Fulfill your charitable vision with your community foundation

WHITE If you want to make a lasting impact with a charitable gift, where do you start? As a potential donor, navigating your way through the world of charitable options can be challenging. With countless charities championing a variety of causes, how do you decide what to support?

Many donors seek the tangible rewards and impact of giving locally. But identifying and assessing the needs of local causes can be difficult. That is why many donors make gifts to community foundations. These nonprofit organizations allow donors to specify how, where, and over what period of time their money is spent. Gifts of cash, shares, trusts, bequests, and property are pooled in multipurpose endowment funds and earnings are used to address donors’ specific interests.

Community foundations are nonprofit, independent organizations created by and for local citizens to benefit their community. They have two main roles: building endowment and managing funds for donors, as well as making grants to charities and linking local donors with local needs. Community foundations provide a simple way to fulfill multiple charitable interests with low-cost administration.

With more than 700 community foundations in the United States today, these charitable tools make up one of the fastest growing sectors of philanthropy. The first community foundation was established in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914. Since then, they have spread around the world, with 1,175 community foundations operating in 46 countries in 2005.

Community foundations maintain an in-depth understanding of their community’s needs and challenges — and the groups addressing them. Working closely with donors, community foundations provide personalized service, helping individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit agencies achieve their charitable and financial goals with maximum tax advantages.

Known for their prudent stewardship and investment practices, community foundations are accountable for the grants they make, and can advise donors on tax-effective ways of giving. Donors can create a donor-advised fund and select the area of focus or specific grant recipients. Or they can make a general gift to the foundation and allow the

foundation’s board of directors to use the funds to meet new, emerging needs in the community.

Community foundations ensure that charitable contributions and grants comply with current legal and accounting

requirements. Donors

can give a wide variety of assets, making their gift now or later as a part of their estate plan while benefiting from the most favorable tax deductions available under IRS regulations.

Gifts to your local community foundation positively affect the people in your local area. Offering community expertise, low-cost administration, permanence and simplicity, community foundations can help you make a lasting impact in your community, create an individual or family legacy and fulfill your charitable vision. To find out more, contact the Southwest Florida Community Foundation at 274-5900. 

— The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties for over 33 years. Through 323 endowed funds, the Community Foundation has provided more than $44 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. For more information, call 274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.