How the 4-H BC Foundation Works, and Why There Are Two 4-H BC Organizations

If you have supported 4-H in British Columbia over the years, you have probably run into both names. 4-H BC Provincial Council. The 4-H BC Foundation. Same clover, same green, but two separate organizations.

It is worth understanding, because the answer tells you something about how a gift actually gets used.

Two organizations, two jobs

4-H BC Provincial Council runs the program. Club registration, leader training, provincial events like the Ambassador program and Communications Finals, project resources, staffing and more. All the basic structure of 4-H that member and leaders connect with falls under this side of the house.

The 4-H BC Foundation does not run programs. Its job is to hold money, invest it wisely, and make it last.

The two are set up separately on purpose. A program organization needs to spend what it takes in, because that is what a program organization is for. If the same body held the long term money, that money could be under constant pressure to solve this year's problem using funds meant to secure the future. Keeping the Foundation separate means the investments are protected from the very people who could most easily be tempted to spend it, which includes all of us on a hard year.

What happens to a gift on each side

A gift to the Provincial Council is spent, which is the point and expectation of a Charitable Organization under the CRA. It does its work and it is gone, and the work it does is impactful.

A gift to the Foundation is invested. The original amount, what is called the principal, stays where it is. Each year the investments earn something, and a portion of those earnings goes back out to support 4-H in BC. But the principal keeps sitting there, keeps earning, and then does the same thing again next year, and the year after that, and the year after that…. (you get the picture).

The plain way to say it is this. A gift to the Provincial Council keeps programs and operations running this year. A gift to the Foundation helps support programs every year from now on.

Why a small gift is not a small thing

Give twenty-five dollars to the Foundation this year, and that twenty-five keeps earning, and what it earns keeps going to 4-H, for as long as the Foundation exists.

On its own, twenty-five dollars doesn’t earn much. But it earns FOREVER and it is earning alongside everything anybody else has ever given. That is what a Foundation is: a lot of gifts, most of them modest, pooled together and then left alone to work.

The people who built our Foundation did’t do it with one enormous cheque. They did it twenty five and fifty dollars at a time, over decades, and the reason there is a Foundation at all is that none of it was ever spent.

The ways people give

Are you feeling inspired to give now? Well, there is a way to give that fits almost any circumstance. Here’s a few of the most common donation methods.

Monthly giving

Ten or twenty dollars a month, taken automatically. It is the easiest way to give meaningfully without ever noticing it leave, and over a decade it adds up to more than most people would ever write in a single cheque.

A one-time gift

Any amount, any time. (4-H Month in November is a great time to donate!) Tax receipts are issued for gifts of twenty-five dollars and up.

A gift in someone's name

In memory of a leader, a parent, a member. Or in honour of somebody still with us: a birthday, an anniversary, a young person finishing the program. If you would like, we will let the family know a gift was made in their person's name..

Donating securities

If you own stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs that have gone up in value, transferring them directly to the Foundation avoids the capital gains tax you would owe if you sold them first, and you still receive a receipt for the full market value. For anyone holding appreciated investments, this is usually the least expensive way to make a substantial gift. Your broker handles it. We recommend you talk to your accountant about how this could benefit your situation.

A grant from a Donor Advised Fund

If you hold a Donor Advised Fund through a community foundation or a financial institution, you can recommend a grant to the 4-H BC Foundation. Both 4-H BC and the Foundation are registered Canadian charities, so we are eligible. Your fund holder will need our legal name, address, and registration number, all of which are at the bottom of this page or accessible with a quick phone call.

A gift in your will

It costs nothing while you are living, you can change it any time, and it can be a set amount, a percentage, or whatever remains after your family is looked after. Your estate receives a charitable receipt, which can reduce the tax owing on the final return. Most people who do this are not wealthy. They are ordinary folks who decided something they cared about ought to carry on.

A designated gift

Some people want their gift pointed at something specific: their home district, a particular program, a kind of 4-H work they would like to see more of. That can be arranged. Because a designated fund has to be large enough to be worth administering on its own, and because we want to be sure it is something we can honour for the long haul, it starts with a conversation rather than a form.

A named scholarship

You can fund an award and put a name on it. Your own, a parent's, a club's, or a leader who made a difference to you when you were fourteen. It can be funded annually through the Provincial Council, or endowed through the Foundation so that it carries on indefinitely.

If you are not sure which fits

Most people are not sure, and that is fine. Give us a call. There is no commitment in a conversation, and we would rather help you land on the right thing than have you guess.

Where to give online

Because these are two organizations, there are two donation forms.

To give to the 4-H BC Foundation (invested, permanent): Link

To give to 4-H BC Provincial Council (spent on this year's programs): Link

Both issue tax receipts. If you would rather send a cheque, our mailing address is below. If you would like to set up a monthly gift, either form will let you do that.

Our details:

4-H BC Foundation

1150 Kalamalka Lake Road, Vernon, BC V1T 6V2

Charitable Registration Number: 886318807RR0001

250-545-0336 | funddevelopment@4hbc.ca

Tax receipts are issued for donations of twenty-five dollars and more.

4-H BC and the 4-H BC Foundation are not tax or legal advisors. For anything touching your own tax situation or your estate, speak with your accountant, lawyer, or notary.