The Shenandoah Community Foundation

 Click on a question to be directed to the corresponding answer.

Why should my client consider creating a fund?	Why should my client consider using the Shenandoah Community Foundation instead of establishing a private foundation?
My client (or my client’s family) already has a private foundation. Can they move that over to your community foundation?	How does my client create a fund?
Are there other estate planning tools my client can use to create or contribute to a fund?	Is setting up a fund the only way my client can use the Foundation to help the Shenandoah County community?
Does my client have to let you know if they have included the Shenandoah Community Foundation in their will or as a beneficiary of other giving they have in mind?	When should my client consider establishing a Charitable Remainder Trust?
When should my client consider establishing a Charitable Lead Trust?

- To provide a permanent source of income for their designated charitable purposes in the community.
- To leave a permanent legacy by naming the fund for your client’s family, a loved one, a mentor, a teacher, or a hero.
- To provide a source of income for future needs of your client’s chosen beneficiaries long after their own lifetime.
- To maximize tax deductibility and other estate planning tools in accomplishing their charitable wishes.

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• The Shenandoah Community Foundation can help your client achieve all their charitable intentions and wishes with minimal paperwork, no legal or administrative set-up fees, no filing fees, and only a 1% annual ongoing fee. Unlike the requirements of a private foundation, the Shenandoah Community Foundation handles all  IRS tax filings and all accounting and investment decisions. Unlike the requirements of a private foundation, there are no minimum or maximum annual disbursements. In other words, it’s easier and much less expensive to accomplish charitable wishes through a community foundation than through a private foundation. See Comparison Chart.

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• Yes. There are some legal and administrative requirements for doing this, but it is done all the time throughout the country. This can be an especially attractive choice for a private foundation that has existed for two generations or more and the current generation is no longer as interested in administering the private foundation.
Click PDF (34 KB) or Word (51 KB) to download our document “Considerations in Terminating a Virginia Private Foundation”.

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• See “Creating a Fund” for more details. Creating a permanent, named endowment fund to benefit a favorite church or charity (or charities) is easier and more affordable than most people realize:

- Minimum gift of $5000.00 (with a gift of at least $500, your client can have up to five years to achieve this minimum)
- No administrative charge to establish a fund
- No legal fees to establish a fund
- No IRS filing, administrative, or investment responsibilities by donor
- Immediate tax deduction in the year of their gift to the Foundation
- 1% annual administrative fee (charged ¼% on the fund balance of each preceding quarter).
- Donor can designate beneficiaries or allow the Foundation board to use the income to meet identified community needs.

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• Yes. We can work with you and your client for maximum tax advantage by making their fund the beneficiary of:

- A Charitable Lead Trust
- A Charitable Remainder Trust
- A Bequest through their will
- An Annuity or other life insurance policy
- An IRA

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• No, not at all. Consider these additional options:

- Your client may give any amount of money at any time to an existing fund to help it achieve its charitable purpose. Click HERE to see a description of our existing funds.
- Your client may give an unrestricted gift of any amount at any time to the Foundation’s Operating Fund to support the work of the Foundation in the community.  This may be used for any purpose, including administrative overhead, grant-making, educational events, etc.
- Your client may give a gift of any amount at any time to our Unrestricted Grants Fund, our General Endowment Fund or our Founders Fund. Grants from these funds are used to meet community needs identified by the Foundation Board.
- Your client may join with others who share their charitable interest and let the Foundation help them create a movement around that interest.
- BOTTOM LINE: Talk to us about your client’s charitable dreams. They may not feel they have a great deal to give, but we can often help them accomplish those dreams by finding others who share them. We connect people who care with causes that matter, and there are lots of people who care who aren’t wealthy.

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• No, but there are significant advantages to letting us know:

- It allows us to have a conversation with them and you about their intent and wishes for their gift in the future. Often, we draw up a Memorandum of Understanding for a Fund that will not be activated or funded until after a donor’s death, but your client will have the peace of mind of knowing that their wishes will be carried out.
- It provides you, your client, and the Foundation with the chance to set things up in accordance with all laws and regulations to most effectively ensure that their wishes are carried out. We work regularly with the legal department of the national Council on Foundations to ensure that we are in compliance.
- It provides further documentation of their wishes in the event anyone should contest their will.
- It helps us with our own planning so we can more quickly and effectively implement their gift when we receive it.

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• A charitable remainder trust, with the Foundation as its beneficiary, is ideal when your client needs their current assets now to live on but wants to use some or all of whatever remains after their death and their estate is settled to benefit the community in whatever way they instruct. By using the Foundation as a vehicle for this, you and your client can be assured that their wishes are carried out without an administrative burden to the executor of their estate or their family.

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• A charitable lead trust, with the Foundation as its beneficiary, is ideal when your client has assets that they don’t need right now but wants the assets to go to their heirs after their death or after a specified period of time. The income from the trust goes to the Foundation (to be used for charitable purposes as your client specifies) during the period of the trust, after which time the trust is dissolved and distributed to their heirs as designated when they establish the trust. This is a wonderful and often over-looked way for a client to benefit their community or favorite church or charity during their lifetime or for a specified period of time without depriving their heirs of inheritance. By using the Foundation as a vehicle for this, they can be assured that their wishes are carried out without an administrative burden to them or their family.