Hi, It’s me again. I’m wondering if you, personally, or your business, has any room or need to off-set your tax bill for 2012 by making a charitable donation to Girls Rock SB!? Legal Zoom and Turbo Tax both list charitable donations as one of the top 10 ways to reduce your federal income tax. Turbo Tax states:

“Make Charitable Contributions
You can make year-end gifts to charity with cash or with appreciated securities. If you donate appreciated securities (like stocks), you can take a deduction for the current fair market value.

If you decide to make gifts in cash, you can simply write a check. Or you can put the amount on a credit card in December, pay the bill when it arrives in 2032 and deduct the donation in 2012. Either way, you must submit a letter of acknowledgment from the charity, showing the date of the gift, the amount, and whether you received any tangible benefit in exchange, such as a thank you gift.”

Here are 5 reasons why donating to Girls Rock SB! is worth your money!!

1. We are unique! We are the only non-profit in Santa Barbara County which SOLE focus is girls in music.

2. In first grade girls and boys self-esteem is mostly on the same level, however as girls get older their self esteem decreases while boys increase or plateaus. The New York Times references a study by the American Association of University Women that states,

“Girls emerge from adolescence with a poor self-image, relatively low expectations from life and much less confidence in themselves and their abilities than boys, a study to be made public today has concluded.Confirming earlier studies that were smaller and more anecdotal, this survey of 3,000 children found that at the age of 9 a majority of girls were confident, assertive and felt positive about themselves. But by the time they reached high school fewer than a third felt that way.
The survey, commissioned by the American Association of University Women, found that boys, too, lost some sense of self-worth, but they ended up far ahead of the girls.
For example, when elementary school boys were asked how often they felt “happy the way I am,” 67 percent answered ‘always.’ By high school, 46 percent still felt that way. But with girls, the figures dropped from 60 percent to 29 percent. Race as a Factor
‘It’s really quite staggering to see that this is still going on,’ said Myra Sadker, a professor at American University in Washington, who has spent most of the last decade studying the way teachers treat girls in the classroom. ‘No one has taken such a large-scale look at self-esteem before, but we have known of this issue for years. And here you see that it is not going away.’”
It is imperative to make sure we support young girls. This is our mission at Girls Rock SB!

3. We are operating with very low overhead and plan to stay this way! That means that your donation goes directly towards funding this program. More specifically, It goes towards scholarships for low-income families and musical instruments ( since none of our programs require the girls to own an instrument.)

4. It’s YOUR money, you earned it, don’t you think you should have a say where it goes? Investing in your local community , Brooklyn-based financial journalist, Amy Cortese, put’s it this way: “there’s something called the local multiplier effect. It’s an economics term for the fact that when you spend a dollar at a locally owned business, it generates three times the local economic impact than if you spent that same dollar at a non-local business, like a corporate chain. That’s because the money is circulating locally and creating jobs locally. That’s the whole idea behind local investing. You can make a return on your money, but you’re also benefiting your local community.”

5. Smartmoney.com says:
The Tax Perks of Charitable Giving:
Donating cash or other goods to charity can save you a bundle on your taxes!

That’s it folks, 5 reasons you should consider a charitable donation to Girls Rock SB! This year. Please keep us in mind as we approach the end of 2012.

To Donate please make checks payable to:
Arts Without Limits ( Our Umbrella Non-profit)

send to: 230 Mesa Verde Dr
Santa Barbara, CA 93110

In gratitude & love,
Jen Baron
Executive Director Girls Rock SB!
pnnylane@hotmail.com
805-861-8128
http://www.girlsrocksb.org