Firefighters Checkoff: An Opportunity to Invest in Iowa Volunteers

As the receipts on your desk probably indicate, it's Iowa income tax filing season. This filing offers you an opportunity to reinvest in our state's emergency preparedness through the Iowa Volunteer Firefighters Checkoff.

There are thousands of details that need effective response connected to the 40,0000 times Iowans call 911 each year for fire, medical (for those departments providing medical response) and related emergencies. More than 15,000 of your fellow Iowans stand ready for those calls as volunteer firefighters. Contributions to the Iowa Volunteer Firefighters Checkoff enable the volunteers in your community to be even better prepared for what lies ahead.

Using the information researched by Independent Sector, each hour spent by each volunteer trained to the Firefighter I-level each of those 911 calls provides $20.85 in value to the community. 

Using a conservative average of three firefighters and one hour per call, your fellow Iowans are delivering $2.5 million each year in time value by being prepared and responding when the pager calls.

To every volunteer firefighter who answers the pager call, thank you.

Investments of $1 or more may be made through the ease of your Iowa income tax return on Line 58c of the Iowa Form 1040 or Line 15 of the Iowa Form 1040A.The Firefighter Checkoff is now combined with the Veterans Fund Checkoff. All donations on those lines will be split evenly between the two causes.

You will find the 2011 checkoff flyer here. Additional details on the program are available here. Thanks to the Iowa Firefighters Association for providing these details.

Your consideration of the Iowa Volunteer Firefighters Checkoff is truly appreciated!

Account Balance? Consider Planting an Emegency Response Seed

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bossco/

In recent visits and Fire Service conversations, I've heard a common thread of future positive potential. Members have shared that they feel blessed to have balances in their association and/or auxiliary checking account. That feeling of blessing is countered by a slight frustration about lack of consensus among members of what to do with that balance. 

If you're in this blessed situation, consider bringing up the idea of  an endowment up at your next meeting.

The scope of the tools and tactics you and your members use in your emergency response shift significantly and continuously with improvements in technology, communities and safety. 

There's no way to determine with perfect accuracy what emergency response will look like in a few decades or a few generations. However, the human condition virtually guarantees the need for effective emergency response to keep communities stronger in perpetuity. 

Forming an endowment to benefit future emergency response needs in your community effectively addresses that ongoing need that can't be perfectly defined today. 

Once an endowment is formed, a specific percentage of the principal is made available to you each year to support your mission. Every year. In perpetuity.  A common percentage of principal made available in endowments is 5%.  The larger your endowment balance, the larger the amount available each year to help fully fund your mission. Talk about planting a seed for the future!

The State of Iowa has created a program, Endow Iowa, that makes gifts to endowments especially attractive for any of your donors in need of tax credits. More details on the program may be found here.The size of nonprofit endowments in Iowa has grown substantially since the creation of this program. 

The professionals at your area community foundation are outstanding resources as you consider an endowment for your department. Your area foundation may be able to send a staff person to your meeting to discuss the details with you. 

To connect with your local community foundation in Iowa for a discussion on the possibilities, visit the Iowa Community Foundations website and select your county from the orange box in the mid-right hand side of the page.

In addition to the Endow Iowa program, professionals at your local banks, credit unions and other investment firms will likely be able to provide you with detailed investment options for starting an endowment. Fees and opening deposit requirements vary by company. If these details aren't made clear in any proposal you receive, insist you receive them before making any purchasing decision.

Does your department have an endowment? What are your thoughts on this idea? Please your thoughts below.