A Donor Advised Endowed Fund at The Community Foundation is a good option for those who wish to be involved in their giving personally or with their families, but prefer not to handle the administrative and organizational burden. The fund can be named for you, your family or for any name you select. If you choose, your fund can also be set up in a way that allows you to remain anonymous in the community.

Upon establishing a Donor Advised Endowed Fund, the donor may select other advisors (children, other family, friends and other trusted companions are often selected by donors) to the fund. Under the terms of a Donor Advised Fund Agreement, the advisors can make recommendations about funding and programs, but the Board of Trustees of The Community Foundation must legally retain final decision-making authority. We encourage donors to give us written guidelines to ensure that the intent of the their fund is implemented in perpetuity.

Donors may be as engaged with grantmaking as they choose. Sometimes donors have specific groups they know they want to support from their funds; others welcome the opportunity to work with the experienced staff at the Foundation to identify groups and areas they want to support, and to think about how to give in a strategic way.

Our current recommended spending policy for endowed funds is that 5 percent of principal be distributed annually so that the additional growth is added to principal, and the fund can grow.

If our donors are interested in spending principal, we encourage them to establish a Donor Advised Gift Fund. We offer a comparison among Donor Advised Endowed Funds, Donor Advised Gift Funds, and Donor Advised Impact Funds so that you can decide what's right for your needs.

For a comprehensive guide to The Community Foundation's services and resources, link to "How We Can Help: Summary of Services of The Community Foundation."