Types of Funds
Great giving options. Choose one that's right for you.
Donor Advised Funds
A personal approach to giving.
Establishing a Donor Advised Fund allows you to make a gift to the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, and then remain actively involved in suggesting uses for your gift. You (perhaps also involving children and other family members) can work with the Community Foundation's staff to suggest ongoing uses for the fund — targeting the issues you care about most. Your gift can be combined with others to increase its impact, and you can add to the fund you establish at any time, receiving tax benefits with each new gift. If you endow your gift, it becomes a permanent community funding resource. Grant awards are issued to charities in the name of the fund (or anonymously if you prefer). It's a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Unrestricted Funds
Meeting ever- changing community needs.
When you establish an Unrestricted Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, your gift can address a broad range of local needs — including future needs that often cannot be anticipated. Because you set no restrictions on the use of your gift, it enables our staff and Board of Directors to assess community needs and respond by awarding grants to the nonprofit organizations that undertake our community's most critical work and respond to the community's most pressing needs, both today and tomorrow. Grants are made in the name of the fund you establish (or anonymously if you wish), creating your personal legacy of giving.
Field of Interest Funds
Connecting personal values to high-impact opportunities.
By establishing a Field of Interest Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, you can target your gift to address specific areas of need in your community that have special significance to you. A few examples could be such fields as arts and culture, education, senior care, or at-risk youth. You identify your personal interest area when making your gift; our board awards grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the area you select. By establishing a Field of Interest Fund your gift stays flexible enough to meet community needs in your interest area — even as the needs change over time.
Scholarship Funds
Investing in deserving students.
By creating a Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, you invest in your community's future and show students you care. The Community Foundation provides the expertise to help you meet your personal goals and awards Scholarships to deserving students. You can create a Scholarship Fund as a memorial to someone special, selecting eligibility criteria that exemplify that person's goals and values. Or, you may use it to express your educational values or those of your family or business. Depending on your preferences, the Scholarship you establish can support any area of academic need, including tuition, room and board, and books. Our staff tracks performance to ensure students continue to meet the terms for Scholarship support.
Designated Funds
Supporting your favorite charities.
Establishing a Designated Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa allows you to support the good work of one or more specific non-profit organizations. For example you may choose to support the area symphony, a senior center, museum, or virtually any nonprofit charitable organization. Because it's given through the Community Foundation, your gift not only provides the organization(s) funding, but also the power of endowment. If the organization you select ceases to exist or changes in mission, the fund can be redirected so that it continues to address your original charitable intent.
Agency Endowment Fund
Endowing your non-profit organization.
Non-profit organizations can also establish a Designated Fund known as an Agency Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. It's a simple and efficient way to build an endowment and help create sustainability for your non-profit organization. The Community Foundation's experienced staff will help your organization develop planned giving programs and assist with investment management and the administrative details.
Affiliate Community Foundation Funds
Creating an investment vehicle for your local community.
By establishing an Affiliate Community Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, your community is able to develop a vehicle to receive donations and bequests to benefit your community in perpetuity. Working with the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa allows the affiliate community to focus on raising the funds and deciding charitable use for the income of their fund, while relying on the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to handle the administration, investment and the daily office tasks to maintain their foundation. As the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa is a member of the Council of Foundations and meets national standards, the Affiliate Community Foundation Funds can benefit from lower seminar rates and may benefit from tax credits as defined by Endow Iowa.
Supporting Organizations
High impact, high involvement, low hassle.
A Supporting Organization is an excellent alternative to a private foundation — with only a fraction of the administrative responsibilities for you! Though connected to the Community Foundation, the Supporting Organization you establish is a separate charitable entity that bears your name, the name of your family or business, or honors any person or organization you choose. You select some of the board members, maintain personal involvement, and support the causes you care about most while enjoying the favorable tax treatment of a public charity. The Community Foundation staff has the expertise and technology to help oversee the administration of grants, donations, audits, and can assist with the investment strategy best suited for the Supporting Organization.