Donation Information

If you’re needing more details about donating to The Las Vegas New Mexico Community Foundation, please read through the following. If you still need more help, get in touch. We’re happy to assist you with whatever may be coming up for you.

Email us at: admin@lvnmcf.com
Call: (505) 500-2868
or stop by our office 
at the El Fidel Hotel

Advantages of Foundation Giving

You may ask if there are advantages to giving through the community foundation, rather than making direct contributions to specific organizations.

By donating through the foundation, 

  1. You will maximize the impact of your donation by:
  • investing wisely to grow your investment in the community, and 
  • distributing your gifts wisely through a competitive grant process.
  1. You will know the money you give is spent properly because of the granting and reporting process.

The request for funding must:

  • Detail the use of the requested funding,
  • Identify specific deliverable services and programs, and
  • Target dates for completing services and programs.
  • The foundation will request periodic reports from a grant recipient showing what progress has been made in reaching the goals of the grant application.
  • Future funding for the grantee depends on its compliance with reporting requirements.
  1. You will add your donation to the power of a growing and engaged community of like-minded donors who together create a culture of supporting our community nonprofits.
  1. You will have the security of knowing that your giving will go to the purposes you have chosen even if particular charities close their doors or move on to different projects.
  1. You will get expert advice on making your donations in ways that accomplish your desires in the simplest way.

Immediate Versus Long-Term Results

The community foundation accepts donations either for use in the near term or to fund projects far into the future.

  • Gifts into a short-term unrestricted fund become part of an annual granting process to support local nonprofits.
  • Gifts to endowment funds provide benefits in perpetuity as assets generated by these permanent gifts continue to grow and provide grant funding. So far, we have raised more than $80,000 in contributions toward funding long-term projects.
  • Both types of giving are good ways to help the Greater Las Vegas Area thrive.

Giving for the Present Versus Giving for the Future

Why is an endowment fund necessary? Isn’t it better to immediately provide community services and projects as much money as is available?

It is true that unrestricted gifts provide the greatest benefit almost immediately – to help the Greater Las Vegas Area thrive today. These gifts are for current use and provide the greatest flexibility to address immediate needs and opportunities.

On the other hand, endowment funds provide benefits in perpetuity as assets generated by these permanent gifts continue to grow and provide grant funding for current and future generations’ needs. An endowment creates an ongoing source of income. Community organizations can count on annual distributions for their work. The endowment also grows over time, with additional gifts from multiple donors.

Both endowments and unrestricted gifts help communities and rural areas thrive.

Gift Planning Assistance

When your giving is more complicated than writing a check, experts at the Santa Fe Foundation can help choose a strategy and reduce paperwork.

Advice includes everything from Gifts, such as:

  • Bequests
  • Stocks and appreciated assets
  • Life insurance
  • Real estate, and 
  • Personal Property, including art, antiques, equipment, or collections

and Establishing a Fund, such as:

  • A discretionary fund
  • A donor advised fund
  • A designated fund, or 
  • A field-of-interest fund

Options are endless.

Most of us would need some expert help to navigate all the rules. Working within the foundation saves you having to do or pay for the day-to-day administration of a personal foundation. 

Making Sure Our Work Reflects Your Values

The foundation helps ensure your gifts produce the kinds of results you want to see.

You can

  • Focus your gifts on any of the areas set up within the Las Vegas Community Foundation
  • Designate a new area
  • Direct your gifts to specific nonprofit organizations.