Giving to the Himalayan Cataract Project

Click here to make your one-time gift. Thank you for choosing Himalayan Cataract Project!

You can make a meaningful impact on our work by joining Himalayan Cataract Project’s Sustainers’ Circle. Instead of making an annual gift, Sustainers make a budget-friendly automatic monthly contribution on a debit or credit card, or bank account transfer. Sustainers provide HCP with steady support, and help us save money by reducing paper use and reducing credit or debit card processing fees.

Your monthly contribution can be in any amount you choose.Your donation will continue uninterrupted until you contact us to make a change.Your debit card or direct bank transfer will be charged on the 1st or 15th of each month.To sign up for an online monthly gift click here: https://www.cureblindness.org/donate/sustainers-circle

Giving appreciated stocks and other securities is a tax-wise way to support Himalayan Cataract Project. For securities held longer than one year, you can deduct their full fair market value, regardless of what you originally paid for them. You also avoid paying capital gains tax.

To make a gift of stock you simply set up a stock transfer via your broker. Once the transfer is complete, HCP sells the stock and puts the proceeds to use supporting our essential programs.

You can make your gift through an electronic transfer through your bank or broker.

Your broker will require instructions from you in order to initiate the transfer. Here's the account information they will need to make the transfer: (link to stock transfer instructions here).

IMPORTANT: Please notify or have your broker notify a member of the HCP Development Office when making a gift, so we may appropriately acknowledge your gift. (Otherwise, we don’t know who the gift is coming from. We’ll want to thank you for your generosity!)

Please contact our Development staff with any questions: giving@cureblindness.org

We encourage you to talk to your tax or financial advisor to better understand the implications of such a gift on your individual tax situation.

As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Himalayan Cataract Project is eligible for many employers' matching gifts programs. Some workplace matching gift programs enable you to double the impact of your donation. Ask your company if it has a matching gift policy, or find out here: https://www.hepdata.com/form-2

If your company is eligible, submit your application through your company's portal, or fill out the employee section of their matching gift form. Matching gift forms may be returned to:

Himalayan Cataract Project
Development Office
P.O. Box 863
Norwich, VT 05055

You may set up a donor-advised fund for the purpose of supporting Himalayan Cataract Project. When you contribute cash, securities or other assets to a donor-advised fund at a public charity, such as your local Community Foundation, you are generally eligible to take an immediate tax deduction. Then those funds may be invested for tax-free growth and you may recommend grants to virtually any IRS-qualified public charity.

Donor-advised funds are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity. For more information on how to set up a Donor Advised Fund, contact your local Community Foundation or HCP’s Development Office at giving@cureblindness.org.

By making a gift of real estate, you can leverage a significant asset for your benefit and for HCP’s. While supporting our mission, you can save on taxes, avoid capital gains tax, and save on gift and estate taxes. Please contact Jeff Lively in HCP’s Legal Office to discuss whether your property qualifies under our gift acceptance policy. jlively@cureblindness.org.

If you are 72 years or older (or 70 ½ if you reached 70 ½ before January 2020), you may make a tax-free gift to Himalayan Cataract Project from your individual retirement account (IRA). Read more about how to make a gift to HCP through an IRA charitable rollover or distribution.

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD), otherwise known as IRA charitable rollovers or IRA gifts, are a great way to support our life-transforming work by allowing your dollars to go further: QCDs may be excluded from your taxable income and qualify towards your required minimum distribution (RMD).

What are the IRA charitable rollover rules? Here's how a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) works:

You must be 72 or older at the time of gifting your IRA to charity; or 70 ½ if you reached 70 ½ before January 1, 2020.You may distribute an amount, up to $100,000 in a calendar year, to one or more public charities, so long as it is completed by December 31 of that year.Your IRA administrator must make the distribution directly to the charity, or you may write a check to the charity from your IRA checkbook. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do not qualify.

Benefits of making an IRA gift

QCDs count toward your required minimum distribution for the year. If you have to take your required minimum distribution but you don't want or need the funds, QCDs are a good way to distribute the amount out of the IRA. As an added benefit, you'll avoid paying income tax on your gross income up to $100,000.

Are there any QCD restrictions?

Per IRS regulations, QCDs cannot be made to a donor advised fund (DAF), charitable remainder trust, or charitable gift annuity. A QCD can be made to your sponsoring 501(c)(3) organization if there are programs that you can fund outside of your DAF. Such purposes include general support for the charity or for other programs they may maintain outside of their role as a DAF sponsor.

For additional information on QCDs and DAFs, please contact your charitable sponsor.

How to make an IRA qualified charitable distribution

Contact your IRA administrator and instruct that person to transfer funds to the charity you designate.Help us credit your gift and thank you by having your IRA administrator include your full name and mailing address on the gift. Also, have your administrator note that the transfer is an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution. We do not encourage restricted gifts.

If you'd like to make a QCD gift, your financial institution should make the check out to "Himalayan Cataract Project" and identify you as the donor by name and address. They may mail the check to:

Himalayan Cataract Project
P.O. Box 863
Norwich, VT 05055

You may make a gift in memory of a loved one by indicating the name of the person you wish to honor by clicking here: https://www.cureblindness.org/donate . If you would like us to send a card notifying someone of your gift, please provide their name and address in the “Leave a Comment” field.

Honorary Gifts

To make a gift in honor of a living friend or loved one, you may do so directly on our donation form by clicking here: https://www.cureblindness.org/donate. Please provide their full name and address in the “Leave a Comment” field so we may inform them of your thoughtful gift made in their honor.

Grateful Patient Program

Many people who have undergone cataract surgery like to pay the gift of sight forward by making a gift to support our work. Please ask your eye care provider if they participate in the Grateful Patient Program and accept donations from their patients who want to provide the gift of sight to someone in need in an under-resourced country. You may also make a donation to the Grateful Patient Program by clicking (here).

Grateful Practice Program

If you are an eye care provider who would like to make a gift to Himalayan Cataract Project on behalf of your practice, or would like to offer your patients the opportunity to give sight-restoring surgery to someone in need, please contact the HCP Development Department. at giving@cureblindness.org to learn more about our Grateful Patient and Grateful Practice Programs.

The HCP Legacy Society honors those special supporters who have provided for our future by including HCP in their estate plans.