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By David Vollrath, Executive Director Union County Foundation The concept of community foundations (while less mysterious than in the past) continues to be an enigma to many people. Understandably I still hear the query "what exactly does the Union County Foundation do?" What follows is a quick primer on community foundations based on a publication from the National Council on Foundations. Our main charge is to promote and facilitate charitable giving for the benefit of Union County. A community foundation (unlike a private foundation) garners its support from the general public, not from an individual family, or corporation. Community foundations don’t focus on one specific field of interest such as education, healthcare, etc. but rather looks to the total needs of the community. In basic terms a community foundation has four main roles: 1) builder and caretaker of permanent charitable community resources 2) service provider to charitable donors 3) grant maker 4) facilitator, catalyst, and collaborator within the philanthropic community. The official definition of 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 the residents of a defined geographic area." Community foundations originated back in 1914 with the Cleveland Foundation. The concept spread and today there are over 650 community foundations found throughout the United States. One of the main factors contributing to the growth of community foundations was the tax reform act of 1969, which comprehensively regulated private foundations thus making community foundations a more attractive tool for charitable giving. Community foundations are governed by a board of trustees representing a cross section of the geographic community. Board trustees are uncompensated and subject to term limits. Private foundations often have lifetime trustees from the originating family. While there may be multiple private foundations in a given geographic area generally there will only be one community foundation. Hopefully you now have a little better understanding of the role and structure of community foundations. The very presence of a community foundation indicates a vibrancy and commitment to the future. Union county is fortunate to have a committed group of men and women that are able to see beyond today to the promise of the future. The Union County 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. 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 including establishment of scholarship funds and donor advised funds. Please call us at 937-642-9618, email info@unioncountyfoundation.org, reference our website at www.unioncountyfoundation.org 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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