To help you achieve your goals for giving, we tailor a giving strategy to a charitable fund. There are several types of funds. Foundation staff is available to discuss which fund is appropriate for your personal philanthropy.
Donor Advised Fund
Donors who want a more active role in grantmaking can establish a Donor Advised Fund. This allows you to recommend charitable organizations to receive grants from your fund. The Blue Mountain Community Foundation helps you by verifying the charitable status and mission of the organizations and identifying organizations you may want to support. Other family members can also be named as advisors, thereby encouraging children and grandchildren to carry on family philanthropy.
Discretionary Fund
A gift to establish a Discretionary Fund helps meet the changing needs of the Blue Mountain area, now and in the future. Discretionary Funds broadly support the well-being and vitality of the Blue Mountain area and its residents and are distributed to qualified organizations seeking support through the Foundation’s Grantmaking Program. When you establish a Discretionary Fund, you leave decisions about the use of your gift to the Foundation, relying on the Foundation’s extensive experience and reach within the community to know where grants will have the greatest impact.
Field of Interest Fund
Donors who feel strongly about a particular cause or a particular geographical area, but do not wish to take an active role in grantmaking, may want to establish a Field of Interest Fund. This type of fund allows you to identify and support a charitable purpose (i.e., alleviation of poverty, historic preservation, etc.), a category of interest (i.e., arts, education, human services, etc.) and/or a geographic area that you feel passionate about supporting. Grants are made through the Foundation’s Grantmaking Program.
Designated Fund
Donors with strong ties to a particular organization or institution may want to establish a designated fund. With a Designated Fund, you “designate” a charitable organization that your fund will support (e.g., an arts organization, a food bank, a shelter) during and beyond your lifetime. The Foundation actively monitors all its grantees. If the beneficiary organization ceases to exist, loses its tax-exempt status or changes its mission, your gift is redirected to support an organization with a similar mission.
Scholarship Fund
Donors specifically interested in promoting education often establish Scholarship Funds. Scholarships may support any level of education and can be directed toward students attending a particular school, studying in a particular field or coming from a particular geographical area. Blue Mountain Community Foundation administers the fund within the tax laws regarding scholarship grants, publicizes the scholarship and chooses scholarship recipients. The Foundation also can establish selection criteria.
Sustaining Endowment Fund
Donors may wish to set up a Sustaining Endowment Fund for the long-term operation and efficiency of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation. Grants from this fund go directly to supporting programs that encourage donors to invest in the Blue Mountain area and ensure that dollars are used to enhance the long-term economic and social vitality of area communities.