Support NHLP

Donor support is vitally important to NHLP

Your gift to NHLP provides us with the capacity to respond to emerging housing issues in a timely and effective manner. In the past year, unrestricted funding from individual donors allowed NHLP to move quickly in response to the urgent problems wrought by the foreclosure crisis. Even as we sought support from institutional funders for this ongoing, critical work, our donors allowed NHLP to provide timely assistance to advocates, to convene a Housing Justice Network forum, and to explore issues with a particular impact on the poor, such as the alarming number of low-income tenants caught in the crossfire of foreclosure. In the coming year, support from our donors will enable NHLP to address the urgent issues of the day and to act on new opportunities for policy advocacy with the new Administration.

When you donate to NHLP, one of eight organizations worldwide recognized in 2007 for its outstanding effectiveness and creativity by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, you can feel assured that your gift will be used wisely. Go to awards for more information about the MacArthur Award.

There are many ways that you can support NHLP.

As an individual or family, you can:

• Forward a cash or credit card gift of unrestricted support by mail to our Oakland offices: NHLP, 614 Grand Avenue, Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94610.

• Make a convenient donation to NHLP online at Network for Good.

• Donate stock. Stock donations are a tax-smart gift strategy that advances housing justice. To donate your stock to NHLP, please direct your broker to contact our development director, Susan Stern, at 510-251-9400, Ext. 3110.

• Make a memorial gift. You can honor the memory of a housing rights advocate with your gift to NHLP. Simply designate the individual that you choose to honor on your check or credit card form and your gift will be so noted in our annual donor brochure.

• Foster new housing advocates with a gift to the David B. Bryson and Sylvia M. Brennan Memorial Funds. NHLP established these permanent funds in 2006 to honor our former colleagues, each of whom was highly respected by NHLP’s staff and colleagues in the larger world of housing justice. Support provided by the Bryson family helped launch the David Bryson Student Internship program in 2007 and continues to sustain the student internship program at our Oakland offices. Ongoing donor support will allow NHLP ultimately to establish fellowships in honor of Mr. Bryson and Ms. Brennan. To support the growth of a new generation of public interest housing attorneys with a gift designated for the David B. Bryson or Sylvia M. Brennan Memorial Funds, download a brochure and giving form.

• Make a planned gift. Establish an estate plan that reflects your values with a planned gift—a bequest, an annuity, a trust—to benefit NHLP. Your financial advisor can help you with a strategy that is appropriate for your estate.

• Make a gift when you shop online. You can turn your online shopping into philanthropy at www.igive.com and direct any of the 654 participating merchants to benefit NHLP when you make your regular purchases from them.

In the workplace, you can:

• Participate in your employer’s matching funds program to multiply the impact of your gift. Please check with your employer to see if your gift or a gift by your spouse qualifies for a matching contribution.

• Donate through the United Way. The United Way’s workplace giving campaigns allow donors to designate any 501(c)3 organization, even a nonprofit outside of the local United Way chapter’s affiliate network, to be a designated recipient of gifts made through the local campaign. United Way also allows you to make affordable incremental payroll deductions throughout the year. Your employer may match United Way pledges, further increasing the impact of your support.

• Participate in the Combined Federal Campaign if you are a federal employee or serving in our military services. NHLP is a registered recipient for funds from the CFC. Use NHLP’s charity code #10447 on your CFC contribution form.

Cy Pres Awards

NHLP is well-suited to be a cy pres award recipient. Cy pres awards arise from class action lawsuits and are monies that are not directly distributable to the members of the suit. Courts may approve cy pres awards in cases where all of the class members cannot be located or when a direct grant is negotiated, in lieu of a payment of damages, to an entity that will vindicate class action members’ rights in the future.

NHLP is an excellent choice to receive cy pres awards. NHLP engages in diverse initiatives that advance the housing rights, and better the quality of life, of low-income people. NHLP is a particularly appropriate recipient for a cy pres award if a client’s values relate to advancing the basic right to housing, alleviation of poverty or the civil rights of low-income people.

Make a gift today.

Your support carries us forward. Together, we can make housing justice a reality for all.

For more information about how you can support NHLP, contact our Development Director, Susan Stern, at (510) 251-9400 Ext. 3110 or by email at sstern@nhlp.org.

Support NHLP

Last updated 08/30/2009