Question about Fundraising

[Steven Edwards]

Has anyone here ever helped organize a concert as a fundraiser? If so, should you obtain a venue before talking to artists?

Dr. Young:
Could you create a Fundraising forum for people to post about in-progress fundraisers in their area?

-Steven

[Wise Young]

Steven,

I think it is a good idea It is a very good way of encouraging and consolidating discussion of this topic. If there is interest in such a forum, I will indeed create it. If we do so, do you think that we should restrict access to only registered members? Would you like to be the moderator of this forum?

In the coming year, there will probably be a decline in charitable giving to spinal cord injury research. I say this for two reasons. First, the economy which was already declining at the time of the September 11 attack has gone into recession. Many companies cannot give as much as they otherwise would have. Second, in New York City alone, over 100,000 people have lost their jobs. Wall Street brokers was a strong supporter of supporter of spinal cord injury research and many donors have lost family and friends in the attack. Third, in the past month alone, Americans have donated over $1 billion to organizations such as the Red Cross for the relief effort. With new fund-raising efforts going on such as for feeding children in Afghanistan, I believe that the amounts that will be given for spinal cord injury research will decline. Finally, there are limits to the number of fundraisers and also emotional reserve that celebrities can call upon. Right now, everybody is focusing on the September 11 effort.

We need new and innovative ideas for fundraising. Regarding concerts for fundraising, there have been several. I don't know if you recall one that friends of Christopher Reeve put together for prime-time television about three years ago. I know several concerts that have raised money for individuals with spinal cord injury and also for research. About two years ago, there were several rap concert that raised several thousand dollars for spinal cord injury research. I am not sure that there has been a rock concert of significant size that has been dedicated to spinal cord injury research.

There are other ideas. Several people have held fashion shows, even Elvis look-alike contests, walkathons, cycling events, and even "dress-down" days (people pay a nominal amount such as $5 to be able to come into work without a tie... this is agreed upon by the company). Chuck Close and his friends hold a major auction every year to benefit spinal cord injury research. This is held at Sotheby's. Of course there are innumerable fundraiser dinners all over the U.S. Sometime ago, we were talking about having a particular day in which several major fundraising dinners in different cities are held and linked by video-conferencing. Quest for Cure has been working very hard on a spinal cord injury stamp that will be issued by the U.S. and some of the proceeds of that will be going to spinal cord injury research.

Organizations that are 501c3 can provide the documentation necessary to allow people to get tax deductions for donations to such events. The portions of the payments that pay for items of value (i.e. food or auctioned items) are not be deductable. Over the years, I have supported and attended hundreds of fundraisers for many spinal cord injury groups.

There is natural competition amongst the various spinal cord injury fundraising groups for donors. In general, however, most of the major fundraising organizations work well together. At Rutgers, we decided from the beginning to collaborate rather than compete. Much of our efforts are directed to helping others organize fundraisers and to develop new donor bases for the field, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Wise.

[Steven Edwards]

Originally posted by Wise Young:

Steven,

I think it is a good idea It is a very good way of encouraging and consolidating discussion of this topic. If there is interest in such a forum, I will indeed create it. If we do so, do you think that we should restrict access to only registered members? Would you like to be the moderator of this forum?

At first I was going to say "no" to restricting access, but it would probably be best to know who is giving advice on the fundraisers. So that would be a "yes" on both counts.


Finally, there are limits to the number of fundraisers and also emotional reserve that celebrities can call upon. Right now, everybody is focusing on the September 11 effort.

We need new and innovative ideas for fundraising. Regarding concerts for fundraising, there have been several. I don't know if you recall one that friends of Christopher Reeve put together for prime-time television about three years ago. I know several concerts that have raised money for individuals with spinal cord injury and also for research. About two years ago, there were several rap concert that raised several thousand dollars for spinal cord injury research. I am not sure that there has been a rock concert of significant size that has been dedicated to spinal cord injury research.


Hehe... I was thinking of trying to set one up sometime next year to avoid conflicts with September 11th benefits. My idea was to do a weekend festival similar to Lollapalooza, but much smaller in scope. :-) I could probably get Aerosmith to perform at it; the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish lives nearby; Matchbox 20 played regularly in my area before they made it big; there are also a lot of really good local bands that have amassed cult followings. I think a two-day event, depending on the timing, would be a realistic goal.

There is natural competition amongst the various spinal cord injury fundraising groups for donors. In general, however, most of the major fundraising organizations work well together. At Rutgers, we decided from the beginning to collaborate rather than compete. Much of our efforts are directed to helping others organize fundraisers and to develop new donor bases for the field, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Wise.

Out of curiosiy, my knowledge of 501c3s is a little fuzzy, do businesses who help set up these charity events (like Radio Stations promoting them and providing hosts) get a nice tax write-off? Or are the write-offs just for monetary donations?

-Steven

[Wise Young]

I would like to create a Fundraising Forum but perhaps we can wait a few days to see if there are more people interested in such a forum. Please, everybody, if you are interested in such a forum, can you post your comments?

Regarding 501c3, the rules are relatively straightforward with a few exceptions. If a company or person donates money or an item of value to an event, it is deductable. Note that if the donors receive something of value for the payment, that value must be deducted from the donation. For example, a person who buys a $1000 for dinner that costs $100 gets to deduct $900.

There are some exceptions ot the rule that do not make sense and I was surprised when I learned of these exceptions.

• The first and most shocking is that artists do not get a deduction for the value of the art that they donate, except for the cost of the canvas, paint, and other costs that can be documented. I think that the IRS does not want to get into the art-appraisal business. So, for example, Chuck Close may donate a $150,000 print to a fundraising auction but he cannot deduct $150,000. Note, however, the person who buys the art can deduct the $150,000. I personally think that this in unfair.

• Second, people are not allowed to deduct their services. For example, I can charge a drug company $200/hour or $2000 per day for consultation work. However, if I spend a day helping Kent Waldrep at his annual fundraiser, I cannot deduct this as a donation to Kent's foundation. I must volunteer my services. I think that this also applies to your musician friends. Even though they can probably charge $100,000 per concert that they give to a commercial organizer, they are volunteering their services. However, they can deduct their expenses, if they pay them.

If you have additional questions, I suggest that you talk with Patricia Morton who works with me. She is an expert on such matters.

Wise.

[Scorpion]

So, for example, Chuck Close may donate a $150,000 print to a fundraising auction but he cannot deduct $150,000. Note, however, the person who buys the art can deduct the $150,000. I personally think that this in unfair.

It seems to me, the artist should be allowed to deduct whatever the auction price was based on the assumption he could have gotten that money himself. Frickin' IRS!

On an aside, I've always like Chuck Close's work, even before I knew of his disability. He's one of the 20th century's greats.

~Rus

"Because you're not promised tomorrow." ~ Stuck Mojo

[Jeff]

We need leadership & organization.

The awesome potential of the SCI Community is largely untapped. For months I sometimes ranted and other times raved about this. Many of us approached existing organizations with our ideas but were continually rebuffed.

There were some bright spots. Steven Edwards had a web site at one time where one could go and generate an email to be sent to one's representatives. It made doing that REALLY easy. [Just posting a list of email addreses still leaves enough effort required that many would not follow through, IMO]

Still, the passion we feel for this cause probably has only a minor effect beyond the web site readership. We need to reach many more.

I think, rather than ceding the fundraising to 9/11 related activities, we could take advantage of it. It's clear to me that the reason we're able to absorb the recent disaster and begin the war against terrorism is because we have the military might and political clout. These stem from our ECONOMIC power. We need to maintain our economic dominance if we wish to have this ability long term. Our technological advantage is a matter of national security, if you think about it.

The privatizing of some of our Soc Sec is meant to give us a better return by investing the funds in the stock market. If funds were to be set up for this purpose maybe some criteria could be placed on them. If preference could be given to companies that have a good probability of return, a good probability of helping our economy, a good probability of saving the US Govt a bundle, etc - then Cure Companies would have to make the list. This could be an incredibly large, brand new source of funding. Instead of giving out so many tax cuts, maybe Uncle Sam could give us shares in mutual fund style retirement savings vehicles. The investments might pay off big in the long run and generate a lot of jobs in the meantime.

Maybe we can think globally and act locally and nationally. Maybe there are some awesome things we really could pull off.

Maybe we could just collect pledges from the world to buy shares in Dr. Young's Cure Fund he might work on. I bet we could develop novel marketing ideas.

If the grass roots were busy we'd be growing instead of bickering. Yes, we need this forum. It's long overdue.

[Steven Edwards]

There were some bright spots. Steven Edwards had a web site at one time where one could go and generate an email to be sent to one's representatives. It made doing that REALLY easy. [Just posting a list of email addreses still leaves enough effort required that many would not follow through, IMO]

I would love to do that again. I have written all of the software I need for it, but I have had a complete "artistic" block when it comes to developing the site. I went so far as to get a mascot made (http://www.spinalconfusion.com/logo.jpg) before I pooped artistically. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Anyway, right now I am looking for a place that will send faxes for free -- preferrably with no ads added. Can you offer any suggestions?

-Steven

[Chris Chappell]

I used to do fundraising for a living so I know a little bit about it. Secondly, as a VP / manager for Salomon Smith Barney I may be able to help with the stock / mutual fund idea.

Let me know if I can be of assistance.

[Scorpion]

Chris, I just noticed in your profile you live in Littleton. My big bro lives in Littleton and wants me to move there, but I want to move where it's warmer.

Have I asked you about Littleton before?

~Rus

"Because you're not promised tomorrow." ~ Stuck Mojo

[Wise Young]

Okay, I think that there will be enough people interested in a fundraising forum. I will start one and Steven will be the moderator. Here goes. Wise.

[Chris Chappell]

No, you haven't asked about Littleton before.

My wife and I have been here about 10yrs. Basically against the foothills of the Rockies the weather is sunny just about all year round (320 days?)and the average temp is probably 65-70. We have our cold (20 degree) winter days occasionally and our hot (95 degree) summer days
with all four seasons. Some people think its like Buffalo, NY in winter but being basically desert its very temperate. Craig hospital is about 10 miles away. The slopes are about 30 minutes away with the world's best disabled athletes sports center in Winter Park (These guys wrote the book on para/quad/blind/etc. skiing).

Being born and raised on the east coast everyone's asking if I'll ever move back? Being in the west for 12yrs. I don't think so?
Lifestyle, climate, economics, its all here.

If you want warmer, try Phoenix. Not too far, similar lifestyle. Good luck.

Chris

[BirdeR]

This forum is a great idea! Perhaps getting in contact with Heidi Von Beltz would help in the area of musicians and or stars to help with this idea. Heidi's website...complete with her own forums that she just started is: http://followyourheart.org/ and the email is: GetMoving@FollowYourHeart.Org ************************************************** Heidi as well as her sister Christy have a large group of friends that support SCI and the quest for a cure. Here a just a few people (worth a try):

Beatrice Arthur,Jaqueline Bisset,
James Caan, Chevy Chase,Harrison Ford,
Natalie Cole, Melanie Griffith,
Kelsey Gramma, Stewart Gross,
Robert Goulet, David Hasselhoff,
Tippi Hedren, Charlton Heston,
Quincy Jones, Billie Jean King,
Martin Landau, Sherry Lansing,
Michael Laykin, Robin Leach,
Barry Manilow, Nick Nolte,
Chuck Norris, Clive Pinder,
Stephanie Powers, Debora Raffin,
Stephen D. Reuther, Roseanne,
Kathleen Quinlan, Sharon Stone,Ray Leotta.

[This message was edited by BirdeR on October 15, 2001 at 10:21 PM.]

[Steven Edwards]

Thanks Birde!

It certainly seems worth a shot to try contacting her. I will see what I can do about getting in touch with her. First, I will need to do some background checks as I only know who about half of those people are. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

-Steven

[BJ]

Chris:
Please contact me via email, I need to pick your brain about fundraising for a non-profit I work for in Lakewood. My personal email is goldenrtvr@qwest.net

[Chris Chappell]

Scorpion, No you haven't asked me about Littleton previously. Great place to live. Been here 10yrs. Foothills of the Rockies, access to the mountains (20 min.), great sports city (Broncos, Avs, etc.), temperate climate (300+ days of sun. Avg. temp is 65), access to excellent sci care/research at Craig hospital (15 mi.)and a fantastic economic environment (jobs). As a former east coaster (born and raised) I doubt that I'll ever move back.

Any questions though, you can call me 1-800-965-3028 ext.644. (Mon, Wed, Thurs).

[Chris Chappell]

Your question from the other thread concerning stock/mutual fund initiation.

I checked into it internally and unfortunately the costs (staffing, overhead, reporting, etc.) associated with the establishment of a mutual fund run into the millions. Probably out of our league.

However, a couple of other ideas along the same line.

1. We could start an investment club. Spinewire Investment Club might be a name. No cost to set up the account(I would do it). We establish guidelines of investment minimums, such as $50 per member, maybe monthly?, or quarterly? ,or annually?. We then collectively decide which stocks we should buy, e.g. DCRN, BLSI, STEM, GERN, CCEL etc. to name a few suggestions off the top of my head. We can track the stocks electronically and when we've reached a target (maybe 40% increase)we decide whether to sell, buy more, or hold it. If we sell then we keep the initial principal for reinvestment and either divide the profits equally or send a check of the profits to an SCI research facility, i.e. Rutgers, Purdue, St. Louis. This would also trigger a capital gain - tax issue.*

On the downside, if one of our stock selections goes south and loses (subjective 40%) we then decide the same - buy more, sell, hold. However this time if we sell, the club, collectively eats the loss. Possible tax write-off as capital loss.*

*Capital gain/loss tax liability depends on profile of investment club. Most investment clubs are not tax exempt.

2. Many mutual fund companies (over 200) currently offer biotechnology, healthcare, research, science investment portfolios which do include the aforementioned stocks along with 50-75 others in related categories. These funds are established, usually require a $50 initial investment and can be accessed via the net or phone 24/7. Quarterly updates provided and you can open an account over the phone. Profits are split annually between all investors. No proceed determination, no flexibility in decision of what to buy or sell. Again, capital gain or loss tax liability unless the investment is held in an IRA.

Both options are viable. Both work for different people for different reasons. Overall, if you believe in the future of research, science, or biotechnology thenn investing in these organizations/companies is a good idea.

If anybody has any questions, thoughts, comments or needs further clarification either post them here or call me at 1-800-965-3028 ext.644.

Chris
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Jeff]

TD on the other thread is thinking along the same line as you. I'd love to see this go forward. It would help the comumnity support research and provide an alternative to charitable contributions which some people are less willing to make. A possibly lucrative return might be more appealing than a tax deduction to those considering supporting research. Anyone who gets involved will certainly begin following research and be supportive, that's for sure. I would buy memberships for family members for X-Mas gifts and encourage them to consider investing further. It would also help us compete against other causes which solely look for charitable giving.

Could self-directed IRAs be invested in a club like this? In years I didn't have an employer-sponsored plan I put the max into mutual funds for my IRA. I bet we could get a lot of investment from SCI/Family/Friends who are investing for the future, anyway. A moderate amount invested by even 40% of the community would add up quickly.

I REALLY hope we can put something together.

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif ~

[Chris Chappell]

Unfortunately Uncle SAM does not allow self-directed IRA's to be included under the same umbrella as an investment club. The reason is, simply put, that the IRA is self directed (individual account) and the investment club is an aggregate, collectively directed (group account). In the IRA investment decisions are made by an individual whereas in an investment club the decisions are made by many.

With additional feedback I'd be happy to pursue this further. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

[gettinup]

Did we ever intiate this? If not, let's get the juices flowing again.Originally posted by Jeff:

TD on the other thread is thinking along the same line as you. I'd love to see this go forward. It would help the comumnity support research and provide an alternative to charitable contributions which some people are less willing to make. A possibly lucrative return might be more appealing than a tax deduction to those considering supporting research. Anyone who gets involved will certainly begin following research and be supportive, that's for sure. I would buy memberships for family members for X-Mas gifts and encourage them to consider investing further. It would also help us compete against other causes which solely look for charitable giving.

Could self-directed IRAs be invested in a club like this? In years I didn't have an employer-sponsored plan I put the max into mutual funds for my IRA. I bet we could get a lot of investment from SCI/Family/Friends who are investing for the future, anyway. A moderate amount invested by even 40% of the community would add up quickly.

I REALLY hope we can put something together.

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif ~