Types of Funds

Great giving options. Choose the one that's right for you.

Donor Advised Funds – A personal approach to giving.

To establish a Donor Advised Fund, you make a gift to The Community Foundation, but remain actively involved in suggesting uses for your gift. You can work with the Foundation's professional staff to suggest ongoing uses for the fund – targeting the issues and organizations you care about most. Grant awards are issued to charities in the name of your fund (or anonymously if you prefer). Minimum gift: $10,000 for a non-endowed fund; $50,000 for an endowed (permanent) fund.

Example: You make a gift of $50,000 to The Community Foundation to establish your Donor Advised Fund, receiving an immediate tax deduction for the contribution. If you establish a non-endowed Donor Advised Fund, the initial gift and any earnings is available to make grants to other organizations. If the Donor Advised Fund is endowed, or permanent, the initial gift and any additional gifts will be invested in the same manner as the Foundation's overall endowment. A distributable amount as determined by a spending policy, is available for granting to other organizations.

For a list of Donor Advised Funds, click here.

Discretionary Funds – Meeting ever-changing community needs.

When you establish a Discretionary Fund, you make a gift to the Foundation with no restrictions on how that gift may be used. The Foundation program staff may use your gift to address a broad range of local needs – including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. The flexibility of an unrestricted gift enables the Foundation to best serve the community's interests, filling gaps left by other funding resources and addressing unexpected concerns. Minimum gift: $50,000.

For a list of Unrestricted Funds, click here.

Field of Interest Funds – Connecting personal values to high-impact opportunities.

A Field of Interest Fund allows you to target your gift to address needs in an important area of community life. Whether it is the arts, aging, at-risk youth, education, the environment – whatever your interest – you identify the area but give the Foundation staff and Board discretion to select specific recipients of grants from your fund. Thus your gift is targeted to areas that interest you but flexible enough to meet changing community needs. Minimum gift: $50,000.

For a list of Field of Interest Funds, click here.

Scholarships & Awards – Investing in deserving individuals.

In creating a Scholarship or Award Fund, you provide resources to help current and future students, from pre-school to post-graduate, or employees or other valued individuals. The Foundation staff helps you develop the criteria that will govern the awards and can play a variety of roles in reviewing and evaluating applications. Minimum gift: $50,000.

For a list of Scholarship & Award Funds, click here.

Designated Funds – Helping local organizations sustain and grow.

Establishing a Designated Fund allows you to support the good work of a specific nonprofit organization – a senior center, museum or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization. Through The Community Foundation, your gift provides the designated organization not only funding, but planned giving and investment management and the power of endowment. Minimum gift: $50,000.

For a list of Designated Funds, click here.

Organizational Endowments – Building for your future.

A nonprofit organization can establish an Agency Endowment at The Community Foundation. It's a simple and efficient way to build an endowment – and helps create sustainability – for the organization. The Foundation's staff also can help the organization develop planned giving programs and assist with investment management. Minimum gift: $50,000.

For a list of Agency Funds, click here.

Supporting Organizations – High impact, high involvement, low hassle.

A Supporting Organization is an excellent alternative to a private foundation – with only a fraction of the administrative responsibilities. You select some of the board members, maintain personal involvement, and support the causes you care about most while enjoying the favorable tax treatment of a public charity. Leave investment management, startup costs, grant administration, and reporting to The Community Foundation. For minimum gift requirements and additional information, consult the Foundation.

For more information on Supporting Organizations, contact David Pierson.

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