TOP 10 Reasons to Give to the Community Foundation

1. Our focus is local. We know our community well. We work in partnership with community leaders throughout the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to better understand:

• Our community’s needs and priorities,
• Where there are opportunities for innovative solutions, and
• Who has the capacity to affect real and lasting change.

2. We bring together community leaders and coordinate resources to provide the greatest community impact. Our grants address a broad range of changing local needs – from housing and homelessness, health and human services, education, youth, seniors, the environment and the arts.
3. We connect donors to the causes they care about – whether establishing a new fund or contributing to an existing named fund.
4. We provide a highly personalized and flexible approach to giving. We offer a variety of tools to help people achieve their charitable goals. We can preserve a donors’ intent – even when our community’s needs and organizations may change.
5. We accept a wide variety of gifts – including appreciated stock, art, real estate, insurance policies and more. We can facilitate even the most complex forms of giving.
6.  We partner with professional advisors to create highly effective approaches to giving.
7. We offer maximum tax advantage under state and federal law.
8. We provide wise stewardship of the gifts entrusted to us. We are known for a sound long-term investment strategy and a prudent spending policy which ensure that the value of donors’ charitable funds will continue to grow – to be available to give forward.
9. We leverage the community impact of our donors’ gifts by pooling them with other resources and grants.
10. We build endowment ~ a permanent source of community capital that will be available to improve.