SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN BEGINS CHARITY DIRECTORY

The Southeast Missourian newspaper is compiling a list of charitable organizations in the Cape Girardeau area that will be published Saturday, Dec. 26.

This marks the first year for the "Directory of Charities" project.

Editor Joe Sullivan said publishing such a directory makes sense this time of year.

"At the end of the year, a lot of people make decisions about charitable giving," he said.

These decisions may be based on tax considerations or the fact that many charitable organizations receive the bulk of their donations during the holiday season of giving.

Many people give to a number of national reputable organizations.

"But based on the information we've already received there are a lot of local charities that need and deserve consideration," said Sullivan.

All not-for-profit organizations with tax-exempt status are welcome to send information for the listing. These organizations must have federal IRS tax exempt status.

Sullivan said that several groups thought they had this status, but discovered they are only exempt from paying state taxes. "That's not the same thing," he said.

The federal state exempt status allows contributors to claim the donations on their federal tax forms.

The newspaper requests the following information for the directory listing:

-- Name of organization

-- Complete address

-- Phone number

-- Contact person

-- Brief description of organization

-- Photocopy of federal IRS tax-exempt certificate

Organizations are urged to send this information as soon as possible. The deadline for submission is Tuesday.

Information can be mailed to the Southeast Missourian at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701, or faxed to (573) 334-7288. All submissions should be posted to the attention of "Charities."

So far, about 30 charities have submitted information for the directory listing.

"These charities seem to see this as an opportunity to get noticed by potential benefactors," said Sullivan.