Working together to build community
At The Meetinghouse, we believe partnership is essential to the flourishing of people and place. We are blessed to partner with the Ridgefield, CT community and beyond through three distinct forms of collaboration:
Programs, Rental, and Funding.
Types of partnerships
Rental
Collaborative Rental Partners with whom we share space, thereby providing commons, inside and out, for friends and neighbors to gather.
Programs
Programmatic Partners, where we collaborate with a variety of organizations for events, retreats, workshops and gatherings.
Funding
Funding Partners without whom the magic could not happen.
Become a Partner
Gather, grow and flourish with us—body, mind, and soul! Connect with us!
Coffee Shop
Coming Summer of 2024
Farm & Garden
Art & Wellness
Collaborative Rental Partners
Collaborative Rental Partners with whom we share space, thereby providing commons, inside and out, for friends and neighbors to gather. Our collaborative rental partners include:
Art in Common uses the power of art to bring communities together and foster connection. By focusing on what we have in common, instead of our differences, Art in Common promotes creativity, community, and compassion through the expressive arts. We will be sharing programs and exhibits with Art in Common in their location at The Meetinghouse on the 2nd floor.
To learn more: https://www.artincommon.
Coming soon:
Cornerstone Home & Gardens began as Cornerstone Garden at McKeon’s Farm during the summer of 2018 with a handful of team members and part-time therapists.
Cornerstone currently runs an educational gardening experience for community members including over 50 volunteers and donates freshly grown produce as part of the Ridgefield “Dirty Hands, Full Plates” initiative. In becoming part of The Meetinghouse, one house, many rooms, Cornerstone’s goal is to expand and create additional programs with year-round facilities and services for individuals with a variety of diagnoses. Cornerstone will take residence upon completion of the Barn’s construction.
To learn more: https://
Programmatic Partners
Programmatic Partners, where we collaborate with a variety of organizations for events, retreats, workshops and gatherings. Our programmatic partners include:
The Arts
Community
Ruby’s
Community Pantry
Ridgefield, CT
The Land
West Lane Farm
Leadership & Wisdom
Global Initiatives
Funding Partners
Funding Partners without whom the magic could not happen. These wondrous foundations, grantors, and individuals support us in a variety of ways: Restoration and long-term care of our historic campus; maintenance of the wetlands and extending of the pollinator pathways; exploratory projects to support the environment, strengthen community and grow future leaders; and on-going programming for the arts, community, the land, leadership & spirituality, and global initiatives.
Local
The Lewis Fund
The Patricia M. and Robert H. Martinsen Foundation
Friends of the Meetinghouse
State
Innovation Grant, Connecticut Conference, UCC
National
Casa Grant, UCC
International
Genesis Fund, UCC
Seed Money Grant
We invite you to join us in becoming a partner today!
Gather, grow and flourish with us—body, mind, and soul!
Connect with us!
Ways to Donate
At The Meetinghouse, we are one house, many rooms. Whether you join us for the arts, community, farm & food, formation or wellness, in person gifts are always welcome. As a 501c3 charity, they are tax deductible, and support the long-term mission of The Meetinghouse to restore the commons and provide a gathering space for the community.
Checks can be mailed directly to The Meetinghouse:
The Meetinghouse
605 Ridgebury Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Checks are recorded on the postmark date on the envelope.
If your bank has automated bill paying (i.e. JP Morgan/Chase) you can set up The Meetinghouse to receive electronically generated checks, allowing you an easier way to be systematic in your giving.
Remember, in order to receive the appropriate documentation you need for tax purposes your name and address must be clearly identifiable on your check. For gifts made by mail at year-end, IRS regulations require that the postmark stamped on your envelope bear the same year as that for which you intend to receive credit for the gift. We are precluded by law from crediting in December any gift received by mail postmarked in January of the subsequent year.
Gift Online via electronic check or credit card. The Meetinghouse pays 1.5% to 2.5% of merchant fees for each credit or debit card gift with AMEX credit card gift on the upper end. Please consider using electronic check when making large gifts. You can give to us by PayPal. This system allows you to, not only give a one-time gift, but you are also able to create an account, and set up a schedule with automatic reoccurring donations at a frequency of your choice.
Many companies match employees’ gifts to charitable programs, and there are certain areas of our work, such as The Meetinghouse, that meet many companies’ requirements for matching gift programs. If you know your company has a matching gift program, or believe they might, please contact the individual at your company who handles matching gifts to obtain any paperwork on your company’s policy and your eligibility as an employee. In the event that The Meetinghouse needs to complete any paperwork, or confirm completed donations, please direct all requests to:
Deborah Rundlett
Deborah@Meetinghouse.life
(203) 748-2806
The Meetinghouse
605 Ridgebury Rd.
Ridgefield, CT 06877
.
You can donate appreciated securities – stock, mutual funds, bonds, ADRs (American Depository Receipts), and other ‘property’ – and often times receive a greater tax benefit than you would receive as compared to selling the appreciated securities and then donating cash. Donations of appreciated securities are recorded as a charitable gift at the appreciated amount. Also, by donating appreciated securities you can avoid recording a capital gain in the security (assuming the investment has appreciated and that you have held the asset for more than one year). You should check with a tax professional before initiating any transfer of securities. If you would like to donate securities you can initiate the transfer through your broker, in consultation with our Investments team. Please contact our Director Deborah Rundlett for more information (Deborah@Meetinghouse.life) if you are considering this kind of gift so that we can understand how you would like this gift to be utilized and send you a tax receipt in a timely manner.
For gifts of securities, please note that it may take four to five business days from
the time your broker initiates a stock transfer to THE MEETINGHOUSE until the
settlement date when the proceeds are credited to THE MEETINGHOUSE’s
account and recognized as a gift.
You can make a gift to The Meetinghouse via a Donor Advised Fund, such as Fidelity Charitable Giving. Please keep in mind that your tax receipt will be issued by the Fund, not The Meetinghouse. We will include any Donor Advised Fund gifts on your contribution statement, under the ‘non-tax deductible’ section. Please advise the Donor Advised Fund with the instruction of which fund the gift is intended.
Ridgebury Congregational Church, fiscal sponsor of The Meetinghouse is registered as an eligible charity with PayPal Giving Fund. Donations can be made from an individual’s PayPal account dashboard by navigating to ‘Donate to
a Cause’ and then finding ‘Ridgebury Congregational Church’ via the searchable database of charities. Donations can also be made using this direct link. Please note that you will not receive a tax receipt from THE MEETINGHOUSE for donations made via this program, as all donations are made by PayPal Giving Fund. Donations from PayPal Giving Fund may take 15-45 days to process, so please contact us at Deborah@Meetinghouse.life should you make a donation close to year end so that we can be sure to include your gift in our annual giving reports.As a 501c3, gifts to The Meetinghouse (through Ridgebury Congregational Church) are fully tax deductible.
As a 501c3, gifts to The Meetinghouse (through Ridgebury Congregational Church) are fully tax deductible.
No Gift Is Too Small!