Creating a fund in the Evanston Community Foundation

Once your client has decided to create a fund at the Foundation, this list of questions and answers will allow advisors to provide necessary information for the creation of a client's fund and for preparation of the fund agreement letter that provides direction to the Foundation.

Given my interests, are there matching or challenge dollars that could build my fund balance?  The Foundation currently has 1:1 matching dollars for gifts to our Communityworks Fund and the Foundation Fun, our operating endowment.

How much will be given to the Evanston Community Foundation? Will my gift allow me to create and name a fund?  A minimum of $10,000 is required to establish and maintain a fund. We recommend a $25,000 minimum before grantmaking begins.

What type of fund will it be? Who will make the grantmaking decisions? Will the beneficiaries be defined in advance?  If a donor-advised fund, will there be successor advisors named?  There are many options. Donors need to decide whether their fund is to be established as a:

Named Fund within the General Endowment - a name of your choosing may be given to endowments of $10,000 or more. These funds support the Foundation's general purposes and provide the greatest flexibility in providing for Evanston's future.

Field of Interest Fund - a name of your choosing may be given to endowments of $10,000 or more. These funds support specific but still broad Foundation purposes and provide some flexibility in providing for Evanston's future.

Donor-Advised Fund - a name of your choosing may be given to endowments of $10,000 or more. These funds provide great flexibility to donors who make grant recommendations to the Foundation at times of their own choosing.

Agency Fund - to provide endowed funds for the long-term benefit of specific agencies.

How will the fund agreement describe the fund's purpose? Some possible examples:

The fund is established to help women attain independence by meeting their educational goals,

The fund is created to support the Foundation's general charitable purposes in the name of Joan M. Smith, or

The fund is established to support arts education projects that benefit youth.

How will spending from the fund be determined? Except for donor-advised funds, and some agency funds, funds are typically governed by the Foundation's spending policy that calls for a total payout within the range of 3 1/2 - 6%. This level of spending from a fund's total value allows the Foundation to make grants, pay the fund's expenses and administrative costs, and still increase principal over time. As of September 2010, the current boar-approved spending allocation is 5%.

How will the fund be named? A fund may be named for the donor, in honor or in memory of someone of the donor's choosing, or it may be named for the field of interest. The possibilities are many.

Can additional gifts be made over time? All foundation funds are open to additional gifts from the original donor or from others. There are rules, however, if public fundraising is to be conducted, to protect the validity of charitable deductions for individual donors and to protect the Foundation. Contact staff for details. 

I'm ready to get started. What do I do now? Determine whihc assets will be used (cash and publicly traded securities are the easiest ways to make chartiable gifts), at which level you wish to give, and make arrangements to transfer assets to the Foundation. 

 For gifts of securitites, please call Jeremy Barrows, Director of Development and Communications, at 847-492-0990 or via email.