Sustainability.

All nonprofits need long-term, dependable operating dollars, and starting an endowment or reserve fund with the Community Foundation can be just what you need to get started.  Establishing an agency endowment fund is an easy way for your nonprofit to eliminate administrative burdens of managing your own endowment while increasing your ability to accept large and complex gifts. Our team of experienced board members and advisors help develop planned giving programs and handles much of the admin details for you.

  • Benefits of Agency Endowments at the Community Foundation
    • Unusual Assets – with an endowment fund at the Community Foundation in place, a nonprofit can receive gifts that may be difficult for a single organization to process directly – like stocks, mutual fund shares, real estate and other properties.
    • Cost-efficient Administration – The Community Foundation’s fees are remarkably low – annually, only 1% of the overall fund balance. You receive all the benefits of excellent professional care with very little cost to you.
    • Sophisticated Investment Strategies – Our team of investment strategists ensure your fund is professional invested in a way that will secure and grow your dollars in perpetuity. Your fund benefits from the investment pool of all resources managed by the Community Foundation.

Opening an Agency Endowment

  • Your board works with our staff to determine how much your nonprofit would place in the fund in your organization’s name. Both parties determine if the fund will be a permanent endowment (with regular distributions of profits with long-term protection of the principal in accordance with Community Foundation policy) or an agency advised fund (the nonprofit can recommend distributions of both principal and income when desired).
  • The agency or other donors can add to the fund at any time.
  • The Community Foundation handles all the details- including investment management.
  • Monthly fund statements are sent to the nonprofit designees on file.
  • The fund is placed in the Community Foundation’s investment pool, providing benefits of a diverse portfolio with low investment fees.
  • Both income tax and securities law require that the Community Foundation own the assets in the funds it administers. This means, establishing a fund requires that the nonprofit transfer fund assets to the Foundation.