Steps to Make a Charitable Gift of Grain
There are specific steps that need to be followed in order to receive the intended tax benefits from a gift of grain. Failure to follow these steps may result in the IRS treating the transaction as a sale by the farmer resulting in a contribution of cash, rather than as a contribution of grain. As a donor, you will need to take the following steps to ensure that ownership of the gifted grain is transferred prior to sale and you receive recognition of your gift:
- Contact:
Warren Sperry, Director of Development The Edgar County Community Foundation at 217-251-3185 or wj.sperry@frontier.com. - Complete the Letter from the Producer Regarding a Gift of Grain form, notifying us that you are making a gift of grain. Indicate the quantity and type of grain being contributed. Send the letter to:
The Edgar County Community Foundation
177 W. Wood Street
P. O. Box 400
Paris, IL 61944 - When you deliver the gifted grain to the local elevator, tell the grain elevator to issue a storage receipt in the name of the Edgar County Community Foundation. The storage receipt is the evidence that ownership of the grain was transferred from the farmer to The ECCF. Send the storage receipt to the ECCF at the address in Step 2.
- Instruct the grain elevator that it must send the contract to sell the grain to the Edgar County Community Foundation for signature. The contract can be mailed to the address in Step 2 or faxed to the attention of Marla Coffman at (217) 465-6499. If the elevator does not use written contracts for grain sales, ask the ECCF to provide you with a completed Instruction to Grain Elevator for Gift of Grain form. Because the ECCF is the owner of the grain following the gift, the producer may not instruct the elevator to sell the grain.
- Remind the grain elevator to issue the check for the sale of the grain to the Edgar County Community Foundation and send the check to the address in Step 2.