Types of Funds

Community Funds are flexible and responsive to emerging and changing community needs. Because donors do not limit the fund to a single cause or purpose, the Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees can be more responsive to the immediate needs of the community.

Field-of-Interest funds allow donors to support causes addressing specific areas of interest, such as education, health, the arts, or animal welfare. The donors decide which area(s) they want to support without having to name a specific nonprofit organization.

We work with each donor to establish what areas of the community their funds will support after their death. In exchange for their contribution of cash, stock, or other property, donors are assured a lifetime of payments that are made monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. In addition to the steady income of these fixed payments, donors enjoy certain tax advantages, such as reduced probate costs and estate taxes. If the annuity is funded with appreciated assets, the capital gains tax is applied to only a portion of the gain and is reported over the donor’s life expectancy. The size of payments is determined by the size of the contribution, the donor’s age at the time the gift annuity is established, and if the annuity covers one or two people.

Donor-Advised Funds, which are simple, affordable, and flexible charitable giving tools, allow a donor to provide advice to the Community Foundation on awards to charities. Sometimes donors have specific groups they know they want to recommend for support from their funds; others welcome the opportunity to work with the Community Foundation’s experienced staff to identify groups and areas they want to support, and to think about how to give in a strategic way.

Designated Funds allow donors to support specific nonprofit organizations through an endowed fund, supporting the organizations long into the future. And if, in the future, an organization no longer exists or does not offer programs the donor intended to support, the Community Foundation will identify another nonprofit organization that meets the donor’s charitable goals.

Agency Endowments are long-term funds held and managed by the Community Foundation on behalf of a nonprofit organization. The nonprofit organization may receive the annual proceeds or roll the amount over to build the endowment for the future. The fund is owned by the Community Foundation on behalf of the charitable agency.

Scholarship Funds are dedicated to the continued education or training of young people or adults. Scholarship programs may be designed to meet the donor’s interests and specifications (e.g. academic achievement, living in a particular geographic region, studying a specific subject, etc.)