“If people have an interest in philanthropic giving, I encourage them to create a fund with the community foundation as the Community Foundation will continue your philanthropic intent into the future.” –Donor

Establish a Fund

NCCF provides a local vehicle for donors who wish to establish charitable funds. We offer a simple way for you to make charitable giving an important part of your life, and for you to make a lasting difference in our community and in other communities you care about.

Establishing a charitable fund with NCCF enables you to be sure that your charitable dollars have the greatest impact, are directed toward the greatest need and make the greatest difference. If desired, the Community Foundation can help you create a family tradition of philanthropy involving your family members and can assist you in leaving a philanthropic legacy. NCCF offers a variety of fund options for you to achieve your philanthropic goals and to help improve community life.

It is easy to establish a fund with NCCF. A donor can give cash, appreciated securities or other assets to begin a fund. NCCF handles all the administrative details of a donor's grant-making fund. Donors may name their fund and may choose successor advisors who will recommend grants after the donor's lifetime.
A fund can be established in your name, or in the name of your family, your organization, or anyone you wish to honor. All grants distributed from the fund you establish are awarded to charities in the name of your fund. It is a great way to be involved with and remembered for, your community investment.

Creating a fund at the Foundation is a wonderful way for an individual to give back to the community in a meaningful way.

How It Works

You make a gift to NCCF—you can give cash or appreciated stocks. For gifts of other assets, we ask that you contact the office. There is a simple Establishing a Fund Questionnaire to fill out that will guide your fund's operation and the fund agreement. A $10,000 minimum is required to establish a grant-making fund. NCCF also offers the option to build your fund over time with the Acorn Fund.
A fund is set up in your name or in any name you choose and a legal agreement is created between you and NCCF.
You receive tax deduction benefits in the year your gift is made. You can continue to add to your fund as you wish. Because we are a community foundation and a public charity, you will receive the maximum tax benefits permitted by law. You can deduct gifts of cash at up to 50% of your adjusted gross income, and gifts of appreciated property at 30% of your adjusted gross income. If you are not able to take the entire deduction in the year of your gift, you have a five-year carry forward, which will allow you to maximize your income tax deduction over time.
Your gift is prudently invested, comingled with other Foundation assets.
At your recommendation, grants addressing community needs and other needs that are important to you are made from your fund. You may recommend grants from your donor advised fund to any nonprofit organization serving New Canaan or to any qualified nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization of your choice in the United States.
If you would like suggestions for grant opportunities, the NCCF professional staff and Board are available to offer guidance in this process.
All distribution recommendations are presented to the NCCF Board of Directors for approval. Approval for grant requests for organizations funded by NCCF in the past is generally received in less than a week.
NCCF handles all the administrative details and distributes grants to charities in the name of your fund, or anonymously if you prefer.
You will receive quarterly reports on your fund's progress and activities.
You can name advisors to the fund in addition to yourself, enabling you to transfer the fund to a second generation.
You may make additional contributions to your fund at any time.
Your endowed fund is an important source of community capital, helping to do good work forever.

Ease of Administration
By handling all the tax reporting, audits and necessary paperwork, NCCF gives donors the opportunity to focus on the true joys of philanthropy rather than the administrative burden.

Creating a Legacy
Endowed funds at NCCF exist in perpetuity, creating a lasting legacy for donors and their families. These funds are a wonderful means to give back to the community, in a way that is significant and permanent.

Making a Grant from Your Charitable Fund
In keeping with the goal of building a permanent community endowment, only a percentage of your fund's value is typically available to distribute in the form of grants, annually. This current percentage is 4.5% of the fund's previous year's value. However, funds that have a value of more than $50,000 may request the use of principal for their charitable distributions, until the fund's balance falls below $50,000.

If the donor establishes a nonendowed fund, then the principal is available for grant distributions over a predetermined period of time.

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Charitable Funds Options at NCCF

There are several fund options available at NCCF. The first step is to decide if you want your fund to be endowed or non-endowed. The definitions are provided below to help you with this decision.

ENDOWED FUNDS
When you create a charitable fund through NCCF, you have the opportunity to benefit the community forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time and a percentage of your fund's value is used annually to make grants addressing community needs and your philanthropic interests. Your fund is a permanent source of community capital, helping do good work today and in the future.

NON-ENDOWED FUND
A donor may choose to create a fund that is non-endowed, and the entire gift is distributed over a predetermined period of time as grants directed to needs within our community and beyond.

FUND TYPES

THERE ARE SEVERAL TYPES OF FUNDS TO HELP YOU MEET YOUR PHILANTHROPIC GOALS.

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS
The Donor Advised Fund is the most popular charitable vehicle offered by Community Foundations. A donor can establish a fund with a $10,000 minimum contribution and then the donor and the fund advisors actively participate in grant-making by recommending grant recipients. The donor may name successor advisors, such as his or her children, giving them the opportunity to carry on the family's tradition of philanthropy. A Donor Advised Fund enables you and your family to support the causes and concerns that are most meaningful to you. The NCCF Board and staff are available to offer assistance in connecting donors with a variety of charitable organizations. The Donor's original gift and any contributions added to the fund later are available to do good work.

Establishing a family Donor Advised Fund at the New Canaan Community Foundation enables your family to be actively involved in making grants from your fund, while minimizing the administrative burden. Involving your children in philanthropy is a rewarding experience and an important part of preparing them for their future.

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
Your gift to establish an Unrestricted Fund becomes a permanent resource to address ever-changing community needs, including future needs that cannot be anticipated at the time of your gift. The flexibility of your gift allows the NCCF Board of Directors to respond to the community's most pressing needs today and tomorrow.

DESIGNATED FUNDS
These funds enable to you to direct your gift to a specific non- profit organization or purpose. Designated funds help donors to support one or more organizations that are meaningful to them and ensure that their charitable goals continue to be met forever.

FIELD OF INTEREST FUNDS
You can target your gift to focus on a particular interest in a specific area of community life without needing to name the charity to receive the grants. The NCCF Board of Directors will award grants to community organizations and programs that most effectively serve the area or interest that you selected.

ACORN FUNDS
The Acorn Fund option is for donors who would like to begin a personal philanthropic legacy but who choose not to set aside the $10,000 minimum required to establish a fund at one time. Regular contributions are made to one's Acorn Fund and when the fund reaches the $10,000 level, it becomes a grant-making fund within the Foundation. An Acorn Fund can become an Unrestricted Fund, Donor Advised Fund, Designated Fund, or Field of Interest Fund at that point. Acorn Funds are not charged an administrative fee until it reaches the $10,000 grant-making level.

SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS
Scholarship funds are a vital resource that can enable students of all ages to realize their educational dreams, or benefit the schools and universities of the donor's choice. It is a way to help others pursue their education – and recipients are selected according to criteria of the donor's choice. Scholarships can support students who are graduating from or attending a particular school, studying a specific subject, or pursuing their education on any level. You can choose to have the Community Foundation administer your Scholarship Fund or you can designate a particular nonprofit school to receive the scholarship grants. In accordance with Internal Revenue Service regulations, no donor, member of the selection committee or anyone related to the scholarship fund's advisors, can receive any material benefit from any grant distributed from a scholarship fund.

AGENCY ENDOWMENT FUNDS
An endowed fund to benefit a particular nonprofit organization may be established by an individual or the nonprofit agency itself. The main purpose of an Non-Profit Organization Endowment is to provide a long-term and growing source of financial support for a non-profit organization. For more information about this option, please click here.

Other options include

Fees

The New Canaan Community Foundation charges an administrative fee (in addition to fees charged by our investment manager) to offset costs incurred in operating the administrative expenses associated with fund operations. The current fee structure is as follows:

Fund Assets	Annual AdministrativeFee
$10,000 to $25,000	$250.00
$25,000 to $500,000	1.0% of assets
$500,001 to $1,000,000	.75% of assets
Above $1,000,000	.50% of assets
Annual Fee for Agency Endowments	1.0% of assets
Annual Fee for Scholarship Funds Managed and operated by NCCF	1.5% of assets