Before 2020 Ends, You Can Still Make a Charitable Impact with Your IRA

How You Can Donate Pre-tax Dollars to Your Favorite Charity

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Are you looking for a way to help Quechua Benefit? You or someone you know may be eligible to make a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA.

This information is especially beneficial for people who are over 70.5 years old. When you reach 70.5 years of age, you must start taking Required Minimum Distributions from your IRA account. Most people who are age 70.5 are already drawing funds in retirement anyway, so they meet this requirement. But other people who don’t necessarily need the money are forced to take a certain percentage at this time. This is how the IRS makes you pay taxes on all that tax-deferred money you earned over your lifetime.

To put it very simply, this means that you can donate to any qualified 501(c)3 directly from your IRA and bypass paying taxes on that money. Yes, that’s right. You could give to your church or other local nonprofit and actually save money on taxes each year!

Here is an example:

Let’s say you are above age 70.5 and normally give $3,000 to a charity you love and tithe another $3,000 to your church. Instead of you writing them a check from your personal bank account, you have your IRA broker cut you a check from your IRA that’s written directly to each organization.

If you withdrew the same $6,000 from your IRA and made the donation, then you would pay taxes on that money.

If your taxes were 30% federal and 5% state, the total tax saving is $2,100 for your $6,000 donation!

You receive several benefits:

  1. The charitable contribution counts toward your required minimum distribution each year.
  2. Normally a withdrawal from your IRA would count as income, which could cause you to pay taxes on your Social Security and would count towards raising your Medicare premiums. You avoid this tax by simply having your plan administrator cut the check directly from your IRA.
  3. You also don’t need to worry about the adjusted gross income limitations for charitable donations each year.

Qualifying Requirements:

  1. You can’t give to a private (grant-making) foundation
  2. As stated above, you must be 70.5 years old.
  3. The charitable organization must give you proof of the contribution.
  4. These contributions must come from a traditional IRA.
  5. You are limited to $100,000 per year in contributions like this. But,
  6. The tax benefit is per person; so if you have a spouse with a traditional IRA you could potentially gift up to $200,000 between the two of you.

Would you like help with doing this for yourself or a family member?

Quechua Benefit is glad to help!

Contact Mike Safley (503) 703-6020 or Dale Cantwell (303) 902-4503 for more information.

Click here to read more about the benefits of QCD(s) and the rules that govern them. Your financial advisor can help you make your Qualified Charitable Distribution to Quechua Benefit. 100% of your donations directly impact the lives of families, women, and children in Peru.

Casa Chapi first grader Raul was just about to begin his first year at Casa Chapi when COVID-19 hit the Arequipa region of Peru very hard. Raul and his mother say, “Thank you” for food, schoolbooks, and anemia treatment for Raul.  When you donate to HEALTHY KIDS, you provide anemia treatment for children like Raul.

When Quechua Benefit’s team conducted health check-ups in June, Victor was diagnosed with moderate anemia. He started taking iron supplements and multivitamins with iron. NOW he is no longer anemic! 

Your generosity makes it possible to treat your kids for anemia and parasites. Healthy kids learn better and can achieve their dreams.

Angeles (6th grade) and Rosalyn (4th grade) have made great progress in their virtual learning! Their August reading scores are more than 15% higher than their assessments in June.

Thank you for the schoolbooks, internet and cellphones for kids to connect with their teachers. Your Casa Chapi kids are succeeding!

Quechua Benefit is committed to your Casa Chapi families during Peru’s continued Covid-19 quarantine. Your generous $100 donation provides a family with a 30-day supply of food.

100% of your donation reaches Casa Chapi kids and their families!

DONATE TO CASA CHAPI COVID-19 RELIEF NOW

Alejandro, Peru Country Director, is staying connected with your Casa Chapi students while they are quarantined at home in remote villages. Because of your generosity, he delivered more food, schoolbooks, and cellphones for students to talk with their teachers! See more photos of your kids with their new phone in our Flickr Gallery.

The situation in Arequipa, where Quechua Benefit has its office, is dire. Here is what Alejandro told us on August 2: 

“I am sorry, but the news about Covid-19 in Peru is not good. . . In Arequipa the situation is awful. We have until now 53,500 infected and 1000 deceased. Arequipa is the most affected city by Covid last month. The people are dead in the street. Hospitals are closed because we don’t have oxygen.
 
The government extended the quarantine in Arequipa until the first of September. Claudia (Quechua Benefit Nutritionist) and I are afraid. Some members my family have died because of Covid, and others are sick. We are well now with many precautions and safety.
 
Oscar (Quechua Benefit Staff) and I have permission to travel to Arequipa and Chivay for food delivery to families, and last week the cellphones for the kids to communicate with their teachers were delivered. The big stores and markets are still closed and the transport for Chivay is canceled.”

Mario, Jose and Saul are learning at home. Your provision of a month’s supply of food and a new cellphone to talk to their teachers is helping them succeed.

We are committed to the education and well-being your 150 Casa Chapi families and our Quechua Benefit staff, especially during this pandemic.

You are making it possible for Alejandro, Claudia, and Oscar to deliver not only food and school supplies but also hope and encouragement to your Casa Chapi families.

$100 provides a month’s supply of food for a family. Can you help today?

Donate Now
100% of your donation reaches your students and their families in need. Thank you for your support.

Many of us are shopping online now more than ever! When you shop on Smile.Amazon.com and choose Quechua Benefit as your charity, the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the your eligible purchases to us! (The purchase price excludes any rebates, shipping & handling, gift-wrapping fees, taxes, or service charges.)  

Your Amazon account will not change, and your prices are not higher. The good news is that Quechua Benefit will receive a donation from the AmazonSmile Foundation. For help to activate your AmazonSmile giving, just follow these step-by-step instructions for your device.

On your desktop computer.

On your Apple device.

On your Android device.

ONLY PURCHASES MADE THROUGH AMAZONSMILE ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS. If you shop at Amazon.com your purchases do not quality for the contribution.

Thank you for your support! 

We’re Celebrating 3 Years of Service at the New Ichupampa Community Kitchen

The Ichupampa Community Kitchen was destroyed in an earthquake in August of 2016, but generous Quechua Benefit supporters quickly raised the funds to rebuild it. On March 27, 2017 the new kitchen was inaugurated as the “Madre Antonia Comedor” in memory of a wonderful lady who gave herself so freely! Sister (or “Madre”) Antonia, a Maryknoll nun from New York, served hundreds of thousands of hot meals to the people of Peru for three decades until her death in 2010. The new kitchen has served over 100,000 meals a year for the last 3 years!

Today, young and old gather to eat hot meals in this new facility provided by your generosity. Residents come from morning to night to eat a hot meal prepared by loving hands. Their hearts as well as their stomachs are warm and full when they leave.

Everyone in Ichupampa sends their love and thanks to you. Sister Antonia’s legacy to care for the Quechua people continues in the Colca Valley.

“Madre Antonia Comedor” under construction in 2016-17
Ichupampa residents of all ages enjoy the community kitchen.
Hot meals are prepared by loving hands every day.

Make a Wish Come True

In March, more than 100 kids in grades K-12 will begin a new school year at Casa Chapi. An increasing enrollment means an increasing need for supplies. Can you help get their year off to a good start? Here are a few items they need:

Library Books will be placed in each Casita where the children live. High-interest age-appropriate books will help our kids learn that reading can be fun, which motivates them to read more. Good reading increases school performance, so these books will be a gift that keeps on giving.

Sports Equipment includes soccer and volleyball uniforms, shoes, and balls. In recent interviews, parents commented that Casa Chapi’s sports program is important to their children. Active children are healthier.

A Kindergarten Classroom For the first time ever, half-day kindergarten will be offered at Casa Chapi. Children will have the opportunity to come to school for a half day to begin learning to read and discover the world.

Computers are a necessary part of high school education. In 2020, more than 30 students will live in our Arequipa houses and attend high school. Additional computers will enable them to complete schoolwork so they can succeed.

Will you send your love to these students with a gift to make their experience at Casa Chapi better? Which wish would you like to grant? Thank you for your kindness to our kids!

Choose from the list below to make a difference for our kids in 2020. Click here to donate.

WISH LIST for Casa Chapi

ITEM QUANTITY NEEDED UNIT PRICE TOTAL PRICE
Library Books 10 $50 $500
Sports Equipment 10 $100 $1000
Kindergarten  10 $150 $1500
Computer 3 $500 $1500

Thank you for your generous hearts!

Make a Wish Come True