How It Works

• A company creates an Employee Care Fund at the Community Foundation to help employees experiencing serious financial hardship due to tragedy beyond their control.
• The company receives a tax deduction and relinquishes all legal ownership and control of the funds (that’s what makes it charitable).
• CFMT works with the company to create materials to let employees know this exists and to make application forms available. The company may choose to encourage employees to make tax-deductible gifts to the Fund as well, once it is established.
• Employees who need assistance are encouraged to apply to the Fund to help pay for essential living expenses including medical, housing, utilities, and other basic necessities.

• When applications come in, they are reviewed by the staff of the Community Foundation against the appropriate criteria.
• Unfortunately, not all applicants will be funded — and CFMT is the “bad guy.” Most, however, are funded as long as there are funds available to do so.
• When a distribution from the Fund is approved, checks are not written to the individual — so there is no tax consequence to them. They are written to entities like the electric company to pay overdue bills or expenses that result from the crisis/tragedy.
• Contributions to the Fund cannot be made to benefit any one person or family. If they are, they are (again) acts of kindness but not tax-deductible. So it is important to set this up and get it funded before the fact.

This criteria is based on the rules the IRS has set forth.