Thanks to the generosity of numerous donors and licensing agreements with private enterprise, the Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation which was founded in 1987, has provided college scholarships to police explorers, recognized the legislative efforts of members of the Florida Legislature who have been instrumental in the passage of laws which enhance the public safety and enhanced the quality of training of Florida's Police Executives.

The Foundation is now embarking on an ambitious venture to create an endowment program. We are hopeful that income from an endowment provided to the Foundation could be used to fund or expand some of our existing programs or possibly establish new projects which conform to our statement of purpose and would positively affect public safety in the State of Florida. Of course, the ultimate success of the Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation will depend upon the generous help of private benefactors like you.

All gifts to the Foundation are of major significance, but gifts to our endowment fund - the deep reserves through which we could fund endowed chairs at institutes of higher learning, endowed scholarships and fellowships, and endowed programs - are most helpful and most lasting. We invite your consideration of such a gift to the Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation.

The Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation seeks to establish an endowment gift fund early next year. We are hopeful that our first endowment gift will soon be supplemented by others and that this income can be used to support new and existing programs. Endowments could support crime prevention initiatives and education, provide the necessary funding for research and scholarship into issues of public safety, lend support for better training programs for Florida's Police Executives and result in the encouragement of leadership and public service in law enforcement.

Gifts to an endowment are like no other gifts to the Foundation. They are permanent, and provide a solid basis for planning for the future. Because the Foundation will use the interest from endowment gifts and preserve the principal, they are the gifts that keep on giving to the worthwhile causes the Foundation itself supports all across the state. Those who make a gift to the endowment today, will be a part of that growth of knowledge and understanding of public safety issues as we enter the 21st century.

The Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation seeks annual support from donors to build on our mission . For example, an annual gift can help:

• Enhance Educational Programs for Florida's police executives;
• Educate citizents about public safety issues that impact their lives and about effective advocacy;
• Serve as a conduit for assistance to other groups and programs which impact public safety, particularly those programs that impact our youth and the elderly;
• Sponsor or convene groups of experts to analyze public safety issues;
• Participate in creating national programs to bring members of our communities together in settings which foster mutual understanding of crime issues;

Donors may make annual gifts to the Foundation in various forms, including outright cash donations, appreciated property and securities, gifts in kind or bequests.

Prospective donors to the Foundation may wish to consider the range of gift mechanisms which federal and state tax laws allow and encourage. These include:

OUTRIGHT GIFTS: These gifts are exactly what their name implies: a direct transfer of funds from the donor to the Foundation. Gifts in this category can include gifts of cash, securities, tangible personal property that has increased in value since its purchase, and appreciated real estate. Donors can deduct the gift amount for such gifts up to 50 per cent of their gross income, and should the gift total exceed the deductible ceiling, the remainder can be carried over to succeeding tax years, up to five years. With careful planning, nearly every outright gift to the Foundation can be fully deducted.

GIFTS THROUGH BEQUESTS: One of the easiest and most common ways to make a gift to the Foundation is through a bequest in the donor's will. Tax laws encourage bequests, and this form of giving is particularly well designed for those who are unable to make immediate outright gifts, but would like to aid the Foundation as it addresses the issues of public safety in the future. Bequests may take the form of specific bequests, a residuary bequest, contingent bequests, or testamentary trusts. Members of the staff of the Foundation would be pleased to discuss the ways and means of making gifts through bequests to support the work of the Foundation.

LIFE INCOME GIFTS: Life income gifts allow donors to give and receive at the same time, thus making it possible for donors to give more to charitable causes than they could out of current income or savings. In many cases, donors can create trust instruments which allow them to receive income from the gift while receiving tax credit for the larger amount. Life income agreements can be developed with the Foundation through annuity trusts, unitrusts and gift annuities. Tax advisors and attorneys should be consulted in the structuring of such gifts.

It is important for prospective donors to note that the ways in which they contribute to the Foundation determines the tax benefits. All gifts to the Foundation are deductible within the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service, but we advise donors to consult with legal and financial advisors as they plan gifts through any of these mechanisms.

All gifts to the Florida Police Chiefs Education and Research Foundation are tax-deductible within the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service.