Like any worthwhile endeavor — building a career, earning a degree, raising a family or saving for retirement — smart giving requires planning and effort. Creating a plan for your personal giving is one of the smartest investments you can make in terms of improving your community and giving to the causes you care about most.
Established in 1976, the Community Foundation has deep roots in Arkansas. While our headquarters is centrally located in Little Rock, we work locally through a network of 28 affiliate offices around the state. Each affiliate has a staff person and an advisory board of local leaders to help us understand the unique needs of each community. Giving through Arkansas Community Foundation and any of its 28 affiliates has several benefits:
Flexibility. Arkansas Community Foundation can customize a giving plan based on your charitable vision. We offer a variety of options tailored to the needs of different kinds of givers. Whether you want to take a hands-on approach to giving or entrust the details to our professional staff and volunteer advisory committees, we’ve got options to suit your needs.
Simplicity. When you partner with the Community Foundation, it’s like having your own foundation to handle all record-keeping, disbursements, and tax receipts. But unlike a private foundation, there are no start-up costs and we handle all the accounting, compliance and reporting – freeing you up to focus on the rewarding aspects of giving.
Permanence. At the Community Foundation, we take a long-term approach to philanthropy. By establishing endowed funds, we ensure longevity and stability for giving to the causes you care about. Endowed funds are permanently invested and only a portion of the fund is used for grantmaking each year so that the rest can be reinvested for the future. These perpetual funds will respond to the needs of your community now and in the future for generations.
Transparency. As stewards of community resources, Arkansas Community Foundation is committed to being accountable, accessible and responsible. Our work is guided by these core values:
- We have INTEGRITY. We do what is right, not what is easy.
- We are INCLUSIVE. We respect diversity.
- We are OBJECTIVE. We seek all points of view.
- We are RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS. We take seriously the public’s trust.
- We are STRATEGIC. We strive to achieve positive long-term results.
- We FOSTER ENGAGEMENT. We seek broad community involvement and work through partnerships.
For more information related to our governance, click here.
Performance. The Community Foundation’s highly experienced board members, financial advisors and managers oversee an investment strategy designed to maximize total return within acceptable risk tolerances. Our funds and endowments help you protect, grow and direct your charitable dollars, all while receiving the maximum tax benefits for your gifts.
Impact. No matter who you choose as your investment manager, there will be a fee associated with managing your fund. As a nonprofit grantmaking organization (rather than a for-profit investment firm) our “shareholders” are Arkansans themselves! The fee collected by Arkansas Community Foundation is directly turned around and reinvested in our state through foundation-directed grants and initiatives.
For more information about giving through the Community Foundation, contact our staff: 501-372-1116 or:
Ashley Coldiron, Chief Development Officer, acoldiron@arcf.org
Jody Dilday, Development Director, jdilday@arcf.org