The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act shifted the way donors can support charities in 2020. The changes are unprecedented…and so is the confusion around it.
(Short sidenote: The AP Stylebook does not even recommend calling it “CARES Act,” but instead the “coronavirus relief bill” to help with understanding.)
What Can You Do for Donors?
The law passed in March but donors may not have done more than spend their relief check. Now that we’re more than halfway through the year, it’s time to reach out. For example, despite the pause on RMDs, donors age 70½ and older can still give from their IRA directly to your nonprofit and avoid taxable income.
Here’s a new way to explain the law: This free video, featuring attorney Lynn Gaumer, who has covered the charitable sector for 25+ years, is yours to use across your web and digital platforms.
Donors will learn:
- How to navigate the suspension of the required minimum distribution.
- How to use the $300 universal charitable deduction to help your mission.
- How the lifted cap on annual contributions (increased from 60% to 100% of AGI for 2020) helps those who itemize.
View and download the video:
To access or download the caption file, also known as a Video Text Tracks (VTT) file, click here. Sample code necessary to implement the caption file can be found here. The code must be customized on your end to match your file structure. Work with your IT department and/or website provider to use this video on your website and social channels.
How To Market the Video
Here are two ways your nonprofit may be able to deliver this video tutorial to your donors:
- Embed the video in your fundraising website to explain the annual and planned giving opportunities that are unique to CARES.
- Link to the web page housing the video in your email footer as a resource for your donors and prospects.
Bonus: Share the video with your internal staff to ensure that they understand the new law.
The video’s call to action is for the donor to reach out to their favorite nonprofit to make a plan that fits their goals and finances. We hope you begin some new conversations as your donors take advantage of this unique opportunity.
Have you had a particularly good conversation with a donor about the CARES Act? Leave a comment! We’d also love to hear where donors are the most confused. How can the nonprofit community step up our marketing and education around this law?
Nathan, this is awesome! Thank you for creating this video with Lynn – she is terrific. And I would like to embed it on our website, but per RMHC Global guidelines we need to have captions. Do you by any chance have a version with captions (or audio description – even better), or at least a captions file that we can add to it? I’m sure other RMHC’s will need that as well. Thank you again!
Nancy, thanks so much for your comment and bringing this to our attention. We’ve updated the blog to include the link to the caption file, also known as a Video Text Tracks (VTT) file.
This VTT file will need to be added to the folder with the video. Here is the link to the example code that you or your developer will need: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zWifDCEtS3N7CMEpRvU53KxuhhZhj-BuYPnnEc9WBFc/edit?usp=sharing. This code must be customized on your end to match your file structure.
We hope you find this information to be helpful. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. Thank you!