| Caring For Life, U.S.A. by Flo Hendriksz 
This recognition from the IRS will mean that individual donors to Caring For Life can claim personal federal income tax deductions for their donations, and bequests will be exempt from federal estate taxes. Corporations may deduct all contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations up to an amount normally equal to 10% of their taxable income. The USA fundraising team was formed with the purpose of supporting Caring For Life UK by expanding our existing support base and current funding from the UK- based Grant Making Bodies, to include USA Foundations and Corporations; also by establishing ‘Friends of Caring For Life’ support groups. Our USA team consists of the following people: Mike Castle as the Director of Operations. Wendy Rodriquez, El Grantham and Diana Martina as Fundraising Officers and Ron Martina, with assistance from Diana, responsible for establishing the Friends of CFL support groups. I am their contact in the UK, facilitating their queries and liaising with relevant staff. Since November 2006, the team has been training hard, learning new skills as well as refining existing expertise. They have been studying proposal writing and learning about how Foundations function, thereby building a strategy for when they officially approach these Grant Makers. With regard to Corporate donors, the team has inspiring ideas and will be approaching existing contacts soon! In order for Ron and Diana to set up the Friends of CFL groups and for the Fundraisers to write proposals with relevant information, it is crucial to have up to date information of all the happenings in the UK. Therefore the team visit our website daily to get the latest prayer request and news updates. In future the team will also receive regular DVD updates from the UK with news from staff and the folk we support. It is also crucial that existing Friends of CFL groups receive regular updates so that their support, whether financial, prayer or via fundraising, can be appropriate. I also have regular email contact with the team and hopefully technology will allow us, in the near future, to attempt video conferencing! It is with great excitement that a group of us are looking forward to visiting the USA team in early February. The visit has a few objectives, one of which is to formally commission the team to their new ministry. This Commissioning Service will take place at Grace Providence Church in California on the 4th February. Another objective of our visit is to complete the initial training that will enable the team to start writing proposals, contacting potential donors and promoting the Friends of CFL groups. We will also be setting up their computers with the required software and databases, as well as creating a network so that they can communicate with each other and with us in the UK via video link. This is an exciting time as well as a time of big change for Caring For Life as we prayerfully embark on this new venture. We believe that God has provided us with this window of opportunity in the USA which can be utilised to greatly enhance the opportunities and the quality of care we provide to those that He has entrusted to us. Flo. |
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