Thoughtful, Customized Charitable Giving

09 Nov Thoughtful, Customized Charitable Giving

You know how on social media, they place a little blue checkmark by someone’s name who is famous, important, or noteworthy?  Well, in the world of philanthropy in Grant County, you’re a Verified Charitable Hero in our book! That’s why we need your help! (You deserve this icon by your name as a Verified Charitable Hero.)

It’s time to make a thoughtful plan about your end-of-year charitable giving. With the holidays ahead, the end of the year will be here before you know it. So, it’s a good time to think about how to leverage the impact of your donation.

In math, a square root is a number that multiplies itself to get another number. For example, 4 X 4 = 16; the square root of 16 = 4. That’s how donations work at the Community Foundation. Each donation given through us has a multiplied value—much more than the face value of the donation itself. As the community’s foundation, your gift is combined with the donations of other Verified Charitable Heroes to multiply impact! You give the donation, we grow your donation, and then a portion of that growth makes grants.

GIVE-GROW-GRANT

That’s why we need a Verified Charitable Hero like you. We’re not asking you to do this work alone—we’re better together. Just a generous donation that, when combined with the generosity of others, will improve our community. Any amount that makes sense for you. Will you send a gift today?

Together, we can improve the quality of life in Grant County. Let us assure you — without the combined giving of every donor, we will be required to deny funding requests simply because the need exceeds the amount currently available to support these causes. Please — will you send a gift?

Your gift is needed. And your gift makes a difference.

The CoFo wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for the generosity of people like you. Your donation before December 31st means we can keep going, full speed ahead, to help as many people as we can. Your donation is meaningful—and we are grateful for it.

 

Giving should be customized to meet your needs.

What are your charitable giving goals? 

 

Unrestricted Funds—Think broadly.  Minimum Fund Balance is $5,000, with a 1.4% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
Managed through our competitive grants process which requires reviewing proposals, committee process, and reporting. Decision-making works through the Distribution Committee and smaller grants can be combined with other Unrestricted Funds to make larger grants.  Potential for high social return on investment.

• • You want your donations to meet current needs, this year, next year, and even 20 years from now.
  • You want to add your donations with others to make a bigger impact than you could do alone.
  • You want the Foundation to vet all grant requests.

 

Field of Interest Funds—Address issues. Minimum Fund Balance is $10,000, with a 1.5% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
Managed through our competitive grant process which requires reviewing proposals, committee process, and reporting. Decision-making works through the Distribution Committee and smaller grants can be combined with Unrestricted Funds to make larger grants.  Potential for high social return on investment.

• • You have a specific area of interest you’d like to fund like health, youth, athletics, or academics.
  • You want to add your donations with others to make bigger impact than you could alone.
  • You want the Foundation to vet all grant requests.

 

Donor-Designated Funds—Provide ongoing support.  Minimum Fund Balance is $10,000, with a 1.5% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
One grant check is written and distributed to the named charity annually.  These funds are established by donors.

• • You know exactly what organization you want to fund.
  • You want to ensure this organization gets a donation from your fund annually.
  • You want to help their long-term financial stability by giving them another income stream annually.

 

Agency-Designated Funds—Provide ongoing support.  Minimum Fund Balance is $10,000, with a 1.5% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
One grant check is written and distributed to the named charity annually.  These funds are established by nonprofit agencies.

• • You work with a nonprofit organization that wants to diversify income streams for sustainability.
  • You want this nonprofit to receive an annual donation from this fund that can be budgeted as revenue.
  • You, as a nonprofit, have income to contribute.

 

Donor-Advised Funds—Stay involved.  Minimum Fund Balance is $10,000, with a 1.5% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
Donors advise the Community Foundation Board when they want to make a grant; however, the Foundation Board has final authority.

• • You like to decide annually which organizations you’ll donate to from this fund.
  • You like the option of making your donations anonymous.
  • You want to use this fund to increase tax savings.

 

Discretionary Scholarship Funds—Provide educational support.  Minimum Fund Balance is $50,000, with a 2.0% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
The law governing scholarships is very specific; you need to accept applications, manage a selection process, and make grants to a not-for-profit school. It involves working with schools, individual applicants, and their parents. This fund type has a lower return on investment, in that students frequently do not return to Grant County to live and work and/or they do not complete college. This type of fund does not allow any type of donor involvement in the selection process; however, donors may choose the scholarship criteria when establishing the fund.

• • You want to support a student pursuing higher education.
  • You want to create the criteria for the scholarship.
  • You want the Foundation to accept applications and review candidates with your criteria to award a winner.

 

Committee-Advised Scholarship Funds— Provide educational support.  Minimum Fund Balance is $100,000, with a 2.0% annual admin fee, calculated monthly.
Same as the Discretionary Scholarship Funds except, this type of fund does allow donor involvement in the selection process and donors may choose the scholarship criteria when establishing the fund with minimum required fund balance.

• • You want to support a student pursuing higher education.
  • You want to create the criteria for the scholarship.
  • You want the Foundation to accept applications.
  • You want to be a part of the selection committee.

 

Acorn Funds—Extra time.  Minimum Fund Balance and fees correspond with the type of fund being established.
A pledge is made to plant an Acorn Fund with an initial gift of $100.  Donors have 5 years to reach the required minimum fund balance. Once this goal is met, the Acorn Fund will be considered a mature permanent endowment that will impact the chosen charitable cause in our community, forever. At this time, the donor can also name the fund and choose which charitable cause or organization they would like the fund to impact in Grant County.  If for some reason the fund does not reach minimum fund balance after 5 years, the donations will still be tax-deductible and still benefit Grant County. The fund’s balance will simply be added to the Give to Grant Collaborative Fund.

• • You want to establish a charitable fund with the Community Foundation but cannot meet the minimum required fund balance within the required two-year timeframe.

 

Download the Ways to Give Gift Planning Quick Guide.