San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation, Inc.

Mission

The Kiwanis Club of San Diego works in concert with the San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation, Inc. (the ‘Foundation’).  The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) foundation incorporated in California that annually provides more than $250,000 to projects and organizations in the community.

The primary purpose of the San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation is to provide a means for members and others to provide charitable contributions and to ensure those contributions are utilized in accordance with the Foundation’s guidelines as well as state and federal law.

Annual Member Contributions

We appreciate the spirit of volunteerism and support for the Foundation by all members of the Kiwanis Club and hope you will help us reach 100% participation in our 2023-2024 pledge drive. Please send your annual contribution to the Foundation by clicking on the Donation button below.

Team Budgets

Each year the Kiwanis Club teams prepare their annual budgets and these budgets are presented to the Kiwanis Club Board of Directors. The Club board then proposes a budget to the Foundation board to meet the team requests.

The Foundation board reviews the charitable requests and approves those requests that meet the guidelines for appropriate use of those funds.

Guidelines For Use of Foundation Funds

Funds of the San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation must be used for charitable, educational, religious or other youth related activities, as provided by the Bylaws of the Kiwanis Club and the Foundation, and must also be consistent with provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the California Revenue and Taxation Code to preserve the Foundation’s tax-exempt status.  These are general guidelines – reasonable variations may be considered by the Foundation Trustees.

• Funds should be used primarily for charitable purposes involving the Club, Club teams and Club members, rather than being a conduit for contributions to other worthy community causes.
• Generally, priority should be given to using funds for projects where the assistance of other agencies is not readily available.
• To permit maximum use of funds granted, emphasis should be more on donations to groups and less on individuals.
• Generally, funds should be applied to advance the goals, aims or objectives of the individual or group donee, rather than be used for administrative expenses.
• A specific objective for the use of funds is more desirable that a broader one.
• The use of funds should be limited primarily to the geographic area of the County of San Diego, but may be applied to other geographic locations as determined by the Foundation Trustees.
• Donation recipients should be required to provide public recognition of the fact that the Club and Foundation are the source of the donation when feasible; this is particularly the case when capital donations are made and a plaque of acknowledgment may be appropriate. The Club and Foundation may be reluctant to make a contribution where this is not possible.
• Scholarship awards will be made under the supervision of the Scholarship Team, following the Foundation’s criteria and guidelines.
• Funds may not be given to or used for individual Club or Foundation members or their relatives.
• Except in unusual circumstances, contributions to government agencies should be avoided.
• Contributions for capital improvements should be infrequent.

Team member requests for foundation funds or expense reimbursement should be in writing on the following forms and submitted to info@kiwanisclubsandiego.org.

Link to Check Request + Reimbursement Form 

2023-2024 Officers

Gordon Boerner, President

Claire LeBeau, Vice President

Karina Sousa, Secretary / Treasurer & CFO

Board of Trustees:

Kiwanis Club President, Steve Morris

Scholarship Chair, Brittany Curran