Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties

Fund Options for your clients:

The flexibility of a community foundation can mean a lot to your client. Whatever the charitable wish – to house the homeless, support education or the arts, alleviate hunger, or secure clean water for generations to come – we can be of real service.

The Community Foundation offers a variety of fund options to help your clients meet their philanthropic goals. From donor advised funds (which allow your clients to engage in active grantmaking) to community impact funds (which rely on the foundation’s knowledge of the community for grantmaking decisions), our funds allow your clients to choose their level of participation.

The Leadership Fund - This fund was created to support the Community Foundation’s “beyond grantmaking” work in Palm Beach and MartinCounties. This unique fund helps to support the Foundation’s leadership as it identifies critical challenges facing our community; commissions research; holds public forums; and convenes community leaders. Become a friend of the Community Foundation.

Donor Advised Funds

Your client would like to maintain personal involvement in charitable giving but does not want to deal with the hassles of setting up a separate private foundation. With a Donor Advised Fund, your client (donor) can create a fund without having to name any specific charitable organizations or causes. The donor retains the right to recommend grants to charitable agencies of his or her choice over time, so that while the tax benefit starts immediately, grant decisions can be made over the years. If the donor wishes, his or her children may be successor advisors to the fund, making grants from the fund, and thus continuing the family’s philanthropic involvement in the community.

Supporting Organizations

A supporting organization can help perpetuate your client’s family legacy and promote philanthropic involvement among heirs. A supporting organization functions as a separate, nonprofit charitable corporation that receives public charity status through its relationship with the Community Foundation.

Advantages include: 

• Independent Board. The Supporting Organization is managed by an independent Board of Directors representing both the donor’s family and the Community Foundation. In order to maintain the status of the Foundation as a public charity, the Community Foundation selects the majority of the Supporting Organization’s Board.
• Administrative Services. A Supporting Organization benefits from the Community Foundation’s philanthropic and management expertise. We handle all administrative concerns, including liability insurance, quarterly financial reports, annual audit and tax return.
•  Investment. Investments may be pooled with the Community Foundation’s endowment or managed separately.

Community Impact Funds

 Do you have a client who wants to address pressing community needs…now and for the future? A Community Impact Fund at the Community Foundation is the solution. It’s our job to know where donors’ gifts will do the most good. As conditions change, so do our grants. And, with the collective experience of our board and staff, donors can be sure that the grants made in their names will have as much impact decades from now as they do today.

Field of Interest Funds

Your client knows which charitable interests he or she wants to support, but has no specific organization in mind, and issues may fluctuate over time. Establishing a Field of Interest Fund at the Community Foundation allows your client to direct their giving as narrowly or broadly as they choose. Donors who select these funds are able to benefit specific programs in the arts, education, or another broad area. By naming a program area and not a specific organization, flexibility exists to meet the ever-changing needs of the community.

Scholarship Funds

Your client wants to provide scholarship assistance for primarily graduating high school students in Palm Beach and Martin Counties but does not want the burden of administering a scholarship program? The Community Foundation has extensive experience administering numerous scholarship funds created for a variety of purposes. The donor simply creates the criteria to be used in selecting the perfect recipient, and we do the rest. Donors may, if desired, also participate on scholarship selection committees with foundation staff and foundation-appointed community volunteers to identify recipients.

Designated Funds

Your client may want certain charities to benefit from their support, and want that support to continue after their lifetimes. However, times change, and the charity may not always perform at the same level. A designated fund alleviates this worry. We take care of the investments, and make annual grants from the fund’s income to the charities named by the donor. If one of the charitable organizations ceases to exist or stops providing the type of service that interest the donor, we will make sure the fund stays current and vital by finding another agency that fulfills the donors charitable intent.

Agency (Nonprofit) Endowment Funds

Do you have a nonprofit as a client? Or do you have a client who wants to support a specific charity that could function as that agency’s endowment? The Community Foundation manages nonprofit endowments. These funds are created to provide financial support to the nonprofit organization in perpetuity and be a conduit for planned gifts.