Donor-Advised Funds
Have you ever thought about having your own Foundation? Would you consider joining Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF) in its grant-making? Do you want to separate your tax planning from investing in your community? Do you want a way to manage your giving across a lifetime, not just year to year?
If you answered "yes" to some or all of the above, a donor-advised fund at BMCF could be for you.
These funds allow fund donors/advisers to recommend grants to charitable organizations, addressing the issues and needs they care about most. View a list of our donor-advised funds.
FAQs
You can give lots of things. The easiest gifts come from cash and securities, such as stocks of public companies. The Foundation has authorized other gifts too, but reserves the right to review—and possibly decline—certain gifts before accepting them. Examples of these types of gifts include real estate, ownership in private companies and personal property, such as art.
Contact us to learn more.
When you make a gift to your donor-advised fund, you complete a contribution to the BMCF. In terms of tax treatment and legal matters, you have completed a gift. A donor-advised fund allows you, or someone you designate, the right to advise or recommend to what organization(s) some or all of your gift should be distributed. We call this making a grant.
As a community foundation, the ultimate authority is the board of trustees. With a donor advised fund, you "recommend a grant" for the board's approval. They are not required to approve it. There are certain types of grants that may not legally be made from a donor-advised fund. However, in most cases, your recommendation will be approved and a grant will be issued in the name of your fund.
Under federal law, the Foundation is bound to decline certain types of grants. For example, the Foundation cannot make a grant from a fund that fulfills a legally binding pledge you make to a charity. Since the balance in your fund is the property of the Foundation, you can't make an agreement with another charity on the Foundation's behalf. You can tell a charity that you will recommend a grant from your fund.
Another example is that you may not receive a benefit for having made a grant. This does not mean a token gift like a coffee mug or your fund name being listed in a nonprofit publication. A benefit comes from something like seating preference for football season tickets.
As part of underwriting your grant recommendation, Foundation staff will seek to understand whether or not your recommendation is OK under the law.
The easiest way is through Fund Manager, our online system. Alternatively, you can fill out our paper form, sign it, and fax, mail or bring it to our office.