There are several ways
to give through the Community Foundation of West Alabama.
You may choose from the following fund types:
• Community or Unrestricted Funds
This type of fund offers the broadest option. Unrestricted
funds are used to respond to the community’s changing needs
and emergencies, to support the creation of innovative responses
to community problems, and to enhance the quality of life of the
people of West Alabama. By creating a Community Fund, a donor
leaves a living legacy that will grow and change as the community
does. Income from these funds are used to support the service
programs of the Foundation and are used for grants to nonprofit organizations
serving communities throughout West Alabama.
• Field-of-Interest Funds
This type of fund allows donors to support broad
areas of concern, such as education, scholarships, health, environment,
youth services or the aged. The Community Foundation will use
these funds to make grants to the most appropriate programs or organizations
within the specified field of interest. Donors may also
direct that grants be made only to a specific geographic area.
• Designated Funds
This fund type ensures that support will be
provided to specific eligible organizations that the donor chooses. Donors
may establish a designated fund to endow the charitable giving
that they enjoyed throughout their lifetimes. If any
of the names organizations cease to exist or change the purpose
of its activities, the Community Foundation will ensure that
donors’ charitable goals are continued.
• Agency Endowment Funds
This fund is created by other nonprofits in
order to protect charitable dollars for the future of their work
and their mission. An
agency endowment fund within the Community Foundation decreases
the nonprofit agency’s administrative burden while protecting
their endowed monies, providing a relatively constant source
of annual income and often increasing their investment yield
because the endowment is grouped with other funds. Although
an Agency Endowment Fund can only be established by the nonprofit
organization itself, donations by others to these funds are welcomed.
• Donor Advised Funds
This type of fund provides convenience and flexibility
by enabling the donors to make contributions to charitable organizations
through the Community Foundation. These funds allow donors to make
recommendations about distributions to charities of their choice. This
type of fund is especially useful for donors who want to take a charitable
deduction one year and then make distributions over several years. One
simple donation allows donors to support numerous charities over
time.
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