Working Together

Everyday, you’re looking for ways to better assist your clients in meeting their financial goals. To achieve their charitable giving goals, your clients will need the advice of their peers, their families, and you, their professional advisor. But, in order for them to be well informed about their philanthropic options, they may need some additional support. We’re here to help you be the hero for your client in meeting their charitable goals.

We know that the potential for philanthropy in our region is enormous. We’re the third most generous county in the State of Indiana. Plus, the transfer of wealth that is expected to occur in Grant County in the next decade is enormous. Add those two together and you get many individuals who will have the resources and the inclination to be generous, yet aren’t aware of the opportunities in our community.

As a professional advisor, you are critical in assisting and guiding clients to consider the role that philanthropy can play in their lives and in the community where they’ve built a lifetime of memories. It’s a fundamental way to connect and help them achieve their goals both now and in the future.

We work through you.
You stay in control of your client relationships; we’re here to help.

We partner with you.
We provide support, information, and expertise on charitable giving.

We help you build stronger relationships.
Your clients will appreciate the charitable impact and tax advantages you help them achieve.

We help you connect across generations.
When you help families establish a fund with us, you stay involved for generations.

The advantages to making a charitable gift to the Community Foundation has many benefits for your clients:

Simplicity:
One contribution to the unrestricted fund of the Community Foundation will address many charitable organizations and needs in Grant County.

Flexibility:
The Community Foundation will, of course, honor a donor’s wishes regarding a designated beneficiary or charitable field of interest. However, if the intended purposes of the gift should ever become obsolete, the Foundation’s authority to amend provisions of the fund means it will be directed toward related concerns.

Tax Benefits:
The Community Foundation of Grant County qualifies as a public charity under federal tax law. Thus, contributions qualify for maximum tax deductibility for income, gift, and state tax purposes.

Permanence & Continuity:
A Gift establishing a permanent fund with the Community Foundation will continue to benefit the community well into the future. The size of a fund can be increased at any time through additional gifts.

Professional Management:
The funds of the Community Foundation are invested and managed by professional investment managers. The Finance Committee of the Foundation reviews the performance of the managers on a regular basis to ensure the Foundation’s investment objectives are met.

Governance & Management:
The Community Foundation of Grant County is organized in corporate form; therefore, the governing body is the Board of Directors. The Board sets policy and strategy of the organization.

Human Resource Administration:
The Foundation achieves its mission through the efforts of its human resources. Recruiting and retaining qualified people are primary goals. A Foundation requires unique skills and knowledge. This is achieved through a well-planned and implemented system that includes appropriate personnel, policies, procedures, and practices.

Fiscal Management:
A useful, accurate, and accountable financial management system is critical to the operation and mission of the Foundation. Proper financial management, accounting and reporting are required for accountability, to serve Foundation constituents, and to guide decision-making and planning by the Board of Directors and staff.

Grantmaking:
Grantmaking is perhaps the most visible element of our service to the community. The Foundation’s grant program reflects both donor interests as well as the philosophy of the Foundation for its unrestricted or broadly-defined funds. Grantmaking priorities and processes change over time due to emerging needs in the community. An effective relationship between the Foundation as grantor and the community as grantee is based on mutual respect and partnership.

Public Accountability & Transparency:
As a community foundation, funds are used for the public interest. All grants are publicly disclosed by the Foundation. Additionally, we comply with National Standards which assist community foundations in establishing legal, ethical, and effective operating practices that show a foundation’s transparency and financial responsibility.

Community Impact:
Giving through a community foundation allows donors to contribute charitable dollars that directly impact their own communities.

Asset Development:
Building assets is crucial to the success of a Foundation. Additional gifts, both large and small, must be sought to not only maintain public charity status, but to grow all of the endowments to provide for the ever-growing charitable needs of Grant County. Additionally, this is an opportunity to pool your investment with the Foundation’s assets.

Communication & Public Relations:
The Foundation reports to its various publics on its activities in an open, honest, direct, and intentional manner. All forms of communication are used to reach the broadest range of constituents.

Recognition:
Endowing a fund at the community foundation is a fitting way to memorialize or honor a loved one and create a permanent legacy that will be remembered for generations. Conversely, a community foundation can keep a donor’s identity private, if desired.

Cost Effectiveness:
Because a community foundation manages many individual donors gifts, it can service and administer each of them at a lower cost than that of a private foundation or smaller non-profit organization.

Association & Recognition:
A donor who believes in the mission of an organization has the opportunity to be associated with that charitable cause and can mean “immortality” to supporting their charitable goals.