End- of-Year Giving & New Year Resolutions!

It’s that time again when we start to plan our activities out for the following year and commit ourselves to worthy aspirational goals!

The trick to finding success on any new journey is to start small so that you don’t overwhelm yourself. This in turn gives you a chance to maintain your momentum throughout the year in order to meet your goals.

For those of you that would like to include community involvement, volunteerism, or philanthropy efforts into your New Year’s resolutions we commend you.

Crittenton appreciates those with big hearts and individuals taking the time to become directly involved on issues that matter to you the most.

As a child welfare and mental health organization we can’t begin to thank all of you who have selected to champion or directly support causes that directly help youth and families in some way.

For those who are officially making Crittenton your nonprofit of choice this upcoming year we are looking forward to working with you! And in order to help you keep your momentum going next year here are just a couple of ideas of giving back with different levels of support and involvement. Always remember that every donation and volunteerism effort helps tremendously!

End-of-Year Giving:

This is the perfect time of year to give to a worthy cause. Oftentimes, end-of-year giving can be the easiest thing to participate in. This type of giving doesn’t take much of a commitment level, however, what you can give to a charity of choice does have tremendous long-term impact. And a bonus for those of you who do kick start your philanthropy efforts right now is that your donation can potentially be tax-deductible! However, we do encourage talking to your financial advisor first so that you know exactly how much you would have to give for the charitable gift to become tax-deductible. Once you give your donation make sure to keep your receipts!

Crittenton currently has two great “end-of-year” ways to give to our mission. Either donation contribution option would greatly benefit our youth or our agency’s mental health programming efforts.

• Crittenton InSight Challenge Grant: This is a great way to directly give funding to the Crittenton program that helps trafficked youth get the mental health and safe living space they deserve. For every dollar you personally donate to this challenge grant, your donation is then matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor! If you’d like to make a big impact with your donation dollar this is the Crittenton initiative to support. Donate to Crittenton’s InSight Program today!
• Angel Tree Holiday Gift Cards: Even though the main holiday gift drive is now officially over it doesn’t mean we still don’t have to meet last minute Christmas wishes for the youth and families we serve! Gift cards are not necessarily tax-deductible such as an online donation, but this in-kind donation is still needed! Therefore, during the last week before Christmas we still accept much needed gift cards! We always need them from big box stores (Walmart/Target etc.) or grocery stores in any gift amount. If you’d like to still give an in-kind holiday donation giving a gift card is much appreciated! We would just need you to mail or drop them off to our headquarters office before Christmas.

Giving Ideas in the New Year:

If you’d prefer to enjoy the holidays and then get involved in the community or with Crittenton in the new year that works too!

Again, starting small and then gradually getting more involved with an organization is always a good strategy.

Here are a couple of ideas that do require a little more commitment, however, there are a number of options to choose from to fulfill your philanthropy and volunteer aspirations next year.

• Crittenton’s Mystery Night 2020: One fun way to get to know Crittenton is by joining us for our annual fundraiser! It’s a way to get to know our mission and get to know our supporters as you eat dinner and solve a mystery. And if you like what you hear and see then why not come back as a committed volunteer or donor! All proceeds collected from the Mystery Night ticket sales and the silent auction goes back to our mission. Keep checking our website and social media for further ticket sales information and auction item donation requests that might be needed. Our fundraiser is scheduled for Sunday, March 8, 2020. Make sure to save the date!
• Crittenton’s Planned Giving – Heritage Society: If you are getting ready to work on your estate planning process or just want to give in a way that is more long-term you might want to consider planned giving efforts through Crittenton’s Heritage Society. Planned giving can help reduce taxable income or have other financial benefits for the donor. As always with planned giving we do encourage you to speak with your financial advisor before considering this long-term philanthropy option. However, if you’d like to know more about our Heritage Society feel free to connect with us for more information.
• Crittenton’s Board Membership: We are always looking for long-term volunteers in particular those members of the business or local community who have a deep sense of advocacy for youth causes and that like to get involved at a more strategic level of participation with a nonprofit. If you are the type of person with a passion for helping system-involved youth, you want to help a nonprofit mission strategize for the future, and are committed to sharing your network or resources to our organization perhaps becoming a Crittenton board member might be a good fit for you. Connect with us to find out more about the application process and what is takes to be a nonprofit board member.

Whichever way you decide to give back this upcoming year we are humbled that you would consider Crittenton as a way to honor and meet your community involvement and philanthropic goals. Thank you and we truly appreciate your kindness, friendship and support of our mission!

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Crittenton Services for Children and Families of Southern California (CSCF) is a non-profit social services agency whose mission is to heal the wounds of abuse and neglect; strengthen families; and help troubled adolescents reach their full potential. Established and incorporated in 1966 Crittenton has a highly trained workforce operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week providing comprehensive mental health services, shelter care, and other support services to the clients in our care. We provide a full array of short-term residential services, in-home, community-based programming, wraparound family services, outpatient mental health, transitional age youth programming, foster care, and adoption services with a service planning area throughout Southern California that covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.

Visit www.crittentonsocal.org to learn more about our programs and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Flickr