Support the Foundation with Your Charitable Contribution
Most of you are aware that The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law delivers top-quality legal educational programs and scholarship through its institutes and publications. But are you aware that the Foundation is a non-profit that supports natural resources and energy law education at constituent law schools through student scholarships, research grants, and the funding of innovative programs? Are you also aware that as a non-profit the Foundation strives to keep its registration fees and prices as low as possible even during lean years?
In 2023 alone, the Foundation awarded over $283 thousand in scholarships to deserving students. Since the inception of our scholarship programs, we have awarded more than $4.0 million in scholarships. Many of our contributors choose to make a restricted contribution to our Restricted Fund. Although gifts can be restricted for other purposes, most of our Restricted Fund has been set aside for scholarships to law students with financial need who are interested in pursuing careers in natural resources and energy law. Our Restricted Fund has allowed us to maintain and even increase our scholarship funding to support the next generation of natural resources and energy lawyers. If you are interested in making a restricted gift for scholarships or another purpose, or in honor or memory of someone, and you have any questions, please email us at info@fnrel.org.
You may also choose to contribute to our Unrestricted Fund, in which case your contribution will support specialized projects and conferences, capital projects that are necessary for the continued sustainability of the Foundation in changing markets, programs that attract and support the next generation of global natural resources practitioners and scholars, and scholarly natural resources books, treatises, newsletters, updates, and research tools. In recent years, the Unrestricted Fund has allowed the Foundation to deliver exceptional virtual and other programming during a pandemic that has impacted both our ability to hold in-person conferences and a large number of our constituents. Instructions are below as to how you can make a gift to our Unrestricted Fund, but if you have any questions, please email us at info@fnrel.org.
Please consider supporting the Foundation with a charitable gift. A few ways you can make a gift to the Foundation are outlined below. The Foundation does not offer tax advice, so please consult your attorney, accountant, broker, or financial advisor to determine the tax benefits that apply in your case.
Individual Giving
There are many different ways to make an individual gift to the Foundation. To make a onetime donation, access our contribution form by clicking below, then mail the completed form to the Foundation at the address indicated on the form. You may also send the form to the Foundation by email to info@fnrel.org.
Employer Matching Gifts
Many companies match charitable contributions made by their employees. The impact of your gift may be doubled! Many companies also match gifts made by retirees or spouses.
To submit a matching gift:
- Make your gift in full to The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (see “Individual Giving” above).
- Obtain a matching gift form from your human resources office.
- Complete the form and submit it as specified by your company. If your company uses paper forms, complete your portion and send it to the Foundation at:
Mail: The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law
9191 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 203
Westminster, Colorado 80031
Email: info@fnrel.org
- Include the Foundation Federal Tax ID#: #84-6037688
- We will verify your gift and confirm the match with your company. Upon receipt of the matching gift, you will be notified of the completed gift.
Gifts of Appreciated Stock and Securities
Transferring appreciated stocks and securities to the Foundation is an excellent way to make a charitable gift, and you can benefit in two ways: (1) when you donate publicly traded stocks to the Foundation that have been held long-term (owned for more than one year) you may avoid capital gains taxes; and (2) you may take the full fair market value of the gift (on the date it is transferred, rather than the amount you originally paid for it) as a charitable deduction on your income taxes.
The easiest way to make this kind of gift to the Foundation is to have your broker electronically transfer the stock from your account to ours. If you are interested in making a gift to the Foundation of appreciated stock, please contact us at info@fnrel.org so that we can provide you with the correct transfer information.
Wills or Estate Plans
You may make a bequest or gift through your estate by including a provision in your will or living trust, or by naming The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. The amount left to the Foundation can be expressed as a dollar amount or as a percentage of the assets to be given. If you have named the Foundation in your will, living trust, retirement plan, or life insurance policy, please inform us by contacting Alex Ritchie, Executive Director, at (303) 321-8100, ext. 101, aritchie@fnrel.org.
Life Income Gifts
You may also give to the Foundation through a life income gift, which allows you to give assets to the Foundation while providing yourself or others with income for a period of time before the Foundation is permitted to use your gift. Life income gifts include charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable remainder annuity trusts, and income funds. If you would like to make a life income gift to the Foundation, please contact Alex Ritchie, Executive Director, at (303) 321-8100, ext. 101, or aritchie@fnrel.org.
IRA Charitable Rollovers
If you are 70½ years old or older, you can give up to $100,000 per year from most IRAs directly to a qualified charity such as the Foundation without having to pay income taxes on the transfer. Such a transfer generates neither taxable income nor a charitable contribution deduction, so you benefit regardless whether you itemize your deductions. A charitable rollover in excess of the $100,000 per year limit is included in your income but may generate a charitable contribution deduction.
In addition, if you have not yet taken your required minimum distribution for the year, your IRA charitable rollover may satisfy all or part of that requirement.
Further, these rules permitting tax-free charitable rollovers no longer have an expiration date, so charitable rollovers can be made at any time.
Keep in mind that charitable rollovers can only be made from an IRA, although under certain circumstances, you may be able to roll assets from a pension, profit sharing, 401(k) or 403(b) plan into an IRA and then make the transfer from the IRA directly to the Foundation. To determine if a rollover to an IRA is an option, contact your plan administrator.
To make a charitable rollover, contact your IRA custodian.
Questions?
For any questions regarding any of the ways in which you can contribute to the Foundation, please contact Alex Ritchie, Executive Director, at (303) 321-8100, ext. 101 or aritchie@fnrel.org. Please keep in mind that the Foundation does not offer legal, tax, or financial advice.