A 501(c)(3) nonprofit is an organization whose purpose is charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering amateur sports competition, preventing cruelty to children or animals. Once recognized as such by the Internal Revenue Service, the organization is exempt from federal income tax. Examples of qualifying organizations include old-age homes, parent-teacher associations, charitable hospitals, alumni associations, schools, chapters of the Red Cross or Salvation Army, Boys’ or Girl’s clubs, and churches. 501(c)(3) organizations may receive grants from foundations, and donations to them are tax-deductible for the donors. For more information, please visit the IRS Web site. For the purposes of 100 Women Who Care about Long Island, all organizations nominated for consideration must be classified as 501(C)(3) non-profit charities which serve the residents of Nassau and/or Suffolk Counties. 

Many of the members will be unfamiliar with the charities that are being nominated and will only hear a short five-minute presentation before being asked to vote and commit $100 to the winning charity. While the pre-qualification form creates a small extra step for you, it ensures our members that any charity that receives an award satisfies our listed criteria, and that their donations will be tax deductible.

• Any member (or team) who has signed the commitment form, and is a member in good standing, can nominate a charity up to three weeks before a scheduled meeting. Members may nominate only one charity per individual (or team). Please note that while members are encouraged to nominate a charity, it is not a requirement for membership. Many members are happy to support the charities nominated by others without ever nominating one themselves.

• When the three charity names are drawn at a meeting, the members who nominated each of the organizations will be asked to come up and give a casual five-minute presentation as to why this organization should receive the donation, followed by a five-minute question and answer period. After presentations are made on behalf of the three organizations, all members present vote for the organization they would like to support. The organization with the most votes receives the donation from that meeting. The selected organization is not eligible for consideration again for 12 months following receipt of a donation. The other two organizations may be submitted again for consideration beginning with the next meeting.

If you’re considering nominating a charity, here are some suggested Presentation Guidelines to help you craft your presentation.

• Any charity that receives an award must wait 12 months before it can be nominated again.

• Yes. In fact, other chapters tell us that charities that are presented but not awarded the donation often win the donation the second or third time they are presented. Persistence pays.