Donor Advised Funds allow you to centralize your charitable dollars in one convenient account. This user-friendly fund provides maximum tax advantages and flexibility in grant making along with secure online access to your fund.

Whether you are looking to minimize your taxes, create a charitable family legacy, or honor a loved one’s memory, a Donor Advised fund may be for you.

Keep reading to learn more about:

• How a Donor Advised Fund Works
• Advantages of a Donor Advised Fund at The Foundation
• Assets You Can Use to Establish Your Donor Advised Fund
• Reasons to Create a Donor Advised Fund
• Investment Options with Your Donor Advised Fund
• Grantmaking Options with Your Donor Advised Fund
• Why a Donor Advised Fund Worked for Marilyn Jones and Mitchell T. Kaplan
  

How a Donor Advised Fund Works

• Start your fund with a simple letter of agreement, which can be completed in minutes. The donor may be an individual, a family or a corporation.
• Make additional contributions at any time. These will all be tax deductible.
• Recommend distributions to charities you want to support, using our convenient online access to your account.
• The Foundation handles all administrative responsibilities, freeing you to focus on the joy of giving.
• Pass on to your children the right to recommend distributions from your fund.
• Participate in our Donor Advised Fund Investment Program and recommend how your fund's assets are invested in up to four mutual funds.
• The minimum balance needed for a Donor Advised Fund is $10,000, and although The Foundation charges a fee of only 1.5% of the balance, the fund earns interest.

Advantages of a Donor Advised Fund at The Foundation

• Affordable alternative to a private family foundation.
  Create a Donor Advised Fund for yourself or your family and carry out your charitable giving simply and cost effectively, without the limitations, expenses and administrative responsibilities associated with a private foundation.
• Maximum tax advantage*.
  You qualify for an immediate fair-market-value tax deduction for each contribution you make to a Donor Advised Fund. When you contribute marketable securities, real estate or closely held stock, you also avoid capital gains taxes.
• Online access.
  Using the secure and confidential Donor Services feature on our Web site, you can view your fund statement and recent account activity, and make investment and grant recommendations with ease.
• Active involvement.
  You and your family participate in the grant-making process by identifying specific charities or worthwhile projects within a field of interest, and recommending grants to support them. Use your fund to support any number of causes and organizations—in the Jewish community and the community at large—and adjust your funding priorities as your charitable interests evolve over time.
• No limit on the number of grants. 
  The Foundation can issue an unlimited number of grant distribution checks from your fund at no additional charge. (Minimum grant recommendation is $100.)
• Low cost to administer your fund.
  The Foundation charges your fund a low annual fee of 1.5% of the balance.
• Professional expertise.
  We're happy to share our extensive philanthropic experience and, through our Family Foundation Center, provide information about emerging issues and giving opportunities locally, nationally and internationally, including in Israel.
• Personalized service.
  Our donor relations and program teams offer personal service—when you call during business hours, you'll reach a live person, rather than a recorded message.
• Build a permanent family legacy
  A Donor Advised Fund can be the first step toward building a permanent legacy. When you create your fund, you will make decisions about its use when you pass away or are no longer able to serve as the fund's advisor. You may designate your children to recommend grants, ensuring next-generation family participation, or you may earmark balances over $50,000 to create an Endowment Fund in your name at The Foundation. If you don’t make other arrangements, the remaining balance of your Donor Advised Fund will be distributed to The Foundation's Permanent Legacy Fund, which primarily provides for emerging needs and seeds new and innovative initiatives throughout the community.

Assets You Can Use to Establish Your Donor Advised Fund

• Marketable securities
• Commercial or residential real estate
• Closely held stock
• Limited partnership interests
• Cash
• Mutual fund and REIT shares
• Bonds (corporate, municipal or State of Israel)
• Retirement plan assets (such as IRAs and Keoghs)
• Insurance policies
• Remainder or lead interest of a Charitable Trust

Note: When it comes to tax advantages, all assets are not created equal.  Talk with us or your professional advisor to find out why.

Reasons to Create a Donor Advised Fund

• To use assets such as securities, real estate or a business
  By transferring such assets or limited partnership interests to a Donor Advised Fund, you can avoid capital gains taxes and receive an immediate fair-market-value tax deduction, while also supporting the causes you care about. (Timing is critical. To enjoy the tax benefits, The Foundation must be included in your planning before the sale is initiated.)
• To create a family legacy
  You can name a Donor Advised Fund for your family, and grants issued from that fund will carry your family's name now and for the next generation. It's a gift that can keep on growing. Once it's established, anyone can make tax-deductible contributions to your fund at any time, in any amount.
• To celebrate a milestone or honor a loved one's memory
  If you or someone you love is celebrating a special occasion, establish a Donor Advised Fund to mark this important milestone. Honor a birth, bar or bat mitzvah, graduation, wedding or anniversary; or create a meaningful memorial tribute. In the process, you'll be educating others about the important value of tzedakah.
• To create an alternative to or terminate a private family foundation
  Instead of contending with the onerous financial and legal requirements of maintaining their own foundations, many philanthropists opt instead for Donor Advised Funds that bear their names.  If you already have a foundation, you can terminate it in several straightforward steps, transfer the remaining assets to a Donor Advised Fund at The Foundation, and continue to pursue your charitable objectives with ease and efficiency through your named fund.

Investment Options With Your Donor Advised Fund

• Donor Funds Investment Portfolio
  The assets in your Donor Advised Fund are placed in a pooled portfolio professionally managed and monitored by The Foundation's Investment Committee.
• Selected Mutual Funds**
  Investing in mutual funds makes it possible to generate additional tax-free charitable dollars to benefit the nonprofit organizations or causes you care about. (This option requires a minimum balance of $50,000 in your Donor Advised Fund.)
• Israel Bonds
  By investing in Israel Bonds—securities issued by the State of Israel—you help to build and strengthen the nation's economy and infrastructure. Israel Bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the Government of Israel. (This option requires a minimum balance of $50,000 in your Donor Advised Fund. These bonds are held to maturity.)

Grantmaking Options with Your Donor Advised Fund

Through a Donor Advised Fund you can recommend grants to virtually any charity.

• You can choose to support a specific organization such as a synagogue or day school, hospital or homeless shelter, environmental group or college alma mater, the Jewish Federation, to name just a few.
• Or you can support projects within a general field of interest, such as education, the arts, medical research, or elder care.
• Because grant recommendations are processed weekly, you can also respond to emergency situations or new opportunities as soon as you hear about them.

* The specific tax benefits of a Donor Advised Fund are influenced by a number of variables. Advice from legal and tax counsel should be sought when planning a charitable gift.

** Participation in mutual funds will expose your fund to gains or losses in the securities markets. If gains are achieved, the amount your fund can distribute to charitable causes will be increased. If losses result, that amount will be reduced.

Like many people, we had been making charitable contributions on our own for years. We would write separate checks to lots of different organizations and try to keep track of them all. Then, one year, our accountant advised us to look into the Jewish Community Foundation...

Marilyn Jones and Mitchell T. Kaplan

Continued

Recommended Reading:

Access the giving power of a private foundation without the expense or complexity.

• Getting Started: Donor Advised Funds

• The Fund That Listens to You

• Give Yourself the Gift of Choice

• Is a Donor Advised Fund Right for You?

• The Gift With a Voice