Give Online
Your first gift to the WGC Fund makes you a permanent member of the WGC. Your donation means that forever, you are truly part of something bigger than yourself and play a role in the positive impact this Fund has on the lives of people in our communities. While there is no pressure for additional gifts, our greatest hope is that you will feel inspired to continue your support of the WGC when you can. Each and every donation received increases our impact in Northeast Michigan and helps the Fund grow quicker, enhancing and quickening the WGC's ability to positively affect our communities.
For those donors who choose to make the WGC Fund a frequent beneficiary of their charitable gifts, we keep track of your cumulative totals to make sure you received recognition under the appropriate WGC Giving Level.
- To donate via check, please make checks payable to Northeast Michigan Women's Giving Circle and mail to CFNEM, P.O. Box 495, Alpena, MI 49707. You may also print and mail in a WGC Gift Form.
- To make a credit card gift via phone, please call our office 1-877-354-6881 and our staff will be happy to help.
Make a Pledge
Making a pledge is an easy way to make a larger donation than you might want or be able to make at one time. Pledges can be made in any amount, and you choose the interval at which you pay off your pledge. The timeline is up to you. If your fulfilled pledge would put you at a new WGC Giving Level, your name is added to that level the day you make your pledge (not when you pay it off). To make a pledge to the WGC Fund, please download and complete our WGC Pledge Form and mail it to our office.
Make an Honorary or Memorial Donation
Gifts to the Northeast Michigan Women's Giving Circle Fund can be made in honor of, or in memory of a loved one. If you choose, you can let us know if there is someone you would like us to notify about the donation, and we will send a personalized note card to them. (Gift amounts are not disclosed.) When making a donation online, please be sure to include in the "comments" section the name of the person you would like to make the gift in honor of, or in memory of; and if there is someone you would like us to notify about the gift, please include their name and mailing address. If you are making a cash/check donation, please include a note with any honorary/memorial information, including a name and mailing address if there is someone we should notify about the gift.
Use an IRA Required Minimum Distribution to Donate
If you must take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA, you can give all or a portion of your RMD to a qualifying charity, tax free. The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan is a qualifying charity. To make an RMD gift, please contact your tax advisor or the company holding your IRA. They will need to send the RMD donation directly to the Community Foundation on your behalf. (RMD donations may not pass through the donor's hands in order to be considered tax free.) Please be sure to ask your advisor or IRA holder to note that you would like your donation to go to the Northeast Michigan Women's Giving Circle Fund at the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan.
Explore a Planned Gift
There are many ways to make a planned gift and leave a legacy to your community, and support the Northeast Michigan Women's Giving Circle Fund. We understand that including a charity in your will is an incredibly important decision, as this is a place usually reserved for family. We invite you to explore the Community Foundation's Planned Giving section to learn more about whether a legacy gift is right for you. Donations like this can be made partially during your lifetime and fully funded through your will; or can be made entirely through your estate plan. You can choose to give a certain dollar amount, a percentage, or even make the Community Foundation and the WGC Fund the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. These are big decisions, and if it seems like a fit for you, we would be happy to help.
While a planned gift can be added directly to the WGC Fund, you can also choose to create a new fund with your own name on it to support the WGC in perpetuity. With a named endowment fund, the amount generated each year can support the Women's Giving Circle, helping to increase its impact exponentially.
Give as a Birthday/Anniversary/Graduation/Mother's Day/Special Occasion Present
Need a unique gift idea for the person who has everything? Consider making a donation in their honor for any special occasion! We will create a beautiful peronsal card, complete with a purple envelope and shiny WGC seal, letting them know that YOU have made a gift in honor of their special occasion. To give a donation as present, complete THIS FORM, or contact Christine Hitch at chitch@cfnem.org 1-877-354-6881 to get started.
About WGC Giving Levels
WGC Membership is separated by three separate giving levels: Sterling ($10-$4,999); Platinum ($5,000 - $9,999); and Diamond ($10,000 or more). All giving levels are based on cumulative totals, not your first donation. If you are a member who has continued to give over the years and would like to know your cumulative total giving to the WGC Fund, please contact Christine Hitch at chitch@cfnem.org. Additional donations and/or pledges can help you level up.
Why Give Again?
Your first donation to the WGC makes you a permanent member, and we appreciate you! The power of endowment means that your gift will compound itself, no matter the amount, and is multiplied by the fact that it is pooled with the rest of the donations in the WGC Fund and the Community Foundation's invested assets. This also means that over time, and because the WGC Fund's timeline is forever, it will continue to grow even if it never received another gift. It just grows a bit slower then.
When you give again, continuing your support of the WGC Fund when you are able, you enhance and ignite the growth of the Fund. Continued donations and new members help the fund to grow quicker and exponentially, creating a greater impact for those we serve through our WGC grants.