Types of Funds

Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds are those supplied by generous donors with the instruction that they are to be used for the general charitable good of the community.

Meeting ever-changing community needs.

When you create an Unrestricted Grantmaking 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. The Foundation continuously gathers knowledge concerning 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 and Grantmaking Committees (PACF and each affiliate has such a committee) to respond to the community’s most pressing needs, today and tomorrow. These types of funds offer great flexibility to respond to ever-changing community needs. Click here for more information on Unrestricted funds.

Restricted Funds

All other types of funds are considered restricted, where the donor supplies the resources to create a fund with an instruction that defines the fund’s charitable purpose at the time that it is created.

Donor Advised Funds

A highly personal approach to giving

Our Community’s Foundation has offered Donor Advised Funds since 1982, before any of the big commercial gift funds were initiated! A Donor Advised Fund is a wonderful tool for you to consolidate personal giving into one account, if you desire, from which you can periodically recommend distributions for bona-fide charitable purposes, as you desire. It makes a great alterative to a private foundation as you get the tax advantages of the community’s foundation’s public charity status (which is generally more favorable than private foundation status) and access to the foundation’s professional staff and administrative and investment services for a fraction of what it might cost to operate your own separate foundation. You also have the advantage of your tax deduction during the year that you need it, but can then distribute grants from the fund for charitable purposes at the pace that makes sense for you. Donor Advised Funds let the donor work closely with the Foundation staff, who will regularly provide the donor with information concerning community needs brought to Our Community Foundation, so that you can review those needs and see whether you wish to address any of them with gifts from your Advised Fund. 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. Click here for more information on Donor Advised funds.

Field of Interest Funds

Connecting personal values to high-impact opportunities.

Forming a Field of Interest Fund, lets you can target your gift to address needs in an important area of community life such as the Arts, Youth, Recreation, Aging, or Health. You identify your personal interest area when making your gift; then, in accordance with your instruction as to area, our Grantmaking Committees (PACF and each affiliate has such a committee) make grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the area you select. Your gift stays flexible to meet community needs in your interest area — even as those needs change over time. Click here for more information on Field of Interest funds.

Scholarships

Investing in deserving students.

In creating a Scholarship, you invest in your community’s most promising assets – its children – and show students you care about the future. 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. Click here for more information on Scholarship funds.

Designated Funds

A Donor-Designated Fund helps local organizations sustain and grow.

Establishing a Designated Fund for your favorite nonprofit organization (or to serve multiple nonprofit organizations), such as an art center, a senior center, museum, or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization, provides the entity with a permanent source of support. Because the annual support is supplied through your community foundation, your gift provides the organization that you select with not only funding, but planned giving and investment management services and the power of an endowment. It also helps the organization to prudently diversity its funding stream and enables it to have the knowledge of a resource that it can count on, outside of its own operating resources. Creating such a fund helps you to continue giving past your lifetime to the organizations which were important to you during your lifetime. Click here for more information on Donor-Designated funds.

An Agency Endowment Fund sustains a nonprofit organization.

Nonprofit organizations can also establish a Designated Fund or agency endowment at the community foundation to create a permanent funding resource. It’s a simple and efficient way to build an endowment — and help create sustainability — for your nonprofit organization. The community foundation’s experienced staff can also help your organization develop planned giving programs and assist with investment management and administrative details. Click here for more information on Agency Endowment funds.

Supporting Organizations

High impact, high involvement, low hassle.

For donors with sizable assets, creating a Supporting Organization offers an excellent alternative to a private foundation — with only a fraction of the administrative responsibilities. You can select some of the board members, maintain personal involvement, and support the causes you care about most while enjoying the favorable tax treatment of a public charity. Leave investment management, startup costs, grant administration, and reporting to your community foundation. This type of entity requires a certain level of resources for it to be considered and additional time for conversation with the community foundation; please contact us early in the process of evaluating this option. Click here for more information on Supporting Organizations.

There is so much more we’d like you to know. For more information and ideas on ways to integrate your financial planning with charitable giving, we suggest that you consult your personal professional financial advisor or contact our Executive Director at director@pacfwv.com or 304.428.4438 (toll free 1.866.428.4438).