If you have a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation, you have already experienced the many ways that your fund simplifies the management of your charitable giving. You don’t have to worry about keeping track of receipts from all of the not-for-profits you support. It provides succinct listings of your giving history and other fund activity provided through your fund statement and the handy option of making your giving anonymous when that is desired.
You may think that there are tradeoffs to the many benefits your donor-advised fund provides. One common misconception is that you lose the ability to use your fund to fulfill multi-year pledges to your favorite charities. It is true that your donor-advised fund cannot be used to fulfill existing, legally-enforceable pledges that you may have made to a not-for-profit. You may, however, suggest multi-year commitments through your donor-advised fund and we will take care of the rest.
The best part about making a multi-year commitment through your donor-advised fund is that the Community Foundation will keep track of when payments need to be made. Distributions can go out automatically on a certain date that you request, saving you the hassle of remembering the timing of the payment or setting aside the funds to fulfill your pledge. We will go beyond simply ensuring that the payment is made on time. We will also set aside the funds in your account at the time the commitment is made to avoid the possibility of having insufficient funds available when the payment is due. Set it, and forget it!
This is not to say that you will lose the ability to require not-for-profits to achieve desired benchmarks to receive the subsequent payments. In fact, our staff can help you to assess whether or not the group is meeting your requirements. Think of us as your eyes and ears in the community, helping achieve the goals you have for your charitable giving. We are well-equipped to provide our support at your request.
If you have questions about using your donor-advised fund, please call me, Jenn Owens, at (315) 422-9538, extension 213 or contact me by email at jenn@cnycf.org.