Faith and the ND State Tax Credit. Ensuring the Faith for generations to come.

Ensuring the Faith for generations to come.

As I visit with faithful Catholics across western North Dakota, there is so much to talk about. The economy, faith, taxes, how busy things are and how day to day life has changed for so many. In general the faith is strong and things are pretty good with our parishes across our diocese, from a financial stand point. However at some point in the conversation someone will say that, it wasn’t that long ago that we were wondering if our church would survive and whether or not we would have a place to worship, because of repairs or rising cost associated with everything. At this point, I assure them that’s exactly why I am there, to ensure our faith for generations to come.

How do we “ensure the faith”? The answer is fairly simple, with endowment funds. An endowment is a fund in which only a portion of the proceeds or earnings are spent annually and the original gift remains untouched in perpetuity. With more gifts to the endowment fund, it grows and so does the annual distribution to your parish or catholic school, etc.

As a rule I am not a big fan of government, however, I do give credit where credit is due and the North Dakota state legislature has done a wonderful thing and created a 40% state tax credit for gifts in a certain range to a qualified ND endowment. Individuals/couples or corporations that provide gifts in a range of $5000 to $50,000 receive a dollar for dollar credit against their state tax liability. For example a gift of $10,000 from a person in the 25% marginal tax bracket would typically save $2,500 on Federal taxes and receive a $4,000 tax credit on their ND taxes so the net cost of that contribution is $3,500. Again, that’s a $10,000 gift with a net cost of $3,500. There is some fine print that goes along with this so please either call or see our website for complete details and always consult your tax preparer.

The next question is, who can I support with a contribution to an endowment fund? Well, within the Catholic Foundation for the People of the Diocese of Bismarck every parish, Catholic school and school system in our diocese has an endowment. The seminarian scholarship fund, priest care fund and Catholic schools and religious education fund are all endowments. Home on the Range also has an endowment.

Some folks choose to create a named family endowment in honor or memory of a loved one with the benefit to one of the endowment funds. Named family endowments are very popular because that family or their loved ones will always be remembered in the annual report of the Catholic Foundation and as children and grandchildren read this, they will always be reminded how important the church was to Grandma and Grandpa. Remember with endowments a gift will be given every year. These funds can also be added to at any point in the future.

Charitable giving is really about what is in your heart, but a nice tax break helps. If you have questions about any of this please call or if you are comfortable with your situation and want to make a donation and start ensuring the faith for our future generations. Send donations to: The Catholic Foundation for the People of the Diocese of Bismarck, PO Box 1137, Bismarck, ND 58502-1137. Or you can use our online giving capabilities here. Be sure to tell us which endowment you would like to support, especially if it’s a parish (name of the parish and town, please).

View/print the ND Tax Credit flyer with more information.