Several chapters have recently inquired about sending pre-paid gift cards to Pouch Cottage.

When making donations to Pouch Cottage as with other non-profits, chapters are responsible to be reasonably assured the donation is expended for the intended purpose.  The best method for this is to purchase the items and send directly to Tamassee DAR School, indicating in an enclosed letter that the items are for Pouch Cottage.

Gift cards are considered “cash” and sending gift cards to the school provides no assurance the cards will be used for the intended purpose. For example, if the intended purpose was for a child to purchase pajamas, anyone could make a purchase for any item using the gift card. There are no safeguards against the cards being misused, lost, or stolen.

Cash donations for DAR-approved schools are to be sent to the NSDAR Friends of DAR Schools program using Development Form DEV-1003. This grant system has established so the approved DAR schools may apply for funds from the Friends program by including details of the project and how the students are benefitting, as well as providing other required documentation of results/actions.

The established State Society process for cash donations to Pouch Cottage requires that donations be made via the State Society as unrestricted so pre-approval is obtained from the State Board of Directors before expenditures are made by Pouch Cottage. Unrestricted donations also enable the State Society to send donations to Pouch Cottage to be used for specific needs.

Chapters may donate needed/requested items that have been identified by Pouch Cottage without restriction. Purchasing items and mailing them to Pouch Cottage helps ensure that children are benefitting from the specific items requested.

Gayle Mooney
State Treasurer
Treasurer@californiadar.org