Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Community Foundation?
Community foundations are public, nonprofit foundations established to promote and facilitate philanthropy in a geographic area.
What is the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley?
The Community Foundation of Ogden Valley exists to “improve lives through philanthropic leadership” by providing superior donor services, making grants that positively impact the community, ensuring the sustainability Ogden Valley philanthropic community, and acting as a leader, catalyst and resource.
What makes the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley unique from other Community Foundations across the country? The Community Foundation of Ogden Valley is especially active in its hands-on support of local nonprofits and can especially help donors with knowledge of local nonprofits and projects. All philanthropic donations received by the Ogden Valley foundation are used for Ogden Valley programs.
What does the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley do for donors?
The Community Foundation makes philanthropy easier for donors by providing maximum flexibility and services. The Community Foundation provides accountability for charitable gifts, in-depth nonprofit information, recognition, anonymity, tax benefits, and endowment management. It offers a wide range of donor programs, vehicles and funds to suit a donor’s needs. The Community Foundation is continually looking for ways to help and improve Ogden Valley specifically.
What does the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley do for local nonprofits?
The Community Foundation assists nonprofits through competitive grants, nonprofit management expertise, educational programs such as board development and grant writing training and also serves as a nonprofit’s connection to Ogden Valleys donors.
Why do we need the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley?
- To provide ease of giving to the donor community;
- To provide expertise in charitable giving to the community at large;
- To attract new donor financial support into the community, which will then be disbursed to nonprofit organizations for unmet financial needs;
- To offer a local competitive granting source;
- To enable donors to support the field(s) in which they have an interest, rather than selecting a specific charity;
- To provide permanence and sustainability to the philanthropic field;
- To entice organizations to collaborate and communicate by offering venues for networking;
- To educate by providing seminars, workshops, one-on-one consultation, and reference materials for use by the entire community relating to nonprofit management and operations;
- To increase the capacity of local organizations to achieve their missions in the most cost-effective manner possible.
How is the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley funded?
The Community Foundation is funded through donations, and in time an operating endowment, interest and investment income from Donor Advised Funds, administrative fees charged through endowment funds and other funding vehicles.
Does the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley compete with area nonprofits?
No. By making charitable giving easy, the Community Foundation brings more money to nonprofits, enhancing their sustainability and effectiveness. The Community Foundation also promotes annual formalized giving to nonprofits through its funding efforts. It provides technical assistance and support to local nonprofits to enhance their effectiveness and impact.
Why create a fund at the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley?
Individuals and organizations create funds at the Community Foundation for a variety of reasons:
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- To make their philanthropy more strategic;
- To be part of a community of fellow fund holders seeking to strengthen the Ogden Valley community;
- To provide funds in perpetuity to a cause or area of interest;
- To use the Community Foundation’s excellent philanthropic services to learn more about causes of importance to them in the Ogden Valley;
- To direct their philanthropy in an informed and efficient way with the help of fellow Ogden Valley residents. Having the same goals and objectives as yours.
Why should I partner with the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley instead of setting up a private foundation?
The Community Foundation is a public charity, and therefore donors receive maximum tax benefits when they make a contribution, whereas gifts made to a private foundation are more limited. Private foundations are exposed to excise taxes and various restrictions as to what can and cannot be held in their investment pool. With a fund at the Community Foundation, donors have no meeting or reporting requirements. Donors to the Community Foundation also become part of a “community of givers” who strengthen the Ogden Valley community. (See Community vs Private Foundations for comparisons.)
What are the differences between a charitable fund at a financial service firms and a fund at the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley?
Some major financial institutions have created separate nonprofit public foundations and are now offering Donor Advised funds. The commercial Donor Advised funds offer the same tax deductibility as a fund at the Community Foundation, and most have an on-line grant system, but this is where the similarities end.
Donor Advised funds at the Community Foundation are relationship and service-based. Commercial funds are transaction-based. The Community Foundation can accept the full range of gift opportunities, including bequests, real estate and non-marketable securities. Commercial funds tend to be limited to cash and publicly traded securities.
Donors to the Community Foundation become part of a “community of donors” recognized in our Annual Report. Commercial funds are not community based. Fees charged by the Community Foundation are recycled back into the community to encourage more philanthropy and community-building. Fees charged by commercial funds benefit the financial institution.
Also, the Community Foundation offers local expertise. Staff has an in-depth understanding of the community’s challenges and the groups and individuals addressing them. We monitor community issues, opportunities, and resources; our knowledge of the Ogden Valley community enables us to make a difference by funding and addressing a broad range of local needs; and our expertise helps donors learn more about local issues in order to make their giving as effective as possible.
How can I give to the Community Foundation of Ogden Valley?
Many donors establish and contribute to personal Donor Advised Funds. They then make recommendations for grant distribution to nonprofits over time. Donors also contribute through giving circles, trusts, endowments and scholarships. The Foundation sponsors popular events for donors to support many nonprofits at one time by contributing to the matching pool or designating the specific organizations they wish to support.
Can I only recommend grants to organizations in the community?
Fund holders often give outside the Ogden Valley community. Although the Community Foundation’s expertise is identifying the needs of the Valley, we encourage donors to make grants to causes that are important to the donor, no matter where the nonprofits are located.