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Planned Giving

Parks Safety Net Fund Details

The Northwest Parks Foundation is pleased to be working with Northwest municipalities in providing our Parks Safety Net Fund. Through this Fund we allow directed giving to parks departments across the Northwest. The challenge is to provide park facilities appropriate for people of all ages and interests. Our mission includes supporting trails for walking, pea patches for gardeners, pools for swimmers, climbing walls for mountaineers and open spaces for all. In some sense we are an "active" environmental organization encouraging appropriate active or passive use of our park lands in an environmentally sensitive way, where people are regarded as part of --and not apart from-- the eco-system.

	501(c)3 Partnership - Local communities, cities and counties come to us with an idea: a new playground, trail, ball field, or even a park bench. Our first level of assistance is to function as the 501(c)3 partner for any given project. Usually, but not always, our relationship to one of these projects is established through a pre-existing agreement we already have in place with the local parks and recreation department. Donations made through a 501(c)3 partnership are tax-deductible. Northwest Parks Foundation manages all donations, including producing monthly donation reports and sending out acknowledgement letters on your behalf to all donors with the appropriate information for the donor’s tax records.
	Capital Campaign Assistance - Depending on the project, we may be asked to provide assistance with capital campaign planning and implementation. This may include a brief meeting to assess your needs, followed by a set or recommendations for kicking off a successful campaign. More complex projects may require long term involvement.
	Endowments - We also offer park and recreation endowment planning and management.

The Parks Safety Net Fund allows an individual or business to give through the Foundation to their designated Parks Department and direct their donation to the park amenity of their choosing.

Our goal is to work cooperatively and pro-actively with parks departments and park user groups to express their needs for robust, healthy parks. We do not have an agenda to disrupt planning processes. In some cases, the community may desire a "passive" park without sports fields. We are 100% in support of active walking and gardening in such parks and have no intention of interfering with the public planning process. In fact, our preference is to assist jurisdictions after they have an established plan for a park improvement and are in need of financial support to develop their parks as approved.

Different parks meet different needs, and the Northwest Parks Foundation is sensitive to those needs. We strive to work with the land -- not disturbing natural topography -- and to work with the park users to help them to achieve their vision for their local park. Northwest Parks Foundation has expertise in many areas, but we are not a parks department. We are a facilitator and matchmaker for user groups, parks departments, and for-profit and non-profit organizations who are actively looking for park solutions that value personal health and activity.

We have adopted the Donor Bill of Rights which ensures that every donation is used as the donor intended, or it is returned or renegotiated. We are not a political group and we do not have a political agenda. We're here to help create healthy communities with healthy parks.