Home  |  About Us  |  News & Events  |  FAQs  |  Contributions  |  Grants & Scholarships  |  Links  |  Contact
Announcements   |   Newsletters   |   Programs and Projects   |  
Community Foundation News


No. 95 April 10, 2009



Make it a Family Affair

Is your philanthropy a family affair or simply left to Mum and Dad to decide? By philanthropy, I include church offerings, special fund raising drives, food drives, door to door canvassing, and participation in fund-raising breakfasts and similar events.

Some giving decisions are made on the spur of the moment; others however are, and should be, planned and it is about the latter that the family can be most easily involved.

Donor advised funds are a natural for family giving and provide many opportunities for family input.

The first family opportunity comes in determining the purposes for which a fund is being established whether it be the arts, a scholarship, planting trees in the local community, a memorial to a family member or to mark a special occasion - a great opportunity for a family meeting.

How much can we give? Obviously a very personal matter. Family members have differing capacities to give but, ideally, each should contribute something in the early stages and be encouraged to give on a regular basis.

Another opportunity for involvement comes with the setting of the financial goal. Financial goal setting also involves thinking about the amount grant to be made each year.
 

As a guideline:

  • $500 dollar prize annually requires an endowment of $2,500
  • $500 grant annually requires an endowment of $12,500
  • A $5,000 grant annually requires an endowment of $125,000
CFPEI is a natural home for a donor advised fund; it is locally based, has low administrative costs, is flexible, knows community needs, and is governed by people likely known to the family. I can visualize a family discussion; One grant? Two grants? Or more? And how much to each organization?

The Foundation does all the administrative work, it issues charitable receipts, invests the capital, monitors performance, handles reports required by the Canadian revenue Agency, issues the cheque to recipients, organizes events to present awards and invites donors.

We often talk about young people not being interested in community work. Why not start a conversation in your home today about a family fund at CFPEI. We.d be glad to provide more information about how it is done.








The Foundation News is an informal newsletter edited and published electronically by, and at the whim of, Don Glendenning. Think of it as a letter from a friend. Feel free to send it to a friend or otherwise let me know that you want to be on the mailing list. Address: don@glendenning.net the foundation email address is foundation@cfpei.ca.

Top
Site made possible with hosting donated by Red Rock Servers and design services by Ricky Dalton.