The Time: 1961
The Mission: Provide a means through which individuals or corporations may make tax deductible gifts, bequests and devises to the qualified educational and charitable purposes of our Sisterhood.
The Solution: The P.E.O. Foundation
The Result: 50 years of service to the P.E.O. Sisterhood! In 2011 the P.E.O. Foundation will be celebrating its golden anniversary. Established in 1961 with just $2,000, the P.E.O. Foundation now administers more than 850 funds and has assets of more than $75,000,000. Because it qualifies as a charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, gifts and bequests to the Foundation are deductible for U.S. and state income, estate and gift tax purposes. The Foundation’s primary function is to receive, hold, administer and distribute these contributions.
Gifts or bequests to the P.E.O. Foundation may be given to our projects and may be divided among two or more of our projects if specified by the donor. As a second option, the gift or bequest may be given without a specific designation for the P.E.O. Foundation trustees to distribute annually according to our projects’ special needs.
The third option is for a donor to make a gift or bequest to be held in perpetuity by establishing a permanent fund with only the income used for a project or scholarship, again as specified by the donor. If a donor chooses to set up a permanent fund in the P.E.O. Foundation, the fund can be established in the donor’s name or in the name of one being honored or memorialized. An initial deposit of U.S. $1,000, toward a U.S. $5,000 minimum permanent balance (which must be reached in five years) is required for a fund. Provisions are made by the donor for distribution of interest to our P.E.O. projects or to scholarships.
More information on the history of the P.E.O. Foundation and the services now offered by the P.E.O. Foundation will follow in future issues of The P.E.O. Record.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Join the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the P.E.O. Foundation. The trustees ask that you do two things:
First, that each chapter have one program in 2011 about the P.E.O. Foundation. We encourage you to visit the peointernational.org website and click on the P.E.O. Foundation link. There you will find current information about the P.E.O. Foundation. You will also find a copy of the skit, “P.E.O. Foundation–A Girl’s Best Friend,” that would make a fun program for your chapter. For additional information or brochures you may contact a Foundation trustee listed on the inside cover of The Record.
Second, we would like to invite you to celebrate the 50th anniversary with your gifts to the “P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund.”
- We are encouraging each chapter in every state, province or district to donate $50 to this fund. Chapters could also give donations of $50 as a way to honor 50 year members, chapter presidents, 50th birthdays, chapter anniversaries or other special events.
- We also encourage donations of any amount by individuals as gifts, honorariums or memorials. This is an excellent opportunity to include P.E.O. and its educational projects in your year-end giving. Remember donations from individuals are tax deductible for IRS purposes.
- Please make checks from local chapters payable to your state, province or district chapter and indicate “P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund” on the memo line. These checks need to be mailed to your state, provincial or district treasurer (or paid assistant). Checks from individual donors should be made payable to the “P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund” and mailed directly to the Treasurer of International Chapter.
This anniversary celebration will last through September 2011 and will culminate at the Convention of International Chapter in Saint Louis. At that time all money contributed to the “P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund” will be distributed as a special gift to our P.E.O. educational projects.
Please, join the celebration with a gift to the “P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund.”
Your gift to the P.E.O. Foundation—regardless of its size or nature—will help ensure the continuance of the P.E.O. mission.
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the P.E.O. Foundation with your
chapter’s gift of $50 or gifts from individuals of any amount to the P.E.O. Foundation 50th Anniversary Fund. For details see the article on this page.
