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Last Updated Feb 2008


Organization Endowment Funds
The Community Foundation offers your organization a simple and effective alternative to maintaining and managing your own endowment. We can help with more complex planned giving vehicles, such as charitable gift annuities, and will offer your endowment’s donors the highest level of service.

What are three good reasons your organization should consider an Organization Endowment Fund at the Central New York Community Foundation?
  1. The Community Foundation has an independent consultant engaged to advise our investment committee on the selection and performance of various investment fund managers. Plus, alongside our $117 million in charitable assets, your endowment can enjoy the leverage, economies of scale and portfolio diversification usually not available for smaller endowment funds.Learn more about our investment strategy.

  2. There is no cost to establish an Organization Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation, and the annual administrative fee is low.

  3. If something drastic should happen to your organization, the Organization Endowment Fund agreement gives the Community Foundation variance powers to direct the distributions from the fund to an organization(s) with similar purpose and mission.
The Community Foundation offers your organization a simple and effective alternative to maintaining and managing its own endowment. We can also help with some more complex planned giving vehicles, such as charitable gift annuities.

What rules would govern distributions from the fund?
A portion of the earnings from principal and income of this Fund would be distributed annually to support the needs of the organization. The original fund agreement or the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors determines the amount available for distribution to the organization. Our recommendation is to use a five percent (5%) distribution rate applied to a twenty-quarter average balance of principal.

In some years the organization may not take the distribution, in which case the organization could ask that the funds remain invested. It is also possible that the organization may have special reasons to request a larger distribution. Distributions of earnings and principal in excess of the norm may be made from time to time based on terms agreed to in the original fund agreement but generally subject to approval of the governing bodies of the organization and the Community Foundation. For legal reasons, such recommendations are considered advisory and not binding on the Community Foundation.

Need more information?
A member of the Community Foundation staff would be happy to make a presentation to your organization about the option of opening an endowment fund. Please contact Dirk Sonneborn, Vice President for Development, to request a meeting or for immediate answers to your questions. He can be reached by phone at 315.422.9538 or by email.