People Plus receives about 30% of its funding from outside sources:  the Towns of Brunswick and Harpswell, the United Way of Mid Coast Maine, and grants.  We get no federal, state, or county financial support.  We raise the remaining 70% of our budget each year, through a combination of activity fees, dues, rentals, special fund-raising events, sales of art prints, sponsorships, and the generous donations of members of the community.

You can help. When you send a contribution to People Plus, you will know that your generous support will be used to provide important programs and services for older adults, and those who love them, in the Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell area.  People Plus is a local, community-based organization, with low overhead and a commitment to building a community for all ages.  Your contribution will help in that dream.

Donate For Free! That’s Right; you can donate to People Plus without it costing you anything.

How you ask? Well here’s how it works.

Please check out CharityBlast.com, a great website that will donate a portion of EVERY purchase you make at online stores like Target, Best Buy, Gap, Old Navy, Staples and more to People Plus at no additional cost to you. Please find People Plus on the front-page menu of CharityBlast.com and shop for our dream!

P.S. There are several offers, which will cost you nothing and still benefit our organization. Here's a quick and easy one: sign up for a free eBay account, and our dream gets $10! (click this link for more info)

People Plus has just been registered on GoodSearch, as seen in OPRAH Magazine, ABC News, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Fortune.

It's Easy to Make a Gift Online
You can contribute to People Plus online, by using a Visa or MasterCard.  Simply click on the link below to begin the process

Suggested Donation Levels

                    Benefactor           $1,000 or more
                    Patron                     $500
                    Guardian                 $250
                    Sustaining              $100
                    Friend                      $50
                    Other                       _______

If you would prefer to make a donation by mail
please send your contribution to:
People Plus
6 Noble Street
Brunswick, ME 04011

or you can call:
207-729-0757

People Plus is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Giving and Building for the future

True or false: You have to be wealthy in order to make a charitable planned gift. False! More and more people are incorporating charitable planned gifts into their estate plans as well as using them to achieve a wide range of individual financial planning goals.

We all have two forms of wealth. The first form of wealth is personal wealth. This is the money we spend to live, save for a rainy day or plan to leave to loved ones. Simply put, it is the money intended for us and our families. The second form of wealth is social wealth. It is money that will not go to our families, but for taxes - income, capital gains, gift and estate taxes. The good news is that there are ways of controlling how your social wealth is used. Charitable planned giving is one way.

The following are some planned giving options that can help you control how your wealth is distributed:

Bequests
For many people, bequests are the easiest type of planned gift to arrange. Bequests enable your estate to realize a tax savings benefit and ensure that your assets are distributed the way you want them to be.

Appreciated Assets
Assets can be defined as appreciated stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate or tangible assets such as artwork. A gift of an appreciated asset can be given outright or as a testamentary bequest. By making a gift of an appreciated asset, a donor can realize potentially substantial reductions in capital gains and income taxes.
 
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Most charitable remainder trusts are created and funded during the donor's lifetime rather than by a will. Trusts are designed to benefit not only the charity, but also the donor or members of the donor's family. To establish a charitable remainder trust, a donor transfers appreciated assets or cash to a trust. The donor receives income from the trust on a continuing basis, either for life or for a specified number of years. At the end of this period, the principal of the trust reverts back to the charitable organization.

Charitable Lead Trusts
This type of trust works in reverse of a charitable remainder trust. When a charitable lead trust is created, the charitable organization receives an annual income from the trust for a specified number of years. At the end of that time, the principal of the trust reverts to the donor or specified beneficiaries.

Life Insurance
The action of purchasing life insurance specifically to make a charitable gift is growing in popularity. Life insurance gifts are relatively easy to arrange and are advantageous for many reasons. A donor can use life insurance to make a planned gift by naming People Plus as a beneficiary of a policy, by assigning dividends from a policy or by giving People Plus a paid-up policy.

Thoughtful giving and care planning work in tandem. Charitable planned gifts can enhance your estate plan and, in many cases, can allow a donor to reduce or avoid capital gains tax and greatly reduce income and estate taxes. Planned giving does not require great wealth. All that is required is the desire to help older adults and the people who love them remain as independent as possible.

We recommend that you discuss your gift plans with a qualified professional. People Plus is more than happy to work with you and your professional advisor to help you find the best gift arrangement for your financial, family and philanthropic needs.