Moline Regional Community Foundation, Quad Cities Community Foundation, and Rock Island Community Foundation are celebrating a pair of new state laws they say will amplify giving throughout the State of Illinois.
The Illinois laws approved by lawmakers and signed this month by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are:
- The Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act, known as Illinois Gives, is a new program that offers all taxpayers a 25% state income tax credit for donations made to permanent endowments funds managed by community foundations.
- The Workforce Development Through Charitable Loan Repayment Act, or Loan Repayment, uses private charitable funds to attract and retain workers in Illinois communities. Eligible community foundations will directly repay part or all of a worker’s student loans directly to the lender, and the worker will not pay state income tax on that charitable loan repayment.
Those new laws will increase giving and funding opportunities for nonprofit organizations. They also will enhance workforce development in Illinois, according to a news release from the Quad Cities Community Foundation.
Illinois Gives incentivizes up to $100 million over the next five years in new charitable giving through that 25% state income tax credit for charitable donations made to permanent endowments that benefit the state and are held by qualified Illinois community foundations.
Staff championed changes
“Our staff, as part of the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations (AICF), were dedicated advocates of this legislation,” Sue Hafkemeyer, president and CEO of the Quad Cities Community Foundation, said in the release. “We believe the policy changes will greatly increase the impact of generosity in the Quad Cities region. We’re excited to see that our legislators and the governor believe in the work and importance of community foundations.”
Paul Plagenz is president and CEO of Moline Regional Community Foundation. “These acts are creative solutions which incentivize giving and community involvement,” he said. “Our donors want to make an impact in their community, and this legislation ensures this is possible and their dollars will stay local.”
Similar tax credit programs in other states have increased both the number of donors and total charitable dollars given the foundations said.
Notably, too, the release said, the Loan Repayment program can leverage the Illinois Gives tax credit. Beginning in tax year 2025, donors can receive the tax credit by giving to a fund used for Loan Repayment.
“These programs were thoughtfully enacted and work together to support local change,” said Gary Rowe, executive director of the Rock Island Community Foundation. “Donors are interested in long-term change, and we can now provide giving opportunities that are tax-advantaged and will build the strength of the workforce and the region for years to come.”
