 Helpful Articles
from David Vollrath,
Union County Foundation Executive Director
The Foundation encourages you to work closely with your professional advisor(s)
as you develop your estate plan and consider your present and future charitable goals. |
Community Foundations
(Part of a series of articles on charitable giving and the Union County Foundation
by David Vollrath - Exec. Dir.)
This past week the Union County Foundation hosted the last in a series of three informational
dinners held for Union County Citizens. Previous meetings were held in Plain City and Richwood. It has been a wonderful
experience for our board of trustees to meet Union County business and community leaders and dialogue with them
regarding questions and misconceptions surrounding community foundations.
Many of our information dinner guests have been surprised to learn of the national prevalence of community foundations.
Nationwide there are in excess of 650 community foundations with the oldest being The Cleveland Foundation, which
was established some 92 years ago in 1914. In the state of Ohio there are over 70 community foundations and a dozen
more satellite community foundations that function as components of larger foundations.
People often inquire how long the Union County Foundation has been in existence. The answer is that our roots date
back to 1953 with The Dana Morey Foundation. That foundation evolved through the years with several name changes
along the way (C.P.S. Inc., Community Services of Union Co., Dana Morey Services Inc.) until finally in 1993 we
were chartered as The Community Foundation of Union County Inc. A.K.A. The Union County Foundation. Like most community
foundations we are classified as a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization by the IRS. We are governed by
a 15 member volunteer governing board comprised of a diverse group of outstanding men and women representing the
various demographic and geographic sectors of our county.
Another often asked question is what exactly is a community foundation? According to the National Standards for
U.S. Community Foundations "a community foundation is a tax-exempt, nonprofit, autonomous, publicly supported,
nonsectarian, philanthropic institution with a long term goal of building permanent, named component funds. These
funds are established by many separate donors for the broad based charitable benefit of residents of a defined
geographic area." Probably more important than the technical definition is what exactly is our purpose. I
offer a simple answer to that question. We promote and facilitate charitable giving in Union County. We accomplish
that task by assisting individuals and organizations with the accumulation, investment, and distribution of charitable
dollars. In layman’s terms I would simply say to you that if you have a charitable inclination and aren’t quite
sure how to shape it into real world action a community foundation can provide fee free assistance to walk you
through that entire process. Community foundations are a charitable resource available to all, fully understood
by few, but beneficial to many.
The Union County Foundation encourages you to work closely with your professional advisor(s) as you consider your
present and future charitable goals. The Foundation is equipped to help you achieve your charitable goals by providing:
planned giving and estate planning resource information, charitable gift annuities/life income plans, and a broad
array of charitable choices. Please call us at 937-642-9618, email us, reference our
website, or stop by our Marysville office at 126 N. Main St. We are committed to helping you.... “preserve
your footprint in time.” |
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