• Ways to Give
• Charitable Funds
• Charitable Instruments
• Profiles in Philanthropy: Why donors chose to work with their community foundations.

Ways to Give

The Community Foundation of Mount Vernon & Knox County provides you a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving. We offer a variety of giving tools to help people achieve their charitable goals. You can make a gift of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets to your community foundation. Most charitable gifts qualify for maximum tax advantage under federal law.

Each donor has a unique giving experience, tailored to suit his or her situation and goals. Here are the basics — how you can create a fund at The Community Foundation of Mount Vernon & Knox County. For details, contact Sam Barone at (740) 392-3270 or by email at sbarone@mvkcfoundation.org.

• You make a gift to the community foundation. You can give cash, appreciated stocks, real estate, or other assets.
• We set up a special fund in your name, in the name of your family or business, or in honor of any person or organization you choose.
• You receive tax benefits in the year your gift is made.
• Based on the type of fund you establish, you may be able to stay involved in the good works your gift makes possible. You can recommend an area or organization you’d like your gift to support, or rely on the community foundation’s experienced board of directors to determine and address the areas of greatest need in our community.
• Our board issues grants in the name of the fund you establish (if you prefer, grants can be made anonymously).
• We handle the administrative details.
• Your gift can be placed into an endowment that is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift – and all future earnings from your gift – is a permanent source of community capital, helping do good work forever.

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Charitable Funds
Several fund options are available with your community foundation. Choose the one that’s right for you.

Donor Advised Funds
A personal approach to giving.
Establishing a donor advised Fund allows you to make a gift to the community foundation, then remain actively involved in suggesting uses for your gift. You can work with the community foundation’s professional staff to suggest ongoing uses for the fund — targeting the issues you care about most. Grant awards are issued to charities in the name of the fund (or anonymously if you prefer). It’s a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.

Unrestricted Funds
Meeting ever-changing community needs.
When you establish an unrestricted fund, your gift can address a broad range of local needs — including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. We evaluate all aspects of community well-being: arts and culture, economic development, education, environment, health and human services, neighborhood revitalization, and more. The flexibility of your unrestricted gift enables your community foundation’s program experts to respond to the community’s most pressing needs, today and tomorrow.

Field of Interest Funds
Connecting personal values to high-impact opportunities.
By establishing a field of interest fund, you can target your gift to address needs in an important area of community life. Currently, the Community Foundation of Mount Vernon & Knox County has established field of interest funds in the following areas: Arts & Humanities, Community Improvement, Education, Health & Wellness, Human & Social Services, and Youth Enrichment. You identify your personal interest area when making your gift; our board awards grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the area you select. Your gift stays flexible enough to meet community needs in your interest area — even as they change over time.

Scholarships
Investing in deserving students.
In creating a scholarship fund, you invest in your community’s future and show students you care. Your community foundation provides the expertise to help you meet your personal goals and awards Scholarships to deserving students. Your gift can help students — from preschool to postgraduate — achieve their lifetime dreams.

Designated Funds
Helping local organizations sustain and grow.
Establishing a designated fund allows you to support the good work of a specific non-profit organization — a senior center, museum, church or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization. Because it’s given through your community foundation, your gift provides the organization you select not only funding, but planned giving and investment management services and the power of endowment.

Endowing your nonprofit organization.
Non-profit organizations can also establish a designated fund or agency endowment at the community foundation. It’s a simple and efficient way to build an endowment — and help create sustainability — for your non-profit organization.

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Charitable Instruments
A variety of giving methods tailored to your unique situation may be considered.

Bequest by Will
A legacy of giving.
Including a charitable bequest in your will is a simple way to make a lasting gift to your community. When you make this gift through your community foundation, we establish a special fund that benefits the community forever and becomes your personal legacy of giving.

Charitable Gift Annuity
Income for today, a gift for tomorrow.
Giving through a Charitable Gift Annuity allows you to arrange a generous gift to your community, while providing yourself a new income source you can count on for the rest of your life.

Charitable Remainder Trust
Planning for the future — for you and your community.
Giving through a Charitable Remainder Trust allows you to receive income for the rest of your life, knowing that whatever remains will benefit your community.

Charitable Lead Trust
Giving back to community and your loved ones.
A Charitable Lead Trust helps you build a charitable fund with your community foundation during the trust’s term. When the trust terminates, the remaining assets are transferred to you or your heirs, often with significant transfer-tax savings.

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Profiles in philanthropy: Why donors chose to work
with their community foundations...

Individual donor maintains personal involvement.
When Alex Dorado retired, he wanted a way to give more to his community. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and now that I have more time and resources, I can give back to a number of causes and organizations that are very special to me,” he says. Alex and his financial advisor met with their community foundation to discuss ways Alex might increase the impact of his giving and gain maximum tax advantage. Alex chose to establish a donor advised fund in his family’s name. He now meets with the community foundation’s professional program staff to recommend grants in the areas he cares about most. “Last year, based on my recommendations, the fund bought uniforms for an after-school sports league and supported an adult literacy program,” reports Alex. “This is a great way to stay involved and use what I have to make a difference in the community I love.”

Family shares its values with community.
“We wanted to share our community values with our children and share our family values with our community,” says Sara Lin, explaining why she and her husband Peter established the Lin Donor Advised Fund at their local community foundation. Every year, the Lins and their children meet with community foundation staff to recommend uses of the fund. Two years ago, they recommended that it be used to help start an inner-city daycare center. Last year, the fund helped expand the hours of this center, in addition to supporting an area arts camp. “We look forward to a day when we might involve our children’s children in giving back,” says Sarah.

A better approach for a business donor.
TRI, a company with a tradition of giving back, receives many requests for donations. In the past, company president Anthony Hall found it hard to decide which appeals to respond to… and even harder to know if his company’s charitable gifts made a difference. Three years ago, the company established a donor advised fund at the local community foundation. Each year, partners add a percentage of profits to the fund. A team of employees from TRI meets with the community foundation to review local needs and recommend grants. Anthony says, “Our company is able to do much more through our community foundation.”

Generating a return for your community.
“Our stock returns provided the means for giving to our community,” say Joanne and Gerald Johnson. That’s why they joined the many people who choose to contribute appreciated stock to open a donor advised fund. Last year, the Johnsons helped fund a local family outreach program, a homeless shelter, and a local theatre group. “Some of our charities are too small to accept direct stock gifts,” says Joanne. “Giving through the community foundation eliminates that barrier.” The Johnsons receive a tax deduction on the full market value of their appreciated stock, while avoiding the capital gains tax that would otherwise arise from the sale of this stock. Gerald says, “It’s a simple, satisfying way to give.”

A lasting legacy.
Peggy and Ed Gibb always made giving to their community a personal priority. In meetings with their professional advisor, they began to consider including a bequest that would benefit their local community. “Peggy and I care a lot about this town,” says Ed. “We wanted to give in a way that would continually help the people who live here.” After considering their options, the Gibbs decided to establish an Unrestricted Fund with their local community foundation. The Gibb Community Fund would take effect after they both passed away, leaving a portion of their estate to charity. “By establishing an Unrestricted Fund, we were able to keep our gift from becoming outdated. Community needs change, so we wanted to make sure our gift wasn’t too narrowly focused,” says Peggy. “Because it’s endowed at the community foundation, our gift will make a difference forever,” Ed says. “It will grow over time and become a more and more valuable asset for our community. This is exactly the legacy Peggy and I want to leave.”

A personal mission not forgotten.
When they lost their adult daughter, Susan, to cancer, the Perez family received hundreds of contributions from people throughout the community. Susan had been a high school teacher, so many of the contributions came from fellow teachers and from parents of the students whose lives she had touched. “Susan cared so deeply about her work,” says Mrs. Perez, “and we wanted to use the money to continue in that spirit of helping children through their education.” The Perez family spoke with their local community foundation and decided to establish the Susan L. Perez Education Fund, a field of interest fund that memorializes their daughter by supporting local educators and students. “We chose to begin this kind of fund because education is so dynamic,” says Mr. Perez. “We realize that we aren’t always aware of what our school system needs and how it works, and we wanted to be sure that, even years from now, grants made in Susan’s name make sense for our community.”

Valuing education.
A couple of years into a comfortable retirement, Mr. and Mrs. DiAngelo, both retired teachers, realized how much they missed making a difference in the lives of students. “For both of us, education was not only a profession — it was a calling,” says John DiAngelo. Looking for a way to stay involved, the DiAngelos established a scholarship fund with their community foundation. They wanted scholarships made in their name to benefit students interested in becoming teachers. “The community foundation helped us create our legacy. It’s a wonderful feeling to let students know we still care,” says John. “The community foundation does all the administrative work involved in determining the most deserving students,” says Rose DiAngelo. Over the past three years, The DiAngelo Education Fund has provided six Scholarships to the next generation of teachers.

Gift of real estate creates stable funding source for organization.
Three times a week, Wendell Pittman delivers meals to homebound senior citizens as a volunteer for Meals for Seniors. While the organization has benefited from volunteerism and community recognition for over a decade, it depended largely on small donations and lacked a more predictable funding source. “Our organization needed more reliable funding, but we had trouble accepting large or complex gifts,” says Mary Lynch, Meals for Seniors’ executive director. After talking with Mary and with his financial advisor, Wendell decided to begin a designated fund with his local community foundation. He donated a piece of rental property that was becoming a bother in his retirement. The community foundation immediately sold the property and established the Meals for Seniors Fund. Thanks to this fund, other donors can contribute assets of a variety of types and sizes. “We’re thrilled to be working with our community foundation,” says Mary. “Meals for Seniors would not have been able to do this on its own.”

A gift that pays.
When his two daughters were young, Zachary Ding bought a life insurance policy to provide for his family in the event of his death. Now, he’s 65, and things have changed. “My daughters are both grown and doing very well for themselves, and over the years, my wife and I have become fairly comfortable — she will no longer need the death benefit from my policy,” says Zachary. The Dings support and volunteer for a youth mentoring program, as well as their local museum. “We’ve always planned to leave something for important community organizations when we pass,” says Zachary. After talking with their financial planner, Zachary decided to give his life insurance policy to his local community foundation. “After giving my policy, I received a significant charitable tax deduction,” says Zachary. “We had owned the policy for so long that we could choose to stop paying the premiums and maintain a sizable death benefit.” The Ding Fund will be established with proceeds from the insurance policy to benefit youth development and other community organizations.

Real charitable value.
Sandra and Cliff Stewart owned a summer home and had no heirs interested in inheriting it. At first, the Stewarts planned to sell the home and give the proceeds to charity. But after talking with their local community foundation, they realized that giving the home directly to the foundation would create the biggest, most effective gift, while providing the greatest benefits to them as donors. “It was a great option — we could give our house to charity through the foundation and start any type of fund, not to mention the tax benefits,” says Sandra. The Stewarts learned they could also retain use of the home for their lifetime. “This way,” Cliff explains, “we can spend our summers enjoying the home for the rest of our lives. And after our lifetime, the community foundation will use the proceeds to make grants from the Sandra and Cliff Stewart Fund.”

The gift of a lifetime.
Irene Hoover and her husband owned a bakery and enjoyed a great deal of success and prominence in their hometown. After her husband passed away two years ago, Irene decided it was time for her to update her will. Part of her plan was to give something back to the community the Hoovers had loved as both residents and business owners. “Not only did Jim and I love our town, but we felt as though we owed it a lot for the success of our business,” says Irene. With the help of her professional advisor, Irene revised her will to include an inheritance for the Hoovers’ college-age niece, with the remainder creating the Hoover Bakery Fund, a field of interest fund designed to support community development efforts. Because it will be endowed, her gift will provide a growing source of community funding for festivals, neighborhood revitalization, publicly accessible artwork, and other community improvements. “I like knowing that when I’m gone, our legacy will be one of helping others strengthen our community,” says Irene.

A caring, careful gift.
Angela Kline was always active in her community — generous with both her time and money. After she retired and began living on a fixed income, she worried that continuing to give would sacrifice her financial security. “There are some causes I wish I could still support, mostly focused on women and girls in our community,” said Angela. “But my investments are paying less than I had planned.” Her friend Carmen, a CPA, told Angela that she might consider establishing a charitable gift annuity through her local community foundation. “This is a good choice for Angela,” says Carmen. “She is a very caring, generous person, but she also needs to feel financially secure.” By giving through her community foundation, Angela receives a fixed annuity payment that adds up to more than her former investment income. Plus, upon her death, her gift will create the Kline Fund for Women and Girls.

A gift that pays.
James Assad was retired and in his late seventies. The stocks he owned had high market values, but they paid limited dividends. In addition to increasing his personal income, James was interested in giving to the community in which he had lived his entire life, so he decided to transfer the securities to a charitable remainder trust that eventually would create a fund with his local community foundation. “The income I received from the trust is more than what I was collecting in annual dividends — by thousands of dollars. If I would have sold the stocks, I’d have paid a fortune in capital gains tax,” says James. James also receives an immediate charitable tax deduction and pays less tax on trust distributions. “Plus,” he says, “I know that when I pass, I’ve done something good.” In time, James’ gift will create the Assad Family Unrestricted Fund to address ever-changing community needs.

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