Sweet Anticipation: Strawberries

Right now, when frosty mornings are still to be expected, gardeners need to exercise a little patience before thinking about spring planting, even here in the temperate Bay Area. But if you’re already having sweet dreams of strawberries and cream, it’s not too soon to plan your planting: we have our bare root plants and […]

These humble crops will keep you covered

In our mild Bay Area climate, mid-winter can often seem like spring. There are still some important planting tasks at this time of year that you should consider, which will benefit your garden year-round, including planting cover crops. Cover crops are plants whose primary use is improving the soil, rather than as a food source. […]

Foraging for Your Thanksgiving Tablescape

https://youtu.be/ZA5wAwPlqVI Learn how to select and arrange materials from your back yard to create a festive centerpiece that celebrates the beauty of the seaon.  Steven Schwager collects fruits, vegetables, grasses, berries, and flowers to form a delighteful arrangement to adorn your holiday table. 

Planning & Planting Winter Veggies

https://youtu.be/npmZnPhN56s Worried that cooling temperatures spell the end of your vegetable garden? Don’t despair, there are plenty of choices to keep you hauling in harvests even though the days are short. Garden Manager Steven Schwager walks you through the process of selecting, planning, and planting these crops, from garlic to leeks to fava beans. Trade […]

Just add Buzz: Providing for Pollinators

Creating an inviting environment to attract pollinators is a surefire way to ensure you’re getting the maximum yield in your vegetable garden. Honeybees are only the most familiar member of the huge family of bees and wasps, there are many others that play an essential role in pollination. While for many of us, it doesn’t […]

To Pull or Not to Pull?

Fava beans are among spring’s culinary treasures. But they’re also a great way to improve your soil. Many people plant fava beans in the cool winter months here in the Bay Area when they thrive. Since they possess the capacity to fix nitrogen into the soil (through a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria), favas are […]

Kitchen Scrap Gardening

If you’re finding yourself doing some accidental homesteading now that you’re Sheltering in Place, you’re not alone! Many of us are baking bread, getting out in the garden, and finding other ways to stay home and stay occupied in this unusual time. Since we’re lucky to live in a climate when spring arrives early, you […]

A Peck of Peppers for your Paprikash

Whether by chance or by design, MAGC’s Edible Garden boasts a particularly Hungarian-themed pepper crop this year. Our Garden Manager, Steven Schwager, has Hungarian ancestry, which may have played a part in the selection process; however the choice was made, the plants are thriving. Peppers’ spicy heat comes from a chemical called capsaicin, and pepper […]

The Garden School Gets Cooking from the Edible Garden

Our on-site preschool is called the Garden School for a reason: the children spend time out on the grounds almost every day, exploring and discovering the natural world. This fall, they have been helping with the harvest in the Edible Garden, and helping others as well. In September, the preschool students trekked over to the […]

Spring Greens

These early spring days are ideal for growing leafy green crops, which thrive in our Edible Garden. We’ve had to do more watering this year since rainfall has been below average, but the tender lettuces, hardier kales, and leafier herbs are all flourishing this time of year. We have harvested broccoli, lettuce greens, arugula, and […]

IRS Guidelines for Gifts from Donor Advised Funds to Support MAGC Events

Thank you for your interest in giving to the Marin Art & Garden Center events from your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) or Family Foundation.

We sincerely appreciate your generosity and support!

To ensure your gift follows the current IRS guidelines for DAF/Family Foundation support of an event, we would like to share the below guidelines with you.

  • Raffle tickets, tickets to galas and other special events, auction items, and benefits conferred in connection with a DAF/foundation grant are not permitted.
    • IRS has specifically ruled that fair market value associated with fundraising events cannot be separated, a practice known as “bifurcation.”
      • For example, with Edible Garden, if the price of the ticket is $200 and the FMV fair market value (non-tax-deductible amount) is designated to be $50, the donor must pay from sources other than her DAF/foundation for the full value of the ticket ($200) and not just for the non-tax-deductible amount ($50).
    • We recommend you confer with your financial advisor to confirm if any of these examples of how donors may still use their DAF to support an event would work for you:
      • A donor could sponsor the event, and not attend, and pay fully out of the DAF/foundation.
      • A donor could sponsor the event using DAF/foundation funds and attend by purchasing an individual ticket through non-DAF/foundation funds.
      • A donor could sponsor the event, join the event as a guest of another donor/table guest, and pay fully out of the DAF/foundation.
      • A donor could sponsor the event and host the afforded number of people at their chosen level as long as they pay for the seats at the lowest ticket price ($200 for Edible Garden) outside of their DAF.
        • As an example, a $1,500 sponsor that covers 2 guests, could pay for their sponsorship with $400 from a different source of funds, and then give an additional gift of $1,100 out of their DAF.

 

Please email Tod Thorpe, Director of Development at tod.thorpe@maringarden.org to discuss your gift to Marin Art and Garden Center