The Washington County Community Foundation (WCCF) has been facilitating philanthropy in our community for close to 30 years. We put our donors’ generosity to work through strategic grantmaking, educational opportunities for local nonprofits, an annual community-wide giving event, and other charitable services that make Washington County more vibrant and welcoming.
As you work with your clients to draft estate plans, wills, and other documents, please consider the WCCF as a flexible tool to assist your clients who call Washington County home, or who have moved away but still wish to support their home community. We offer flexibility in the types of gifts that we accept and flexibility in the types of funds we accept.
Common Gift Types
Donor Advised Funds - Clients with assets in a commercial Donor Advised Fund (DAF) are able to direct a grant from the commercial DAF to the WCCF to create a permanent fund. We will help to educate your client regarding local charitable needs and to create a permanent fund to address those needs. This will help to ensure that the Client’s support of the local community will continue after death.
IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions - A qualified charitable distribution is money that individuals who are 70½ or older may direct from their traditional IRA to eligible charitable organizations. Your clients may distribute up to $100,000 per year from their IRAs each year to the WCCF to build their charitable legacy in the community.
Appreciated Securities - Gifts of appreciated securities are a very tax-effective way to create a permanent fund, as the capital gains tax is eliminated, and the donor receives a tax deduction for the current market value of the security.
Life Insurance - The WCCF is the beneficiary of several life insurance policies where the donors make annual tax-deductible gifts to pay the premiums. We are also the beneficiary of fully funded insurance policies. In all cases, we have executed contracts with the donors, dictating how grants from the funds will be distributed.
Real Estate - Clients may choose to gift real estate to create or increase the value of a permanent fund.
Fund Types
Discretionary Funds - Support charitable projects benefiting Washington County in the areas of animal welfare, arts & humanities, community improvement & economic development, conservation & environment, education, health & fitness, human needs, and religion & faith. Such funds enable the Foundation to respond to unmet and emerging needs in the community.
Interest-Area Funds - Support specific causes identified by the donor in the fund agreement. Can be a broad designation such as human needs, or more targeted such as food insecurity or homelessness.
Designated Charity Funds - Support specific charities identified by the donor in the fund agreement. These types of funds can help ensure that the donor’s annual gift to a beloved charity continues after the donor has passed.
Internship Funds - Provide grants to a local nonprofit to pay a financial stipend to a student intern performing services for the nonprofit. This is an opportunity to support both students and nonprofits.
Lifelong Learning Funds (Scholarships) – Help students meet the cost of higher education. Lifelong learning funds may be merit based or need based.
Donor Advised Funds - Enable the donor or donor designee to participate in the selection of the charities or charitable purposes to benefit from grants fund. Unlike the commercial DAFs that merely verify that a charity meets basic government criteria to receive a grant, we know our local community and work individually with donors to select local grantees who are making a real difference. We are also able to arrange for site visits to local charities to enable donors to see the charity’s work firsthand.
Impact
With
approximately 200 component funds with a combined value of more than
$60,000,000, we have been able to reinvest more than $30,000,000 back
into the local community through grantmaking. We stand ready to work
with you and your clients to design a fund that will have true impact in
Washington County.
The information contained in this publication is not intended as legal or tax advice.