Donation Policy

Section 5 Donation Resolution Enacted September 13, 2011

Whereas:

1. Requests for contributions and/or grants from Section 5 tend to exceed the annual amount budgeted;
2. The number of organizations requesting donations or grants continues to grow each year;
3. The amount of money requested by each charity tends to exceed its expected contribution;
4. Section 5 contributes more money per household to charitable organizations than neighboring communities;
5. Recipients of donations from Section 5 already solicit directly from our residents, or have the ability to directly solicit them for contributions;
6. There is no objective way to allocate contributions among requesting organizations, since decisions to grant funds are subjective in nature;
7. Section 5's current policy does not establish adequate criteria for denying requests for contributions;
8. Section 5 does not have the capacity to audit the use of funds donated or granted; and
9. Residents of Section 5 do not get the benefit of a personal tax deduction when the Council makes contributions on their behalf;

Therefore, be it resolved that:

1. The Section 5 Council no longer make regular annual charitable donations and grants on behalf of its residents;
2. That the contributions policy approved by the Council on November 10, 2009, be rescinded.