CLF Designated Donations

CLF Designated Donations Policy

The California Lions Foundation (CLF) can support individual Lions clubs and districts that do not have a 501(c)(3) designation through meeting the requirements of CLF’s Designated Donations Policy as follows:

  1. The club/district identifies a project and use of funds for which they have actual or potential donors who are willing to donate if they can receive a tax deduction for donating to a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation such as CLF.

  2. This usually involves only a single purpose.

  3. This does not involve CLF or the requesting club/district incurring fundraising expenses.

    Essentially it is a straight donation to CLF. CLF cannot undertake the monitoring and

    reporting requirements of a charitable fundraising effort performed by the club/district.

  4. The club/district submits to the CLF Executive Committee its proposed use for funds coming

    from the proposed designated donations.

  5. CLF must preapprove the proposed use of funds as being within the parameters of CLF's

    purpose. No donations will be accepted for a designated purpose without the prior approval

    of the CLF Executive Committee.

  6. Designated donations may then be sent to CLF. CLF will acknowledge to the donor receipt

    of their donation and the purpose for which the funds will be ultimately disbursed through the

    sponsoring club/district.

  7. At the request of the Lions club/district, the designated donations are then disbursed by CLF

    to the club/district for the designated use within the parameters of the approved grant

    (purpose and use, timeline for completion, documentation of the funds use, etc.).

  8. The club/district receiving the funds from CLF must be the sole party responsible for

    utilization of the funds. Turning the funds over to a third party for distribution is discouraged as it is the requesting club/district who is responsible for the proper administration of the grant. However, a request by a third-party provider to make distribution of the grant can be considered on a case-by-case basis.

  9. The Lions club/district must document (to include receipts) the use of all monies and return any unused funds.

10.Any donated monies not requested or utilized for the approved purpose nor utilized within the approved timeline, shall revert to the CLF general fund and be available for grants on other projects. The CLF Executive Committee retains the discretion to extend any timelines for completion. With the exception of designated disaster funds, the donor shall sign a form acknowledging the purpose for which their donation may be used and the provision regarding what happens if the money is not used.

11.There is no matching contribution requirement from the requesting club/district for designated donations.

Please click the button above and fill out the online grant application Or you can download the PDF File below.

Designated Fund Application PDF