As the heart of the Portage community, the Library serves as a central hub for information, cultural enrichment, research, programs for all ages, a collection of local historical artifacts & records, and a place that provides access to technology. Please help us continue the Library’s remarkable tradition of extraordinary resources and services?
On this page, you will find answers to any questions you may have about various giving opportunities. Please take a moment to explore this site, and then feel free to contact the Library Director, Christy Klien, or call (269) 585-8721 to discuss how you can make a difference with a gift to the Library.
How do my Gifts make an Impact?
The Portage District Library has long provided residents with an opportunity to fulfill their wants and needs for information, entertainment, life-long learning, self-reliance, and enlightenment. The Library’s Fundraising Program was established to help enhance the Library’s district-wide programs and services that are funded through local tax dollars. Your involvement can help ensure quality library service for future generations.
Donation Instructions
To give, please print and fill out our donation form and mail it or bring it to the Library or click the donate button below to give online.
Grandmother and CIG Endowment Fund:
an Endowment for Portage District Library’s Youth Services Area
Your assistance is crucial for the Portage District Library to maintain and advance its quality Youth Service programs and collections. Donations to the Grandmother and CIGEndowment Fund are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. Our goal is to grow this endowment fund and generate annual earnings that can be used to expand special activities, projects, programs, and learning opportunities for youth, as well as to develop special youth collections and reading resources and to sponsor a youth author visit to the Library. In this way, we hope to enrich the lives of children in the Portage Community and the surrounding region.
You can make a donation to the Grandmother and CIG Endowment Fund through the administering agency, by sending it to:
Kalamazoo Community Foundation
Grandmother and CIG Endowment Fund
402 E Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
(269) 381-4416
info@kalfound.org
Annual Campaign
Most libraries depend to some degree on the financial support of individuals and businesses to supplement the income that they get from local taxes, fines & fees, state aid, and federal grants. The Portage District Library is no exception. The Library has benefited from the gifts of many generous donors who have recognized the value of the Library and wanted to support it. Each year, during the month of November, the Library sends out an Annual Appeal to library patrons and shares information about how donations made to the Library are used to enhance resources, programs, and services. By making a monetary donation, you will enable the Library to go beyond the basics that tax dollars can provide and to move into the realm of extraordinary resources and services. With donor dollars we are able to engage in more innovative and creative programming; purchase additional materials for the collections; acquire new technology that benefits library users, and explore collaborative opportunities that will have a positive impact on the Library and the people we serve. Please remember that all contributions to the Library are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Memorial Donations to Honor with Books and Media
Celebrate, remember, or acknowledge a person, an occasion, or an accomplishment by funding the purchase of a book, CD, or DVD in the Portage District Library’s collections. A commemorative label will be affixed to the item purchased with your monetary gift before it is placed in the collection. You may designate a specific subject matter if you wish and indicate the preferred placement of the material in any service area of the Library, such as Adult Services, the Business Information Center, the Heritage Room, or Youth Services.
Your gift to the Portage District Library to celebrate, honor, or commemorate, is tax-deductible in accordance with applicable IRS rules. Upon receipt of your gift, the Portage District Library will send you a thank you acknowledgment letter for your tax records and will send a corresponding notification letter to anyone else at your request.
For more information about memorial donations, please call Quyen Edwards, Assistant to the Director, at (269) 585-8701 or email her.
Planned Gifts
A planned gift can be structured to fulfill a long-desired philanthropic interest and may also allow you to increase income, save taxes, and make a legacy gift to the Portage District Library that might not otherwise be possible. For more information on arranging a planned gift to the Library, call Christy Klien, Library Director, at (269) 585-8721 or email her.
Support Summer Reading
Are you a local business looking for ways to get involved in the community? Consider contributing gift certificates and/or coupons as incentive prizes for youth who participate in Portage District Library’s Summer Reading Programs. These incentive prizes help motivate children, teens, and adults to read throughout the summer – contributing to a more literate community.
With more than 3,000 Summer Reading Club participants every year, the publicity exposure and benefit for businesses who make donations as sponsors are quite significant. For more information about the Library’s Summer Reading Program and sponsorship donations, please call Laura Wright, Head of Youth Services at (269) 585-8723, or email her. All Summer Reading Program sponsors are publicly recognized.