Donor Options

Donor Options

Along with providing for family members, many people want to use their accumulated assets to make lasting changes in the community, leaving the world a better place. Most donors cannot make a million-dollar gift, but by pooling donations with others they can make a dramatic and long-term impact.

Charitable Funds:

Donor Advised Funds. You can have ongoing involvement in the use of your gift. You work with our professional program staff, identifying ways to use dollars from the Donor Advised Fund you establish to address the issues and needs you care about most. Your recommendations are submitted to our local board for approval; we then distribute grant dollars.

Unrestricted Funds. Your gift can address ever-changing community needs — including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. We evaluate all aspects of community well-being — arts and culture, economic development, education, environment, health and human services, neighborhood revitalization, and more. The flexibility of your unrestricted gift enables your community foundation’s program experts to respond to the community’s most pressing needs, today and tomorrow.

Field of Interest Funds. You can target your gift to address needs in an important area of community life. Arts. AIDS. Aging. At-risk youth. You identify your personal interest area when making your gift; our board awards grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the area you select.

Scholarships. You can invest your gift in our community’s future and show students you care, all with the guidance and personal services of your community foundation. You determine the criteria students must meet to receive the Scholarship you establish. With your assistance, students achieve their academic and career-oriented goals—from preschool to postgraduate work.

Designated Funds. You can direct your gift to a specific nonprofit organization or purpose. Help provide ongoing funding for a senior center, museum, or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization. Nonprofit organizations can use a Designated Fund through the community foundation to build their endowment and enhance their ability to accept large and complex gifts.

Supporting Organizations. You can use your gift to establish 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 and organizations you care about while enjoying the favorable tax treatment of a public charity. Leave investment management, startup costs, grant administration, and reporting to your community foundation.

Charitable Instruments:

Outright Gift. You can make a gift of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets to your community foundation. Your charitable gift qualifies for tax advantage under federal law.

Bequest by Will. You can designate a gift or portion of your estate to your community foundation and, in some cases, receive a substantial reduction in federal gift and estate taxes.

Charitable Gift Annuity. You can make a gift of cash or property to your community foundation now, get immediate tax benefits, and ensure that you or a loved one receive fixed quarterly or annual income payments for life.

Charitable Remainder Trust. You can place cash or property in a trust that pays annual income to you (or another named beneficiary) for life. After your death, the remainder of the trust transfers to your community foundation and is placed into a charitable fund you have selected. You receive income tax benefits the year you establish your trust.

Charitable Lead Trust. You can place cash or property into a trust that pays a fixed amount to your community foundation for the number of years you select. Once this period ends, the assets held by the trust are transferred to the beneficiaries you name. In some cases, you receive a substantial reduction in federal gift and estate taxes.

What is endowment?

When you create a charitable fund through your community foundation, you have the opportunity to benefit the community forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift — and all future earnings from your gift — is a permanent source of community capital, helping do good work today and in the future.

Legacy and stability. Donors who endow their gifts can make a difference in their community during their lifetime and, at the same time, provide a gift that lasts forever. Grants will continue to be made in the name of the fund you establish so that your charitable wishes are preserved, even if an organization receiving grants ceases to exist in the future.

Leaders of a nonprofit organization may also look to the community foundation to hold their organization’s endowment because they know that having a constant, source of funding helps them respond to emergency needs as well as plan for the future and sustain the good work they do.

Expert help. When donors or nonprofit organizations work through the community foundation to achieve their charitable goals, they benefit from the expertise of experienced local program staff, community leadership, and investment management.

Home / About Us / Contact Us / Grants / Financial Information / Library / Newsletters / List Of Funds / Donor Option / How To Start / Communityworks / Decatur Legacy Website / Early Childhood Educational Works Website