Organization creates endowment for county projects

A Cheyenne County charitable organization has established an endowment to support community projects, programs and people.

The Cheyenne County Fund was established in 2013 and encompasses Potter, Sidney, Dalton Gurley, Lodgepole – and the entire county.

“The fund was set up in response to the need to try to provide a way to facilitate the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds project – the animal livestock facility out there,” said Jim Ernest, the fund advisory committee chairman. “Something needed to be done.”

But Ernest said the organization isn’t dedicated to just one cause.

“The scope right now is that we are helping work toward the Cheyenne County Fairground livestock project, but in reality, we have a much broader scope than that and will have a broader scope in the future,” he explained. “We’re a community-wide type of organization, and we can do anything from scholarships to community projects.”

The Cheyenne County Fund functions as an affiliate of the Nebraska Community Foundation, and operates under that foundation’s 501(c)(3) status, and contributions are tax deductible.

While the Nebraska Community Foundation doesn’t make grants, it offers tools for communities to foster their own development initiatives.

With the administrative support of the state foundation, the local affiliate is able to focus on cultivating charitable giving.

“We are a charitable organization working to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for prosperity in Cheyenne County,” Megan McGown, a fund committee member, wrote in an email last week. “We are creating an endowment, to act as a community savings account, to support community projects, programs and people.”

Ernest said the Cheyenne County Fund accepts direct donations.

“We do receive donations through memorials and we can receive gifts of commodities,” he said.

McGown said contributors receive a better tax credit when they donate commodities directly to the Cheyenne County Fund.

“When a farmer delivers grain to market and transfers ownership to a charity, they get a greater tax savings than if they sell the commodity and then write a check from the proceeds,” she said.

Recently, Ernest made a donation of wheat to the fund.

“It’s a fairly simple process,” he said. “What you have to do is contact a fund member, and then that fund member will contact the Nebraska Community Foundation and make sure the paperwork is in place.”

Then all that’s left is delivering the grain, cattle or other commodity to a prearranged facility, where it then becomes the foundation’s property. The money is then transferred to the Cheyenne County Fund.

“It was very easy,” Ernest said. “In fact, just a phone call or two.”

For farmers or others wishing to contribute, he said it’s a good option.

“It is an easy way to donate to the Cheyenne County Fund, and you get a full tax benefit from it,” he said. “It’s a good way to do it if you’re so inclined.”

For more information, or to make an online donation, visit http://www.nebcommfound.org/affiliated-funds/find/details/2986/.