Other Points to Consider When Creating a Charitable Fund: continued

It's All Timing - and the Time is Right Some of the greatest opportunities to make significant charitable gifts arise when you're making other major business, personal or financial decisions. These include when you: writing or revising a will; contemplating the sale of a company, business or other major asset; planning your retirement; or becoming the recipient of a windfall profit.

Accumulate Dollars for a Project Consider the scenario - a donor wants to support a project at a particular charity, and the project is not ready but it needs a commitment of dollars. The donor does not want to make the gift to the charity until the project is ready, but is committed to giving. The solution is to give the money to Dade Community Foundation with the condition that it be used for the project when it is ready or if it is not ready at a set time, that the contribution will be put in an endowment to fund a philanthropic area selected by the donor.

Donor Help A person has substantial wealth and wants a portion to be used for a specific area of concern, for instance, education in Miami-Dade County, after the donor's death. The donor simply provides in his or her will that a certain amount goes to Dade Community Foundation to be used to establish an endowment to support education in Miami-Dade County in perpetuity. Those assets will still be available in 100 years, and will still be supporting education. No other mechanism provides a similar level of assurance that the donor's wishes will be supported. Many other illustrations and examples are available. But these few point out the unique benefits of Dade Community Foundation from a tax and philanthropic perspective. These characteristics of the Foundation can be of great help to donors who want to support philanthropic efforts in Miami-Dade County.

Dollars and Sense Keep in mind that there is no cost to set up a fund at the Dade Community Foundation. It charges a low annual administrative fee. In addition, a charitable fund established at the community foundation receives the maximum charitable tax deduction allowed by law. Numerous types of assets can be used to set up a fund including: cash, publicly traded securities, mutual fund shares, closely-held stock, real estate, life estates, life insurance policies, royalties and intellectual property rights. Electronic transfer of stock and mutual fund shares can be quick and easy.

Establish a Fund If you'd like to proceed, the development staff can provide you with additional information on the different types of charitable funds and sample agreements. The agreement is a simple contract allowing you to specify the charitable purposes of your fund. Or, if you'd like to create a charitable fund by bequest or through your estate plan, the staff can provide you and your attorney the language necessary to incorporate your objectives into your will or living trust - or into any planned gift.

What Happens Next? The community foundation's assets are invested by Miami-Dade institutions and other outstanding financial investment firms, with the goal of long-term growth. Investment returns are carefully scrutinized by a Board of Governors committee and evaluated by independent auditors. Plus, because the Foundation pools the contributions for administration and investment purposes, more of the donors' money goes to grantmaking than overheard.

For donors who choose a field of interest or donor-advised fund, the staff can help you find the best nonprofit organizations to fit your areas of interest. Donor advisors can take advantage of grantmaking services that include: research to identify worthy charities in a given field or area; tracking and evaluating the results of grants made and arranging site visits to particular charities. Donors may receive quarterly statements that specify contributions made to the fund, market value changes, income, and a detail of grants made from the fund. To request a grant be made from a donor's fund, the donor completes a Grant Request Form that they can fax or mail to the Foundation. It's as simple as that!