Donor Information

Donor Options

ESTABLISHING A FUND: Establishing a fund is easy. Foundation personnel can meet with you to learn about your charitable intentions. Your fund can be named to honor your family or the charitable intention you wish your fund to support. Foundation personnel will explain the kinds of funds that can be established and the variety of ways to give.

Most of our funds are established as endowment funds which means that the original contribution is invested and the income or a percentage of the market value is available annually to support the charitable purpose. An endowment will provide perpetual and ongoing support for a charity or charitable purpose. Donors may also utilize their fund on a "pass-through" basis which simply means to contribute to the fund and to then pass that contribution on to their charity or charitable purpose. A third option would be to establish a fund as a "spend-down" fund. A "spend-down" fund is one that will only be in existence until the charitable objective is accomplished.

DONOR OPTIONS

Unrestricted Fund: Undesignated funds are granted at the discretion of the Fond du Lac Area Foundation's Board of Directors who determine where the most needs are in the community. Undesignated funds offer great flexibility in meeting existing and future community needs.

Designated Fund: The donor names the charity or charities to receive the income from the fund.

Field of Interest Fund: The donor specifies that income from the fund be used to support a particular area of community life, such as the arts, social services, education, the environment, the elderly, youth.

Donor Advised Fund: Within certain guidelines the donor may make suggestions on grant distributions from the fund.

Temporary or Non-Permanent Fund: This fund will help a donor accomplish a specific charitable objective or project that may be short-term in nature. Two examples of this type of fund would be:

1) a fund to accept contributions for a capital campaign or for a specific project
2) a fund that would provide a charitable benefit for a limited amount of time and would then be "spent down".

Supporting Organization: A supporting organization is a separate entity that is recognized for tax purposes and has its own governing body. It receives its public charity status because of its affiliation and common purpose to the community foundation.

A $5,000 gift will establish a fund. Another option is an Acorn Fund. Acorn Funds allow donors to build meaningful permanent funds over time with an initial contribution of $1,000. All contributions are accumulated until the donor's goal for the fund is realized.
Once a fund is established, any amount may be added as a gift, memorial or bequest.
Contributions (both large and small) may be made to the Foundation at any time as a memorial or honorarium to a family member or friend.
The Foundation staff will acknowledge all gifts and provide appropriate tax receipts. All gifts are tax deductible.

Fond du Lac Area Foundation

Phone: (920) 921-2215
Fax: (920) 921-1036
384 N. Main Street - Suite 4
Fond du Lac, WI 54935