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Giving Options

Preserving and protecting the Fourteeners is expensive due to the remote places where CFI works and the need to hire experienced leaders to run our trail and restoration projects. A newly rerouted summit trail can cost up to $2,000,000 and take six years to complete.

Give by Check
An old-school paper check is a very efficient form of donating—especially for large gifts—since there is no transaction fee, as occurs with credit card donations. Send checks to CFI’s office address listed below in the Contact Us section. Please make all checks payable to “Colorado Fourteeners Initiative.”

Donate Online
Your online gift provides crucial financial support to CFI’s work this year protecting the peaks and educating Fourteener hikers.

  • Make a one-time gift
  • Set up a recurring gift to provide CFI with a stable income stream month after month
  • Make your gift a memorial or tribute gift, if you so choose

Employer Matching Gifts
Many employers will match your individual gift to CFI dollar for dollar. It is a painless way to increase the impact of your gift on CFI’s important Fourteener-related projects and programs. Check to see whether your employer has a matching gift program. If so, complete the matching gift form and mail it to CFI. We do the rest.

Donate Stocks, Bonds, or Mutual Funds
Gifts of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other appreciated assets provide CFI with crucial operating revenues to support the programs you care about. These gifts may also provide other tax advantages, including avoiding capital gains taxes.

Make and IRA Charitable Distribution
Individual retirement account (IRA) owners age 70½ and older can make up to $105,000 in tax-free charitable donations during 2024 through qualified charitable distributions. (The limit changes periodically due to inflation). For those age 73 or older, qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) also count toward the year’s required minimum distribution (RMD). IRA owners should contact their IRA trustee to initiate a direct contribution. 

Donate a Vehicle
 CFI can use your old vehicle, running or not, by either driving or selling it. Both giving options are tax deductible and save you the hassle of selling or disposing of your vehicle. For inoperable vehicles, we will tow your car, boat, motorcycle, etc. away from any road free of charge. All you have to do is contact us!

Make an Endowment Gift
Endowments invest donations to provide long-term support for important programs. CFI’s 25th Anniversary “25 for 25” campaign in 2019 kick-started CFI’s General Endowment, which had grown to $400,000 by the end of 2024. Learn more about how to make a lasting impact. Distributions from the Kimberly Appelson Memorial Endowed Fund and the Nicholas Feinstein Memorial Endowed Fund annually support entry level apprenticeships to grow the next generation of conservation professionals. Consult staff regarding requirements for starting an endowed fund to support your favorite CFI program. 

Make a Legacy Gift
Leave a legacy of mountain protection for future generations to enjoy by remembering CFI in your will. Or, name CFI as a beneficiary on a life insurance policy or retirement account. Bequests allow most people to make far larger gifts than they would normally be able to afford. Bequests also cost nothing during your lifetime. Unless otherwise directed by the donor, any planned gift received is placed in the general endowment to support CFI’s future work protecting the 14ers.

Shop Online
A growing list of online companies allow a portion of your purchase to be directed as a gift to CFI, including iGive.com. Donations to CFI are small, but they cost you nothing. Check out this list of brands that sell Fourteener-themed products that give back to CFI.

Combined Federal Campaign
Federal employees in Colorado can support CFI’s work protecting the Fourteeners —most of which are located on public land— through their workplace Combined Federal Campaign. CFI’s CFC number is: 58209.

Regardless of how you choose to give, any and all gifts to CFI have a direct impact on protecting and preserving the Fourteeners for future hikers and climbers to enjoy.