Honored to serve at the center of your philanthropy
Perhaps you have recently established a fund at the Medina County Community Foundation, or maybe you plan to make donations to one or more Community Foundation funds as part of your annual charitable giving plan. Or perhaps you are considering establishing a donor-advised fund to help you keep your giving more organized and involve your children and grandchildren in your philanthropic priorities. Perhaps you’ve even considered naming your fund in your will or trust to continue your legacy of giving beyond your lifetime.
Whatever your situation may be, it’s a great idea to consider a few best practices for ensuring that you are tapping the Community Foundation’s full ability to help you make the biggest difference possible for the causes you care about. We invite you to lean on the Community Foundation’s wide range of charitable giving tools to help you achieve all of your philanthropic goals.
Here are a few benefits of tapping the Community Foundation to serve as the “hub” of your charitable giving:
—The Community Foundation adopts a holistic approach to charitable giving so that you’re able to make a meaningful difference in the community we love. The Community Foundation’s mission, and the tools and services it provides, help you establish strong roots for your philanthropic from which so much good can grow.
—A donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation provides the convenience of a one-stop-shop. You are able to make tax-deductible contributions of cash (or, ideally, appreciated stock) into the fund. You can recommend grants to your favorite charities–whether in our region or across the country. Make sure you’re leveraging your donor-advised fund to execute the full range of your charitable giving each year, including gifts to your alma mater, place of worship, and favorite local and national charities. You’ll find it so much easier to keep track over time of where you’re giving, and how much.
–Our team can help you establish a designated or field-of-interest fund to complement your donor-advised fund or other regular giving practices. A designated fund allows you to deepen your philanthropic roots in support of a specific charity over the long term, while a field-of-interest fund focuses your support on a particular area of community need by leveraging the Community Foundation’s expertise.
–If you are over the age of 70½, your designated fund or field-of-interest fund can receive “Qualified Charitable Distributions” from your IRA up to $105,000 per year per spouse, bypassing your taxable income and, if applicable, counting toward your Required Minimum Distributions.
–We can work with you and your attorney to help you name your Community Foundation fund in your will or trust to support the full range of your favorite charities beyond your lifetime. Indeed, our donors may name their donor-advised funds, field-of-interest funds, designated funds, or even the Community Foundation itself, as beneficiaries in their wills and trusts, and especially as beneficiaries of IRAs and other qualified retirement plans because doing so delivers significant tax benefits and complements the estate planning process.
–The Community Foundation tam is happy to work with you and your estate planning attorney to document and execute your charitable intentions for distributions following your death. So, for example, instead of listing each individual charity in your will or trust, name your fund to receive the entire charitable portion of your estate, which the Community Foundation will distribute according to your wishes to your favorite charities as well as honoring your wishes that a portion stay with the Community Foundation to support our mission in perpetuity.
–The Community Foundation offers opportunities for donors to get together and learn from each other as a group. If you’re not involved already, please reach out and we’ll fill you in! We can help you and your family learn more about your favorite charitable organizations and the issues they are addressing so that you can become more informed and effective philanthropists in our community and beyond. Our team’s unparalleled, deep knowledge of local issues and organizations is a real advantage for you and your family. When you better understand the needs of the community and how your favorite nonprofits are addressing those needs, you’ll be better equipped to structure your giving so that it makes a difference in measurable ways. You’ll enjoy your charitable giving a lot more, too, when it’s rooted in the best practices the Community Foundation offers.
The Community Foundation is here to help you make the most of your philanthropy across the board so that you’re not only putting your money to work to improve the quality of life in our community and beyond, but you’re also achieving financial and philanthropic goals for your overall charitable giving.
