Donors to La Crosse Community Foundation can create a fund that supports a specific need or area of interest, or one that is multipurpose and flexible. The foundation administers the funds in perpetuity to serve the donors’ interests and respond to community needs. Funds are named by donors often for their family, or in honor or memory of a loved one. Here are the types of funds we offer:
Donor Advised
When establishing a donor advised fund, donors make a charitable gift to the community foundation and receive immediate tax benefit, then can remain actively involved in recommending grants from the fund’s distributions. These funds offer a highly personal approach to giving, as professional grant making staff can help fund advisors make grants to agencies or projects that best fit their personal interests.
Designated
When a designated fund is established the donor selects one or more nonprofits as the perpetual recipient of the fund’s distributions. The community foundation ensures that the designated recipients receive support so long as they remain in existence, and continue to fulfill their intended charitable mission. These funds are commonly established through estate plans as a way to continue providing annual support to the donor’s favorite charitable entities beyond his or her lifetime.
Field of Interest
These funds enable individuals and groups to pool their charitable gifts into one fund that addresses a specific purpose or area of interest. The community foundation’s board awards grants to organizations that are making a difference in that area through a competitive grantmaking process. The fund remains flexible enough to meet community needs within its specific purpose, even as those needs change over time.
Scholarship
Scholarship funds provide financial support to deserving students. Donors establish the scholarship criteria (major, school, etc.), and the foundation’s staff ensures awards are made in accordance with set guidelines.
Supporting Organization
A supporting organization is an excellent alternative to a private foundation. Supporting organizations do not pay excise taxes or tax preparation fees, and no minimum distributions are required. Donors maintain personal involvement in grant making, while receiving the favorable tax treatment of a public charity. The community foundation handles grant administration and all reporting requirements.
Agency Endowment
An agency endowment is a type of designated fund established by a nonprofit organization for its own benefit. The community foundation has fiduciary responsibility over the funds, and each year the organization can choose to take the spending rate distribution, or continue to grow the fund with its annual earnings. It’s a simple and efficient way to build an endowment to help create sustainability for an organization.
General (Unrestricted)
Over generations, donors have made unrestricted gifts directly to the community foundation to use in addressing changing community needs. Unrestricted gifts are put in the General Fund to gift through the foundation’s competitive grant making process. The board, with assistance from the foundation’s staff, evaluates proposals with an eye toward leveraging resources and provider expertise.
