Funds Management
Community foundations generally maintain a variety of fund types from donor advised funds to agency endowment funds to designated and field-of-interest funds. Community foundations and other charitable organizations may also have relationships with supporting organizations. Learn more about the particular characteristics, management and legal requirements of these giving options and find information to help determine the best structure for your donors.
FAQ: Agency Endowment Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What is an agency endowment?
What types of organization can establish an agency endowment at a community foundation?
When a public charity establishes an agency endowment at a community foundation, which organization owns the contributed funds?
Since the agency is releasing legal…
Shifting Practices, Sharing Power? How U.S. Philanthropy is Responding to the 2020 Crises
Publication
The public health, racial justice, and economic crises of 2020 have affected millions of Americans and laid bare the glaring inequities in our systems and institutions.
A new report from Council on Foundations, Philanthropy California, and Dalberg Advisors outlines how the US philanthropic…
Balancing Purpose, Payout, and Permanence: Strategy Guide
Publication
This Strategy Guide, developed in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy, invites you to reflect more deeply on how your foundation chooses to balance the four factors of Purpose, Conditions and Trends, Time Horizon, and Assets for Mission, especially in times of greater…
Survey Results: The Operation of Women’s Funds at Community Foundations
Publication
After a request by a CF Insights member seeking information about the operation of Women's Funds at community foundation, a survey was created and administered to a subset of potential respondents. This short, eight-question survey collected some high-level information about fees pricing, revenue…
Administrative Fees
Fundamentals
Community foundations have one thing in common: When it comes to administrative fee structures, no two are alike. While there's no one right answer, it's important to review and compare your foundation’s fee structure to other foundations of comparable size. Many community foundations are doing…
Accounting for Agency Endowment Funds Held at Community Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
Introduction
Nonprofits place their endowment funds with community foundations for a variety of reasons, including investment expertise, efficiencies, and access to planned giving advice and services. As nonprofit organizations seek to place their assets and partner with the foundation, questions…
Rules Governing Non-Component Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
Historical background of non-component and donor-directed funds.
Creating an Inactive Funds Policy
Legal Compliance Guidance
Imagine the following scenarios:
A donor advisor has not made a recommendation from a donor advised fund for two years.
An agency has requested that your community foundation not make a distribution from an agency endowment until the agency requests a distribution at some point in the future.…
Component Funds: The Absence of Material Restrictions
Legal Compliance Guidance
This document outlines the basics of component funds, field of interest funds, donor-advised funds, and restrictions around these funds.