How To Give
Donating
to the Young Singers Foundation
When the Young Singers Foundation was created by Sweet Adelines
International in 1992, its purpose was to enrich the lives of young
people through educational programs
in vocal music. Without the
opportunity to participate in music programs, youngsters are deprived
of unique opportunities to develop their creativity, to learn self-discipline
and team work, to increase their sense of self-worth, and to learn
to live in a global society.
The need for such programs grows bigger every day, as music programs
are being reduced or eliminated by school systems that struggle
to apportion available funds among required curriculum, extra-curricular
and electiveprograms, payroll, and operating expenses.
The Young Singers Foundation is sponsored by Sweet Adelines International,
a
501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. This assures that your contributions
to the Foundation are tax-deductible.
Donation
forms are available for download here (PDF) , or by calling 1.800.992.7464. When you do send in your donation,
be sure to indicate from whom the gift comes (yourself, your chorus,
your region, etc.), and mail it to:
Young Singers Foundation
P.O. Box 470168
Tulsa, OK 74147-0168
For
your convenience, online donations are now available. Click
here to make a secure, online donation.
All gifts will be acknowledged in The Pitch Pipe, the official
quarterly publication of Sweet Adelines International.
Donate $100 for a Chance to be a Cover Girl
With a strong sense of history the International Board of Directors and the Young Singers Foundation Management Committee have chosen the last half of FY 2011-2012 and all of FY 2012-2013 to celebrate the Foundation's 20 years of achievements that have been made possible by donors' ongoing financial commitments.
The name of every donor who contributes $100 or more ONLINE ONLY by April 30, 2012, will be entered in a drawing for the opportunity to become a Cover Girl.
A photograph of the lucky individual whose name is drawn, along with a few of her Sweet Adelines friends, will appear on the cover of the July 2012 issue of The Pitch Pipe.
To be eligible for the cover girl opportunity, your donation must be made ONLINE by April 30, 2012. You may designate your gift for scholarships, grants to fund music programs, the Foundation's endowment which supports both scholarships and grants, or you may choose to leave your gift undesignated so it may be applied where the need is greater.
Making a Donation
You can help to brighten the future of music by supporting the Young
Singers Foundation through one of the options below. Donors who
give to the Young Singers Foundation through the options noted with
an asterisk (*) are eligible for recognition in the Cornerstone
Society. For further information regarding any of these tax-wise
methods of giving and how they can help you accomplish your charitable
goals, as well as your tax and estate planning goals, please contact
Donna Kerley, Director of Finance and Administration, 1.800.992.7464
extension 115. The options below are not intended as legal or tax
advice; you should always consult your attorney for legal
advice.
Cash: You can make a cash gift by check (payable to the
Young Singers Foundation), or by using your VISA, Discover or MasterCard.
This is the simplest and most common way of giving to the Young
Singers Foundation.
Pledges: Rather than making outright donations, you may
also pledge to donate to the Foundation over time. The Foundation
will help you schedule your donation on a monthly, quarterly, or
yearly basis. Call the Foundation today at 1.800.992.7464 for more information.
Gifts of securities: Giving appreciated stock or bonds
for the Young Singers Foundation results in a double tax deduction.
You can deduct the current fair market value of the securities and
you avoid paying tax on the capital gains.
*Gifts of Life Insurance: You can give to or name the Young
Singers Foundation of Sweet Adelines International as the owner
and beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy, which may
have been purchased long ago that you no longer need. This will
generate an income-tax deduction.
*Gifts of income and family wealth planning: The
Young Singers Foundation can receive income for a specific period
of time, after which the principal and appreciation will pass to
your heirs. This type of trust provides an excellent tax-wise means
of passing wealth to heirs with reduced or no gift and estate taxes.
*Gifts by bequest: One of the easiest
and most common ways to make a legacy gift is through an outright
bequest to the Young Singers Foundation through your will or trust.
You may consider this in a number of ways: fixed amount, percentage
of estate, residual of estate, and contingency requests. Using assets
such as IRAs, 401Ks, pension plans and other qualified retirement
plans will result in the greatest estate and income tax savings.
The Cornerstone Society: The Cornerstone Society represents those individuals who defer a donation to Sweet Adelines International or the Foundation through an estate gift. Keep the rest of the text the same.
Through music: You can even support the Young Singers Foundation
by singing! For years, Fred King has donated all arranging fees
for his arrangements to the Young Singers Foundation or to the Barbershop
Harmony Society Foundation. So, whenever you order an arrangement
of Fred’s, you will be instructed to send the appropriate
donation to the Foundation.
In addition, a brand-new arrangement is available from June Berg,
Certified Music Arranger (CMA), inspired by a note from a Sweet
Adeline who had just lost her sister. A donation was made to the
Foundation in her sister’s memory along with a request for
more arrangements appropriate for memorial services. This song is
called the “Hymn of Promise” by Natalie Sleeth, and
is appropriate for memorials and other such occasions. You may order
it directly from June by clicking here. Each time a quartet or chorus orders this song, the arranging fee
will be donated to the Young Singers Foundation.
Others ways to remember the Foundation:
Gifts of real estate
Gifts of income for life through trusts
Contact Donna Kerley for more information, 918.622.1444. ext. 115.
Where
does my donation go?
You may choose to earmark your donation for:
Bev Sellers Memorial Scholarships:The Foundation grants $2,000 scholarships each year to vocal music students, male or female, who are enrolled and maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher in vocal music classes at a sophomore level or above in an accredited college or university. Applicants for scholarship awards may be pursuing a degree with a major in vocal music (performance, education or music therapy). For more information about applying for a Foundation scholarship, click here.
Grants: A sum of money from the Foundation budget
is annually earmarked to provide funds in support of activities
designed to reach out and involve young people in vocal music. The
activities supported vary, but all focus on promoting vocal music
though workshops, performances, coaching, after-school programs,
festivals, etc. Grant recipients are selected twice each year; in
June and November. For more information about applying for Foundation
grants, click here.
Endowment Fund: The Foundation has established
a long-term endowment fund. Contributions to the fund are never
spent. Instead, the fund accumulates principal, with the interest
used throughout the years to support the Foundation for generations
to come. In this way, your gift to our Endowment Fund is truly a
gift which keeps on giving. For more information about our endowment
fund, call 1.800.992.7464.
Endowing
Scholarship: The Young Singers Foundation Management Committee
discussed providing an option for donors to set up a $20,000 endowment
for scholarships or grants, the use to be designated by the donor
in keeping with the purpose of the Young Singers Foundation. A $1,000
scholarship or grant based on the earning for the endowment, will
be awarded annually to a qualifed applicant.
Tax Exempt Letter
The Young Singers Foundation operates under the 501(c)(3) auspices
of Sweet Adelines International. All donations are tax deductible.
Below is a downloadable copy of the 501 (c)(3) exemption letter
from the Internal Revenue Service, assuring you that Sweet Adelines
International is a qualified nonprofit agency.
Tax Exempt Document (PDF)