Fund Options For Donors

Learn More About How Your Donation Can Help

As a donor, there are a variety of options available, no matter your current and future philanthropic goals. The fund you create can be as general or as specific as you like! Many of our donors focus their contributions on a specific charity, while others would rather help several different causes.

You can name your fund after yourself, your spouse, a family member, an organization, etc. It’s even possible to give anonymously and the Community Foundation will simply act on your behalf.

Sunset over water with wildflowers on the banks.

Five people holding a donation check from the Markle Fish and Game Club park in front of their sign

Creating a fund is easy and we’re here to help guide you through every step of the process. There are currently more than 200 funds being managed by our foundation. The Community Foundation offers several different types of funds, including those listed below.

Advised Charitable Organization Funds

An Advised Charitable Organization Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established at the request of a charitable organization (the “Agency”), utilizing assets of the Agency, to provide support for Agency’s exempt purposes, as recommended by the Agency.

The Agency’s recommendations must be advisory only, and the Community Foundation must be free to reject any recommendations.

Advised Funds

An Advised Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established at the request of a Donor to the Community Foundation to provide support for charitable and similar exempt expenditures or recipients recommended by the Donor or persons designated by the Donor to advise the Community Foundation.

The recommendations must be advisory only, and the Community Foundation must be free to reject any or all recommendations.

Committee-Advised Scholarship Funds

A Committee Advised Scholarship Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established to provide education scholarships to individuals, where the Donor or persons designated by the Donor are to be involved in the selection of scholarship recipients.

Under Code provisions added by the Pension Protection Act, the Donor (or his or her designee) may only participate in such selection as a member of a larger advisory committee, and the following additional requirements must be met:

i. Each member of the committee must be appointed by the Community Foundation rather than by the Donor.

ii. The Donor and his/her designees may not control or constitute a majority of the committee.

iii. All scholarship grants must be awarded pursuant to objective and nondiscriminatory procedures, approved in advance by the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors, that is designated to satisfy Code section 4945(g)(1), (2), or (3).

Discretionary

A Discretionary Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established to provide support for general, unspecified charitable purposes at the discretion of the Community Foundation, with no advice or recommendation from the Donor or any persons designated by the Donor.

Discretionary Scholarship

A Discretionary Scholarship Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established to provide educational scholarships to individuals, with no advice or recommendations from the Donor or persons designed by the Donor. If the Donor wishes to be involved in the selection of scholarship recipients or wishes one or more persons to be involved in the selection of scholarship recipients, the Committee Advised Scholarship Fund should be used.

Field of Interest

A Field of Interest Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established to provide support for a specified charitable purpose such as cancer research, the arts, public schools, or impoverished children, with no future advice or recommendations from the Donor or any persons designated by the Donor. Distributions are determined by the Community Foundation consistent with the fund’s purpose. Where appropriate, the Community Foundation may create an advisory committee to make recommendations for distributions.

Scholarship (Discretionary or Committee Advised)

A discretionary scholarship provides educational scholarships to individuals. The Community Foundation conducts an annual scholarship application process and the Community Foundation’s scholarship committee awards scholarships based on the criteria specified by you.

A donor-advised scholarship simply gives you a level of involvement in the scholarship process. With an advised scholarship, you have the chance to review the scholarship applications and cast one vote on our scholarship committee

Designated

A Designated Fund, either endowment or pass-through, is established to provide support for a specified public charity such as a local art museum, symphony, or hospital, with no future advice or recommendations from the Donor or any person designated by the Donor.