Dear Friends,
My name is LaVonna Loesch from Great Plains Yearly Meeting. I am the incoming clerk for the Section of the Americas of the Friends World Committee for Consultation and I am grateful for the support of so many Friends for the work of FWCC.
My journey to this role has its roots in an annual Quaker Women’s Conference, where several branches of Friends came together from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. During this conference, we worked hard to provide a common ground to meet and learn from each other and our experiences with God. Out of this, deep love and understanding grew for one another.
I subsequently realized FWCC was doing this same kind of work on a larger scale, and I knew I wanted to be part of it. Now, with FWCC, I experience a spiritual community that navigates through the differences between people very well—and that offers hope for Authentic unity and love.
People in the Quaker world experience God in many ways; there is a wide diversity of spiritual experience. FWCC offers free resources to local meetings/churches as well as both in-person and virtual gathering spaces, to help navigate the difficulties of diversity and to build bridges. I am grateful for the ways my experience of God has been enriched and expanded through FWCC.
Rising from my personal spiritual journey, a strong expectation and confidence has grown that there is indeed truth to the reality that God, through Spirit, desires to build special relationships among us – relationships where love, energy and effort are generously offered to one another, and Kingdom work is accomplished here on earth.
In a world that is broken in so many ways, FWCC fills me with hope. That is why I offer both my time and my financial support to strengthen its work, and that is why I am asking you to join me in supporting FWCC in its work in the year ahead with a gift of any size.
Donate NowPlease make any gift you are able to - it will be valued and appreciated, and it will make a difference in helping FWCC continue to offer free bridge-building resources to Friends everywhere.
In friendship,
LaVonna Loesch Clerk, Section of the Americas
Donate Now
Donate Online Download Form Donating Securities - Instructions Donating Securities - Form
EIN: 23-1353362
Mailing Address
Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas
1506 Race Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Sustainers
Help your support of FWCC go further, while making contributing easier. Consider becoming an FWCC Sustainer with our automated giving program. When you register, your gift is transferred automatically from your bank or credit card to the FWCC on a monthly or quarterly basis. With this program you can eliminate check writing, bank fees and postage costs.
Advantages
- You provide FWCC with steady income all year long
- You receive only one appeal letter a year
- You can spread your tax-deductible contribution over the entire year
- We reduce our administrative costs for fundraising and processing donations
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the automatic gift plan work?
You can have a set amount transferred from your bank account, or from your VISA, Mastercard, or Discover card to FWCC on a monthly or quarterly basis.
How can I increase or decrease my gift amount?
Just contact FWCC and tell us your new amount.
Will I have a record of my contributions?
Besides your monthly checking account statement showing the date and amount of the transfer to FWCC, we will send you a year-end statement listing your donations.
What if I change my mind?
Just write us if you want to stop the automatic transfers or if you move or change banks. To change or cancel authorization, please let us know 15 days in advance of a scheduled transfer date.
How much can I give each month?
Any amount, but the minimum for processing efficiency is US$15 per month.
Can I donate from outside the United States?
We can accept international credit card transactions. Direct bank transfers must be drawn from US banks.
Charitable IRA Rollover/Qualified Charitable Distribution
A TAX-SAVING WAY TO SUPPORT FWCC
If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to support FWCC and reduce your taxable income at the same time, even if you don’t itemize your deductions on your tax return.
At the end of 2015, legislation was enacted making the “IRA Charitable Rollover” a permanent gift option. With this strategy you can give to FWCC or other qualified charities directly from your IRA without having to pay income tax on the distribution. This is especially important now that the standard deduction has doubled, since many older taxpayers will no longer benefit from itemizing their deductions, including charitable contributions.
If you have not taken your required minimum distribution for the year, an IRA charitable rollover gift can satisfy all or part of that requirement. You can designate the distribution to one organization or split it between several, and these transfers generate neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you realize a tax benefit even if you are using the standard deduction.
One catch: to make an IRA charitable rollover gift you must be at least 70 ½, and you must arrange with your IRA custodian or financial institution to make the gift directly to FWCC or another charity—you cannot first take the distribution from your IRA and then distribute the proceeds yourself. If you are interested in knowing more and/or would like to take advantage of this strategy for giving to FWCC, please contact Evan Welkin at evanw@fwccamericas.org to discuss the simple steps involved.