Donations - Opportunities for Giving

There are many ways to donate your time and/or your talents to the Southern Oregon Chapter of the American Red Cross.

When you give to the Red Cross, you help your community.

Whether helping at the scene of a fire, providing emergency shelter from storms or other natural disaster, teaching lifesaving CPR and First Aid skills, or providing emergency communication services for military members and their families, your Southern Oregon Chapter is keeping families healthy and safe.

Because the American Red Cross is not a government agency, we rely primarily on the generosity of our local residents and businesses to fund our vital programs. And, thanks to the help of hundreds of volunteers, we are able to maximize every dollar donated.

Thank you for helping the Southern Oregon Chapter help others.

To Donate Online: Click the donate button on the top of any webpage, or click the link here.

To Donate by Phone with a Credit or Debit Card:  Please call the Chapter Headquarters in Medford at (541) 779-3773 or 1-800-433-9285.

To Donate by Mail with a Check or Money Order: For Jackson, Josephine and Curry Counties:  Please make your check payable to American Red Cross, Southern Oregon Chapter, and mail to:

American Red Cross, Southern Oregon Chapter

60 Hawthorne Street

Medford, OR 97504

For Klamath and Lake Counties: Please make your check payable to American Red Cross, Southern Oregon Chapter, and mail to:

American Red Cross, Klamath-Lake District

925 High Street

Klamath Falls, OR 97601

Memorial or Honorarium: You may designate your gift in memory or in honor of someone. An acknowledgment letter can be sent notifying them of your gift.

Matching Gift: If your company has a matching gift program, you can double your gift to Red Cross. For information on this contact your company's human resource department.

Gifts In-Kind: The Southern Oregon Chapter does not accept donations of food or clothing for victims of disaster. However, in times of large national disasters, we do accept gifts in-kind that are appropriate to our mission; generally these are large quantities of goods direct from the manufacturer. Please call the chapter at (541) 779-3773 for more information. For smaller donations of food and clothing, please contact your local Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul, or food pantry.

All donations are tax deductible

Planned Giving

Time to Update Your Estate Plan?

What did you do on New Year's Day? Sleep late? Watch football games on television? Review your estate plan?

Oddly enough, there are people who see the start of a new year as a time not just for rest and resolutions but also for reviewing and updating plans for the coming months and years - including their wills and other documents. Birthdays or other holidays can serve equally well as annual review dates.

Your lawyer undoubtedly drafted your original estate plan based on existing conditions, laws, asset values, planning techniques, financial needs and objectives. All these factors can and do change from time to time. Your will or other documents must change with them. You may need a codicil (amendment), or you may need to completely rewrite your will.

To be safe, take the time at least once a year to review your will or living trust in light of your present circumstances. Are the people I named in my will all still alive? Have my plans been affected by marriages or divorces? Have I moved to a different state since my will was drafted? Is my executor still able and willing to serve? Have new assets come into my estate? Has my "death tax" situation changed?

You also should ask your lawyer to look at your will at least every two years, whether or not you think you want to make changes. State law revisions, new tax pitfalls or opportunities and new financial considerations make periodic legal reviews well worthwhile. Watch for major estate tax changes after the November elections.

As you review your plans, please remember that your will can contribute to a healthier society if you include a bequest to the American Red Cross. A simple codicil (amendment) often is all that's needed.

Helping the Red Cross Outside Your Will

We encourage all our friends to review their wills this year, or to have their wills made, and to consider adding a bequest to the American Red Cross. But even if you do not need to make or change your will, that doesn't mean that you can't include the Red Cross in your estate plans. Each of the following ideas allows you to provide for the Red Cross without a codicil (amendment) or a new will, and each can provide your estate with a charitable deduction.

Financial accounts: People who have financial accounts at banks, savings and loan associations and credit unions generally may direct that their deposits (checking, savings, share accounts, certificates of deposit) be paid on death to a particular individual - or to a charity. The designation can be revoked any time prior to death and in no way affects the depositor's control over the funds in the account. Ask the manager at your financial institution how these beneficiary designations may be accomplished. In many areas they are referred to as "P.O.D." (pay on death) accounts.

Brokerage accounts: If you have stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares in brokerage accounts, it is possible to name the American Red Cross as "TOD" (transfer on death) beneficiary. You would maintain full control over the account during life. Ask your broker about this option.

Retirement plan benefits: Death benefits from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), or a qualified retirement plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, usually result in income taxes for one's heirs or estate. Because the Red Cross is tax exempt, it may make sense to name us as death beneficiary and bequeath other assets, not burdened with income tax, to family beneficiaries. Except for IRA gifts, a spouse's consent will be necessary if the donor is married.

Life insurance: You might make the Red Cross the primary or partial beneficiary of an old policy that is no longer needed for family security. Simply ask the insurance company for the forms necessary to change the beneficiary or to transfer ownership in the policy to our name. Or we can be named the contingent beneficiary, should your primary beneficiary die before you.

Revocable living trust: Many people who have living trusts don't realize that it's also possible to make gifts to the American Red Cross through their trusts, both during life and upon death.

We hope that you will include the American Red Cross in your estate plan - and that you will inform us of your plans, so we may express our appreciation.

For information on planned giving to the American Red Cross, call Barbara Deurwaarder toll free at 866-315-5255, or 503-863-0151, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

You can also find information on the Red Cross website; by clicking here.