Donations
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Non-Cash Donations (Clothing, Food, Supplies, etc) CLICK HERE
How Your Gifts Make a Difference
Why Are Private Gifts Necessary?
Since its beginning, individual donors, local businesses, corporate and private foundations, collaborative community partners, and volunteers have been a source of strength to CYS, providing leadership and advocacy as well as vital gifts and grants. Historically, however, the majority of CYS’s operating funds have come from government fees for services performed. Today, though, CYS operates in an environment of decreasing federal, state, and local reimbursements. Like other charities in our community and across the country, CYS is feeling a budget squeeze as critical changes eats into government finances and forces cutbacks in money for social services and other causes. Finances are likely to be even tougher in the future. If the funding ends or is cut severely, programs and projects can disappear. We could not only lose desperately needed programs, but also lose knowledgeable, talented, and dedicated members of our team. This can cause incalculable damage to children and youth who need more help, not curtailed services.
Your tax-deductible gifts enable Community Youth Services to continue to expand our services to youth, to add new programs, upgrade existing ones, purchase new equipment, and move ahead in various ways beyond normal operations and maintenance. Because CYS needs to work in an organized fashion, unrestricted gifts are more useful, as they can be used where needed most.
You will find examples throughout this section of how your gifts can help CYS, whether a gift is large enough to take care of a purchase or is directed to an ongoing program, such as Haven House or Rosie’s Place. When in doubt as to the best purpose for your gift, please contact our Senior Community Engagement Associate, click here to email.
Community Youth Services has long relied on community support to assist in keeping our programs strong and vital. It is because of the community’s commitment and steadfast support that we are able to offer all our services and help at-risk and high-risk young people become productive, responsible adults.
We sincerely thank you for supporting Community Youth Services and for recognizing that an investment in our youth is an investment in the future of our community!
Cash Donations
Most important to our giving program are cash gifts, which help us meet increasing operational expenses and maintain a high ratio of support staff.
Donate by Mail
To donate by mail, please download, print and fill out our donation form and send it to:
Community Youth Services
711 State Ave, NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Donate Online
You may use your credit card if you would like to donate to CYS by going HERE.
This feature will also enable you to make a MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION, stretching out your dollars, and allowing you to make a larger donation should you wish.
Occasion Donations
Welcome to Community Youth Services’ Occasion Donation, an innovative way to honor, thank, and remember people you care about while helping vulnerable children, teens, and families in our community.
How will my honoree(s) know about the gift?
In addition to the formal acknowledgment letter sent to the donor, Community Youth Services will also send a note to your honorees and/or their families to inform them of your thoughtfulness in their honor. All contributions to Community Youth Services are considered private and kept in confidence. When notifying your honorees of your gesture, we will include the amount of your Occasion Donation only upon your request. Get the Occasion Donation Form Here!
Planned Giving and Endowment Gifts
Planned Giving
Thank you for considering Community Youth Services as a charitable beneficiary in your estate plans!
This site is not intended to replace professional advice. We encourage you to discuss planned gifts with your own attorney or qualified financial advisor. To the extent that CYS can assist you in finding answers to your estate planning questions, we will be glad to. And if we can help you develop a plan that meets your objectives and helps to ensure a more promising future for local youth, then for that we are exceedingly grateful.
Planned gifts such as charitable trusts and bequests are excellent ways to provide income to CYS while offering the donor significant tax benefits. Some provide payments to the donor for life or for a period of years. Upon your request, your planned gift can be directed to the CYS Endowment Fund (described below), which will provide an annual income stream to support CYS and its various programs well into the future.
If you would like to support our work through your will, retirement account, insurance policy, or trust, we can work with you to ensure that your gift gets where you intend it to go and will be used as you wish.
If you have already included CYS as a charitable beneficiary in your will, trust, or other estate planning tool, please let us know about your arrangement. We can work with you or your attorney on the proper wording for all types of estate gifts.
Community Youth Services can suggest wordings for various types of bequests for your attorney to use in drawing up your will. Your attorney can help you determine which versions are right for you. Regardless of the specific wording used, it’s important to use the proper legal name and location, as follows: “Community Youth Services, a Washington corporation located in Olympia, Thurston County, Washington.”
Please Note:
- For monetary bequests, we strongly encourage donors to specify a percentage of their estate for CYS, rather than a dollar sum. This approach is both fair to your other heirs and will ensure that your gift to CYS will benefit the agency as you intended.
- If you plan to put a specific restriction on the use of your bequest (such as for a particular program or purpose or for our endowment), please consult with Victoria Wortberg, Community Engagement Director, to help ensure that CYS can/will accept your restriction(s). We can give you some ideas for the proper wording of your bequest to help ensure that it will be used according to your wishes and to its fullest potential. She can be reached at (360) 918-7881 or email.
- The minimum size for a separate named and/or restricted endowment fund is $25,000.
Endowment Gifts
If Community Youth Services is to fulfill its mission for the future, it will require a steady source of income in addition to government grants, foundation and corporate grants, and individual gifts.
To provide a means to generate long-term gift support, CYS has established an Endowment Fund. Endowment funds are carefully invested for both growth and return, and are intended to provide permanent sources of income for the agency. The principal may not be spent, and only the earnings are to be used annually to help CYS carry out is mission.
Some individuals who are not able to give as much as they would like during their lifetime might choose to make a planned gift to help endow our programs. Others may give during their lifetime and in their estates.
Rationale for an Endowment
The Community Youth Services Board of Directors had the vision to establish CYS’s endowment fund in 1995, allocating part of a generous unrestricted bequest from Mrs. Freda Eckberg, a devoted child advocate and CYS supporter. Now, as part of its long-range plans, the CYS Board has determined that endowment will be a crucial resource for the future as well as an ongoing reflection of CYS’s fiscal responsibility. Without an endowment, there is no cushion against fluctuations in operating revenues and annual fundraising. With an endowment, CYS can be assured that necessary dollars are available to pay for current and new programs, ongoing facility maintenance, and needed expansions. In bad economic times, endowment income can help keep essential programs going. In good economic times it can enable CYS to expand its programs and facilities to meet the changing needs of our community.
Significant private resources will be needed to ensure that CYS can continue providing vital services for future generations of young people in our extended community. As part of its efforts to ensure that it can carry out its mission despite changes in government policies and the economy, CYS is building its endowment.
Annual Gifts vs. Endowment Gifts
CYS will continue to need annual gifts to support ongoing operations, and we are not asking donors to give to the endowment instead of giving to operations each year. Annual gifts and endowment gifts are two separate opportunities for supporting our work, and we need both. Most people make annual gifts from income, while making endowment gifts from capital assets. Some plan to continue making annual gifts as long as they live, but at the same time want to continue supporting CYS after they are gone; a planned gift can establish an endowment that generates the value of that annual gift in perpetuity after the donor is gone.
