Community
10
2025
Really Making A Difference With A Required Minimum Distribution
Sheri Tonn in front of a Communities for a Healthy Bay patrol boat in 2004
- Sheri Tonn in front of a Communities for a Healthy Bay patrol boat in 2004
With limited dollars and staff, Pierce County nonprofits really make a difference. That’s why Sheri Tonn and her husband, Jeff, chose to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution with the Required Minimum Distribution from their IRA.
As a co-founder and long-time Board Member of Communities for a Healthy Bay, Sheri Tonn has seen the impact nonprofits can have in building a thriving Pierce County. In the early 1990’s Sheri and Communities for a Healthy Bay played a key role in overseeing the Superfund cleanup of Commencement Bay. “As a chemist I was really interested in seeing the bay and the land around it cleaned up. And with CHB we’ve been able to make a big difference to the health of the Bay, and the health of the critters living in the bay, and that is good for the health of all the people that live around the Bay as well.”
Sheri Tonn speaks with a local reporter at a 1994 “Bay Day” event with CHB, then known as Citizens for a Healthy Bay
More than thirty years later, Communities for a Healthy Bay continues to protect Commencement Bay, South Puget Sound, and the areas around them through environmental policy advocacy, community education and volunteer programs. They engage people of all ages to play take action for clean air, safe water and a healthy future. Communities for a Healthy Bay also operates a unique boat-based patrol program that helps keep a watchful eye on the bay by monitoring water quality, investigating pollutions threats, and ensuring compliance with environmental policies.
“Local nonprofits play a huge role community improvement that goes far beyond dollars, but they do need dollars to exist.”
Seeing that impact is a big reason Sheri and her husband Jeff have continued to provide financial support to Communities for a Healthy Bay for the past 35 years. They support a number of other Pierce County area nonprofits every year as well. “Our biggest philanthropic goal is to support a stronger Tacoma-Pierce County community,” Sheri explained. “Local nonprofits play a huge role community improvement that goes far beyond dollars, but they do need dollars to exist.”
With that in mind, Sheri took advantage of an opportunity to really make a difference this year with her Required Minimum Distribution. The IRS requires people age 73 and older to take annual Required Minimum Distributions from tax-deferred savings accounts, like IRAs. Since Sheri didn’t need the income from the required distribution this year, she planned to transfer it to their Donor-Advised Fund where she could use it to make grants over time.
What Sheri didn’t realize is that this plan, while well-intentioned, was going to result in tax implications that could impact her and also reduce the amount of money available for her to contribute to the organizations she ultimately planned to support. When she reached out to GTCF Senior Legacy Fellow, Doug Page, to talk about her idea, he suggested a different approach.
“I was headed toward doing something taxable and GTCF helped steer me toward a better option.” Sheri recalls her conversation with Doug. “He said I’ve got bad news and good news. The bad news is what you want to do isn’t going to work, but the good news is the solution I’m going to show you will.”
“GTCF can help them work out a solution that will fit their needs year to year and really make a difference for the nonprofits they want to contribute to each year as well.”
Sheri and Jeff Tonn (front right & back right) at an auction benefitting Communities for a Healthy Bay
What Doug helped explain to Sheri was that transferring the money to her Donor-Advised Fund wouldn’t be recognized by the IRS as a Qualified Charitable Distribution. Qualified Charitable Distributions allow people to make tax-free donations directly from and Individual Retirement Account (or other tax-deferred accounts) to a qualified charity. These donations could fulfill part or all of an annual Required Minimum Distribution while also helping support a thriving community.
The solution Doug laid out was to set up a Designated Fund that could name up to 5 organizations as direct beneficiaries. The funds from Sheri’s IRA would go to that Designated Fund and GTCF would direct them straight to the organizations she named as beneficiaries.
Doug described the flexibility this type of Qualified Charitable Distribution provides. “People might need some or all of the income from their Required Minimum Distribution in certain years, and in other years they might prefer to donate it. GTCF can help them work out a solution that will fit their needs year to year and really make a difference for the nonprofits they want to contribute to each year as well.”
For Sheri, the Qualified Charitable Distribution, “allowed me to give to several organizations I already support regularly” including Emergency Food Network, United Way of Pierce County, Tacoma Community House, Pacific Bonsai Museum, and American Chemical Society – Puget Sound Section.
Local youth participate in a free kayak session with CHB where they learn about Commencement Bay’s history and marine life in addition to kayaking skills.
Today, there are walking paths and parks along the shores of Commencement Bay. People kayak, paddleboard, and even swim in its waters. That’s something Sheri dreamed of being possible back in the 1990s. “The bay is such an important resource for this region and it’s rewarding to see the work CHB and the whole community has done to keep it clean, healthy, and accessible for everyone.”
This kind of transformation is an example of how nonprofits can really make a difference when all kinds of donors, like Sheri, make long-term investments to support their work in building a thriving Pierce County now and into the future.
To learn more about how you can really make a difference with your Required Minimum Distribution check out GTCF’s Age of Impact Resources page with an RMD calculator and a Guide for IRA Charitable Giving Options
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