The Community Foundation is committed to working with you and your family to fulfill your charitable goals, whether those goals relate to making an impact, leaving a legacy, saving money on taxes, expressing gratitude, or a combination of objectives. If you have not yet established a fund at the Community foundation (and even if you have!), it might interest you to know that a donor-advised fund or other type of fund not only offers flexibility to meet your giving goals, but also gives you options for recognition or anonymity, depending on your goals and preferences.
Many philanthropic individuals and families appreciate–and sometimes even seek–recognition for gifts to their favorite charities. In addition to feeling appreciated, donors give publicly for many other reasons, including knowing that their names can lend credibility to an organization and that their gifts can serve as an inspiration to other donors. Our team at the Community Foundation also understands the perspectives of nonprofit organizations about anonymous giving. This means we can help you navigate your relationship with a favorite charity, which in turn allows us to help ensure that your intentions are achieved and the nonprofit’s mission is supported in the way you envision.
The Community Foundation carries out your wishes for recognition in a variety of ways.
When you recommend grants to your favorite charities from your donor-advised fund the Community Foundation will typically issue the grant checks to the charities noting that the gift is from your fund so that you receive the recognition. Sometimes, though, fundholders have good reasons for wanting their support to be anonymous, whether because of modesty, religious convictions, avoidance of unwanted solicitations, or wanting to keep the focus on the charity.
Whatever the reasons you might prefer to give anonymously, whether from time to time or across the board, the Community Foundation respects your wishes and can help in a variety of ways. More details can be found on our blog here. (Jump to rest of the article/blog)
–First and foremost, our team will listen intently to understand your charitable goals and interests and make sure that we are structuring your fund(s) to achieve your charitable giving and family philanthropy goals. Indeed, some individuals and families set up multiple funds to serve different needs, including the desire for anonymity for a portion of their giving but not all. Our team will be sure to ask clarifying questions to determine how best to structure your charitable funds to achieve your desired level of recognition. Do you prefer anonymity for every grant? Is there a threshold amount where smaller grants can be acknowledged? Does the restriction apply only to a public disclosure by the grantee, but the grantee organization is itself aware? We know these discussions can be delicate.
–You may wish to recommend that certain grants (but not all grants) from your fund be issued anonymously. The Community Foundation offers the ability to opt in to anonymity on a grant-by-grant basis. Also remember that no solicitations will flow directly to you; the Community Foundation handles all correspondence related to grants to nonprofits made from your fund.
–Remember that you can establish a donor-advised fund under a nondescript, less identifiable name, perhaps one that is generic sounding or honors ancestors who may have “seeded” the fund through a prior generation’s wealth transfer or inheritance. For example, you can select a name for your fund that is something less obvious than your own name. Instead of the “Morgan and Jordan and Smith Fund,” for instance, you could name the fund the “MJS Fund,” “Smith Family Legacy Fund,” or something else. When the Community Foundation sends a grant check to a charity from your fund based on your wishes, the charitable recipient will see only the name of the fund, not your name.
–As always, with any fund (whether some or all of the grant making is anonymous) the Community Foundation’s code of ethics and operating principles mean that our team follows and enforces strict confidentiality. For example, we are careful about visibility and accessibility of donor information even internally, and we adhere closely to permissions and protections within the donor database.
–Finally, the Community Foundation does not disclose information about you or your fund to any third party, nor is detailed information available through a Form 990 filed with the IRS.
At the Community Foundation, we’re here to serve the greater good. We welcome all conversations about giving, and we gladly strive to honor the charitable giving preferences of our donors and fund holders to the fullest extent allowed by law.