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Advantages: The Community Foundation provides a vehicle through which individuals and organizations alike can make contributions, large and small, that will continue to make their community a great place to live, both now and in the future. As an individual, the Community Foundation provides you with the opportunity to create a fund that represents your life and may exist in perpetuity. For organizations, we provide a way to ensure that funding for operations and/or special projects will be available for all time. No one can predict the future, but your gift to the Community Foundation today can guarantee that a pool of funds will be available tomorrow to meet changing community needs. By pooling our resources as a community, each of us can have a much greater impact on the quality of life in our community. As a donor, you can create a fund that is either permanent; to address needs in perpetuity or non-permanent, to meet a specific short-term interest you might have. Donor Benefits: Simplicity. The Foundation makes giving easy. We handle the paperwork and take the hassle out of making charitable gifts. Stability. The Foundation is permanent. As a donor, you can be confident that your charitable gift will benefit the community for generations to come. Flexibility. The Foundation assists you as a donor in achieving your personal charitable goals. We ensure that the intent of your gift will be honored and served as community needs and conditions change over time. Tax Benefits. The Community Foundation of Howard County, Inc. is a public community foundation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501-(c) (3) charitable organization. Gifts to the Foundation receive maximum tax advantages for income, gift, and estate tax purposes. Setting up a fund is significantly less costly and time-consuming than establishing a private foundation. Professionally Managed. The Foundation is managed by an expert staff and governed by a volunteer board of private citizens representative of the public interest. The common link among board members is their commitment to the well being of Howard County and its residents. Working with qualified professionals, this group of volunteers is responsible for providing safe, effective management of funds. How to Start a Fund: The Community Foundation offers a flexible vehicle for charitable contributions of all size from public, corporate, foundation or private sources. Both large and small gifts can take a variety of forms depending on tax and estate planning priorities. Gifts can be made with:
As a donor, you can make gifts to the following permanent funds: Unrestricted: These are the most useful funds for the work of the Foundation. This provides the Foundation the flexibility to meet changing community needs, fund new programs, or to support innovative approaches to addressing problems. Designated: You direct the Foundation to pay the annual income to a specific organization in perpetuity. This type of fund is also known as an "agency endowment." Field of Interest: You direct the Foundation to use the annual income in a certain program area such as education, health, youth, etc., with the Foundation determining the specific recipient from time to time. Donor-Advised: Funds in this area can be established on a permanent or non-permanent basis. You actively participate in the grant-making process by recommending the purpose and/or organization(s) that might receive grants from this fund. Final authority for approving these recommendations rests with the Foundation's Board of Directors. Deferred Gifts: Deferred gifts are also available. These gifts provide a variety of distinctive tax advantage and income benefits to donors and provide needed charitable resources for the Community. The Foundation offers the Charitable Gift Annuity, Charitable Remainder Unitrust and Charitable Lead Trust. To discuss ways to give, that best meet your personal situation, click here and contact Ron Harper at the Foundation office. |
