by Nancy Bedan, CAS CoMoGives Committee

– by Nancy Bedan, CAS CoMoGives Committee

Please Consider Making a Gift to Columbia Audubon
CoMoGives logo

CoMoGives 2018 campaign

Mid-Missouri residents can make donations to any of 122 nonprofit organizations through the 2018 CoMoGives fundraiser during the month of December. These organizations, Columbia Audubon Society included, offer exceptional programs and services to our community. The Community Foundation of Central Missouri coordinates the fund drive and provides a single website — CoMoGives.com — where gifts can be made to any of the participating groups.

2018 CoMoGives Drive Offers New Option for IRA Holders

If you are 70½ or older and have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), it is now possible for you to make a large gift ($500 minimum) from your annual “required minimum distribution” (RMD) to a participating CoMoGives organization such as Columbia Audubon. This option is available through CoMoGives for the first time this year. There are specific rules for making these gifts during CoMoGives. For more information, contact the Community Foundation of Central Missouri at 573-817-5027 and your financial advisor.

Columbia Audubon uses funds received through the CoMoGives drive to create and maintain a 13-acre native prairie on the 28-acre Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and the city‘s adjacent Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary; provide the Band with Nature field trip for 1,100 second graders in Columbia Public Schools; and provide scholarships for older students and teachers to attend science and nature-education programs. Columbia Audubon is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff and big goals. Donations received through the CoMoGives fund drive supplement membership dues and give the CAS annual budget a much-needed boost.

The CoMoGives fund drive began on Nov. 27 (“Giving Tuesday”) this year and ends at midnight Dec. 31. The drive is conducted entirely online, and gifts are made using credit or debit cards. Donors have the opportunity to make their gifts in honor or in memory of friends or family members. The minimum gift is $10. Donations will be acknowledged by both Columbia Audubon Society and CoMoGives. For more information about the 2017 CoMoGives drive and, of course, to donate, visit CoMoGives.com

And remember, if you want to support Columbia Audubon‘s programs but aren’t comfortable with online giving, you can always write a check. Make donation checks payable to Columbia Audubon Society and mail them to: Columbia Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1331, Columbia, MO 65205.

Columbia Audubon Society would appreciate your support during this season of giving.