Establish a Fund

If you want more flexibility in your giving than by just donating to an existing fund, you can create a new fund instead. That will let you customize it to best match your charitable vision and strategy.

Creating a new fund is easy! All you have to do is let us know how much you’d like to contribute and how you’d like to customize it. Then, we’ll prepare the brief necessary paperwork for you to sign–and that’s it!

Customizing your fund

When you establish a fund, you get to choose:

Keep reading to learn more about these customizations.

What should the fund be called?

Every fund at the Community Foundation has a fund name. Some funds are named after the person, couple, or family that established it. Others are named after the organization or charitable cause they are meant to benefit. The choice is yours!

Should the fund be endowed?

Funds can be endowed or nonendowed. Endowed funds distribute only their net income each year (defined as 5% of the average year-end balance over the preceding three years). As a result, the fund principal is left untouched, and the fund can continue to grow over time, providing ongoing support to charitable organizations forever.

In contrast, nonendowed funds can distribute income and principal alike, up to the full fund balance. Nonendowed funds are a great choice if you want to make a big impact in a short amount of time.

How should fund assets be invested?

All our funds’ assets are invested so that they will hopefully grow over time and maximize the benefit they provide to our communities. When you establish a fund, you get to select how the fund’s assets should be invested. We have a handful of predefined investment mixes you can choose from, or you can create a custom mix that better matches your own risk tolerance.

By default, all our funds’ assets are invested by the experienced investment professionals of Graystone Consulting. However, if you would prefer that another investment professional manage your fund’s investments, we can arrange that!

What type of fund do you want?

In addition to being either endowed or nonendowed, all our funds can also be classified as one of the following types:

  • Donor-advised fund. If you want play an active role in directing your fund, a donor-advised fund is for you. In a donor-advised fund, you recommend grants over time, and you can choose different grant recipients with each grant recommendation
  • Designated fund. If you already know which one organization you want to benefit from your new fund, you can establish a designated fund for it.
  • Field-of-interest fund. If you know which charitable interest you want to benefit (such as education, health care, or community improvement), but you don’t want to limit your fund’s distributions to just one charity, you can create a field-of-interest fund.
  • Scholarship fund. If you want to help college-bound students afford their schooling, you can set up a scholarship fund.
  • Unrestricted fund. If you want the FSACF board of directors to be able to use your fund to address the most urgent needs in the community, whatever those may be, you can create an unrestricted fund. Then, the board will choose how best to put your fund’s assets to use to improve the quality of life in Bourbon County.
  • Agency fund. If you represent a nonprofit organization, then your organization can establish a fund with us to invest its own money and accept gifts. Learn more about agency funds.

Administrative fees

In general, the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation charges 1% of the average market value of a fund’s assets as the annual administrative fee; scholarship funds are generally charged a 2% fee. Additional fees could apply, but we’ll let you know exactly what the administrative fee for your fund will be before you sign anything!

Contact us to learn more

Do you have questions about establishing a fund with us? Do you want to get started setting one up? Contact us today!