Please tell the Governor's Office to include the Illinois Gives Act in the budget for FY 24. 

Please ask your state Senator and Representative to co-sponsor and support the Illinois Gives Act (HB 1241 / SB 172)

The Illinois Gives Act will 

• Establish a fairer charitable giving tax policy in Illinois
• Benefiting all taxpayers who give generously to charities in Illinois, not just the wealthiest that itemize their federal taxes
• Increase charitable giving in Illinois and bring more dollars into the nonprofit sector (up to $2 BILLION in a decade)
• Increase stable sources of funding available to nonprofit employers statewide
• Be administratively simple for the state.

The bill provisions include the following:

1. Authorizes a 25% state income tax credit for all Illinois taxpayers at all income levels beginning in 2024 for gifts made to qualified community foundations’ permanent endowments
2. Has a very modest budget impact compared to other existing income tax credits
3. Ensures that all geographic regions and all nonprofits in the state may benefit, including rural areas and communities that haven't historically benefited from tax policy
4. Reserves a portion of the total available statewide for small gifts, to make sure the average person can participate, and not just wealthy folks
5. Is based on best practices and lessons learned in other states that have similar and very successful programs.

Consider the Impact in Iowa:

Quad Cities Community Foundation (QCCF) makes grants and manages endowments across state lines in both IA and IL. In IA, the Endow Iowa Tax Credit has been in place for years, resulting in stark differences that illustrate how the Illinois Gives Act may influence behavior in our state, increase the amount of giving, and create more stable resources for nonprofits on our side of the border. 

• QCCF manages almost 3x as many non-DAF endowed funds for Iowa than they do for IL
• Collectively, the QCCF Iowa endowments hold almost $4 million more actual dollars than the QCCF Illinois endowments and
• QCCF Iowa endowments hold over 4x as many dollars per capita (state population) than their Illinois endowments

Use Forefront's fact sheet to learn more about how the Illinois Gives Act will help stabilize Illinois' nonprofit sector and bring new resources to our communities.

• Step 1:  Click "Write," "Tweet" or "Call" (see right sidebar). You can do all three, one at a time, or choose your preferred communication method.
• Step 2:  Enter your information (this is required in order to contact elected officials).  If you are participating on behalf of an organization, enter your business information in addition to your personal information so we can track which organizations participated.
• Step 3:   Customize your message. If you are sending an email by clicking on "Write," use the first "Message Body" box to tell a story about why the Illinois Gives Act matters to you and your business. If you are tweeting, you can customize the draft tweet (or not). If you are calling, a suggested script will pop up once you click on the blue phone icon on the right sidebar. Use the script if it's helpful, but you may add your own details, too!
• Step 4:  Click send. You'll receive confirmation if this is done successfully!

Tip:  Save time! Select the "remember me" box and next time you act, your information will be pre-populated!