mary Grace Folwell, for her leadership during what has been undoubtedly an unusual term. We are grateful that we had a steadfast leader during this time to steer us through the pandemic and all of the challenges it brought forth. We appreciate you, Mary Grace.

Taking the reins as board chair is Jim Humphrey. Jim has been an integral part of CFAAC’s Board since 2018 and has been a generous supporter of CFAAC, including through the Jim & Linda Humphrey Foundation. As Chairman and CEO of The Humphrey Companies, Jim offers CFAAC his expertise, business acumen, and vast wisdom from years of running a successful business. Congratulations Jim. We are thrilled to have you as our new board chair.

Finally, we are welcoming Haley Cromwell as a fulltime employee. Haley has been part of the CFAAC team since 2016 when she joined us as an intern. She will assume the responsibilities as our Philanthropic Services Coordinator.

Happy New Year to all of you. We are appreciative of your support and look forward to another successful year.

Warmly,

Mary Spencer
President & CEO

Welcome New CFAAC Board Members

Dr. Coryse Brathwaite began her medical career as an OB/GYN 27 years ago, dedicating herself to the health and well-being of women across a variety of backgrounds. After 14 years in private practice in Charles County, she moved her family to Annapolis, MD. In 2009, she continued her career at Anne Arundel Medical Center, now part of Luminis Health, as an OB/GYN hospitalist. Since 2020, she has served as the Medical Director of Perinatal Operations, where she leverages her business and medical acumen to deliver on Luminis Health’s mission. Read her full bio here.

 

Lawrence (Larry) B. Burrows currently serves as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for both TriPointe Homes, a national homebuilder, and Conner Industries, a leading wood products re-manufacturer. Larry is a Senior Planning Fellow, a Professor of Practice, and the Ex-Officio Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. He is also Treasurer of the nonprofit Chesapeake Multi-Cultural Resource Center. Read his full bio here.

 

David Irving made the decision to commit the remainder of his career to improving the academic opportunities available to economically disadvantaged students after more than 25 years in financial sales and trading. The companies he founded under HigherSchool LLC, provide parents with instructional guides and parental involvement workshops; students with tutoring and instruction in Literacy, Math, and English as a Second Language (ESL); and teachers and principals with coaching and professional development training. Read his full bio here.

 

Dr. Neil Weissman is the Chief Scientific Officer for MedStar Health and President of MedStar Health Research Institute. He is also a professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and an internationally recognized cardiologist with expertise in echocardiography and clinical trials. As chief scientific officer, Neil provides leadership for the development and implementation of specific scientific priorities, with a commitment to further advancing MedStar Health as an academic healthcare system. As president of the Research Institute, he is responsible for the overall strategic and operational direction of the research arm of MedStar Health. Read his full bio here.

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Welcome to CFAAC

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County is thrilled to welcome the following to our family of funds:

• Big J's Fund: An endowed fund, established by Jenny Davis, to support the philanthropic interests of the fund advisor.

Herzberg-Wild Scholarship is Presented $20,000

In December, the Wild family presented a $20,000 check for the Herzberg-Wild Scholarship Fund. The proceeds were raised from their annual Taylor Wild Memorial Golf Tournament, which was held in November.  

The Lance Corporal Eric William Herzberg and Lance Corporal William Taylor Wild IV Scholarship (Herzberg-Wild Scholarship) was established at CFAAC by anonymous donors to honor two fallen Marines, Eric W. Herzberg and Taylor Wild IV, who were both Anne Arundel County residents. Both were proud U.S. Marines who dedicated their lives to protecting and defending our country.

Since 2014, scholarships have been awarded annually to graduating Anne Arundel County Public High School students who exhibit the Marine Corps values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment; the ability to persist in the face of significant personal obstacles; and the ability to provide quiet leadership in their school and in their community. Read more about the Herzberg-Wild Scholarship here.

Endow Maryland Tax Credits

Endowment funds have many benefits for both donors and CFAAC – they can help create a lasting legacy while supporting charitable causes or community needs.

Donations to endowment funds can also provide tax benefits for donors through Endow Maryland, a Maryland state tax credit that rewards donors who help build permanent charitable funds for local communities across the state and Anne Arundel County. Endow Maryland offers a tax credit for gifts from $500 to $50,000 to permanent endowed funds at qualified Maryland community foundations such as CFAAC. These gifts can be made to an existing permanent endowed fund held at CFAAC that benefits Maryland organizations, or donors can create a new endowed fund to support causes they care about in perpetuity. Maryland community foundations are sharing $250,000 in tax credits for 2022 and these credits are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

CFAAC has many qualified permanent funds that can benefit Anne Arundel County forever including the CFAAC Endowment Fund and the Fund for Anne Arundel. To read more about Endow Maryland tax credits and find out what qualified permanent funds are available at CFAAC, visit cfaac.org/EndowMaryland.

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

Environment Anne Arundel Awards $12,500 in Grants

Anne Arundel County residents often take advantage of being outdoors in the county’s beautiful parks and waters and know that issues concerning the environment need to remain a priority. To address concerns such as stormwater management; and/or increase community awareness and involvement in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay, local streams and rivers, and other natural areas, the Environmental Anne Arundel Grant Program recently awarded three grants, totaling $12,500 to three organizations:

• Anne Arundel County Watershed Stewards Academy, Inc. was awarded a grant for the "Watershed Stewards Academy Class 14 Restoration Projects." In concert with funding from Anne Arundel County and their own funding, this grant will allow approximately 25 community leaders in the Academy's 14th Certification class to complete five capstone projects and install three conservation landscapes in Severn, Maryland. The funding will help provide plants and supplies for critical restoration projects that reduce stormwater and increase community awareness and engagement about the health of our local waterways.

• Scenic Rivers Land Trust, Inc. (SRLT) was awarded a grant for the "Bacon Ridge Natural Area Invasive Plant Control Project." This is the continuation of an invasive plant control program that began in the fall of 2020 in Bacon Ridge Natural Area, Crownsville, and includes organizing and training volunteers to control these harmful plants along trails. The project is funded through CFAAC’s grant, as well as a Land Trust match, primarily for educational materials as well as herbicide application. This project will allow expansion of SRLT's easement stewardship efforts through collaboration with Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks to prevent invasive plant species from spreading along the hiking/biking trails of the Bacon Ridge Natural Area.

• Annapolis Maritime Museum (AMM) was awarded a grant for the "Action Project - Stormwater Management Project at the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park's Park Campus." This grant will fund enhanced curriculum development and materials to implement a student-led action project centered around sustained plantings within the stormwater management system located at the AMM Park Campus. The grant covers part of the School Program Manager's time, lesson plan materials, and plant material. The stormwater management project serves as a teaching platform for the AMM’s education programs and the public. The student-led action project that is the focus of this grant request will specifically serve students in second and third grade at a minimum of four Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

Learn more about the Environment Anne Arundel Fund and how you can help.

Understanding the Urgency for — and Hope Around — Restorative Practices in AACPS

Date | January 26, 2022
Via Zoom
Time | 12:00 pm
Cost | Free to registered participants

Restorative Practices in schools have two components: community-building and productively addressing harm to that community when needed. Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) began its Restorative journey in earnest in 2016, with a district level School Climate Specialist position that would be held by Kathy Rockefeller, J.D. In this informative program, you will hear from Ms. Rockefeller about the Restorative journey at AACPS. Where are we now? What challenges remain? What are the next steps? How can families help?

Register & Learn More Here

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STRENGTHENING NONPROFITS

AAWGT 2022 Grant Applications

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together (AAWGT) has announced their call for 2022 Grant Applications. The deadline for receiving completed applications will be Friday, February 11, 2022 at 11:59pm.

The AAWGT 2022 Focus Statement:
AAWGT is particularly interested in proposals that support women and families and also prioritize issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to address the underlying causes of hardship and/or come from organizations with annual gross receipts of less than $100,000.

Grants will be awarded in amounts from $5,000 to $20,000. Going forward, organizations that receive grants for two consecutive years will not be eligible to apply for the following two years. Applicants will be asked to identify if and how the needs identified in CFAAC's Community Needs Assessment: Poverty Amongst Plenty VI, On the Road to Progress for All, are considered in their proposal. 

Learn more about the 2022 AAWGT Grants here.

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NEWS FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Philanthropy and the family business: A chance to ask great questions

More than half of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is generated by the 5.5 million family-owned businesses in the United States. Profits aren’t the only priority for most family businesses; the vast majority of family business owners report that other factors, such as culture, community, charity, and values, are also important to the business. Although it is not surprising that philanthropy is a vital part of the family business fabric, setting up the right structure to leave a legacy is not without challenges. As you advise a business-owner client, consider asking the following questions to help your client create or grow an effective corporate philanthropy program within the family enterprise. Read more.

Giving hard-to-value assets: It’s not just for real estate anymore

You are no doubt familiar with the many benefits of giving hard-to-value assets to a charity – and especially to a client’s Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation. Because the Community Foundation is a public charity, your client is eligible for the maximum allowable tax deduction for their contributions. This is because a client typically can deduct the fair market value of the asset given to the fund, and, furthermore, when the fund sells the asset, the Community Foundation (as a public charity) does not pay capital gains tax. This means there is more money in the Donor Advised Fund to support charities than there would be if your client had sold the hard-to-value asset on their own and then contributed the proceeds to the Donor Advised Fund.

Individuals can take advantage of giving hard-to-value assets, and so can businesses. For example, when a business is sold, its owners may find themselves with artwork, insurance policies, or real estate on their hands, any of which can be donated to a Donor Advised Fund with the favorable tax treatment described above. Gifts of real estate have long been popular –  although still underutilized – gifts to charity, sometimes making up nearly 3% of the value of all charitable contributions in any given year. Read more.

Transfer of wealth: Following the money

“The greatest wealth transfer in modern history has begun,” according to a mid-2021 report in the Wall Street Journal. And, with tax reform’s big bite into estate values off the table, at least for now, many of your older clients may be thinking seriously about their legacies.

And these legacies will be significant. As of March 31, 2021, according to data collected by the Federal Reserve, Americans in their 70s and older had a total net worth reaching almost $35 trillion. By 2042, an estimated $70 trillion will change hands, including an estimated $9 trillion flowing to charities, according to research conducted by Cerulli Associates.

As you advise an older client, an important part of the conversation might be to determine the best charitable giving vehicles to achieve your client’s community goals, particularly evaluating the potential role of a Donor Advised Fund or private foundation. Increasingly, your clients are learning about their options in mainstream media and likely have a greater level of awareness about charitable giving options than ever before, especially in the wake of the recent twists and turns concerning potential tax reform. Read more for key points we suggest to keep handy for those conversations.