What Is the Community Foundation?

The Community Foundation of
The Texas Hill Country
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Community Foundation?
2. What does a Community Foundation do?
3. What ‘community’ does it cover? Who do you serve?
4. Where do you get the money you donate?
5. Why be a donor?
6. Who governs the Community Foundation?
7. Is this a national or local group?
8. What do you fund?
9. How is this different from the United Way?
10. What are the financial benefits and tax advantages of gifting through the Community Foundation?
11. I do have a fair sized net worth and would like to consider sharing with community. How can the Community Foundation help me?
12. I always thought foundations were for rich people. I am not rich. Why should I think about giving a small amount through the Community Foundation?
13. How do I set up a fund?
14. How can I give to the Community Foundation?
15. Explain the difference from a private, family foundation. Does this have importance for my taxes?
16. What services do I receive as a donor and is there a fee for this?
17. How much must I contribute to have a fund named?
18. Can I give anonymously?
19. How will funds be invested? Can a donor influence or tell you how and with whom to invest his/her funds?
20. What is your endowment goal and what is the size of the present endowment?
21. Do you have ‘field of interest’ funds?
22. In addition to setting up a charitable fund, I understand that a donor can participate in the Community Foundation’s special initiatives. What are some of the special initiatives?

1. What is a Community Foundation?
A Community Foundation is a collection of individual funds and resources given by residents to enhance and support the quality of life in their community. It is a tax exempt public charity that allows many individuals, through gifts and bequests, to establish permanent endowment funds within the confines of one large foundation. The income from these separate funds- and the principal if the donor desires- can help a community respond to emerging problems and opportunities, as well as prepare for its future.

2. What does a Community Foundation do?
Community foundations make grants to qualified nonprofit organizations which are active in maintaining the educational, health, human service, social, cultural, environmental and civic resources of the county. The foundation professionally manages and distributes income from charitable gifts and bequests in a manner consistent with the donor’s specific and general interests. Finally, community foundations provide philanthropic leadership and help create and promote efforts among residents to improve the quality of life in the community.

Types of funds:
Unrestricted Funds offer the broadest giving option, allowing grants to be made wherever the board determines our community’s needs are the greatest.
Field-of-Interest Funds create grants that meet needs in a particular field or geographic area that is of interest to the donor.
Donor-Advised Funds enable the donor to recommend specific organizations to receive grants.
Scholarship Funds help students pursue academic goals. A donor may define guidelines for candidacy, the advisory committee, the school and the award itself.
Designated Funds let donors support specific organizations while the board makes sure that grants to these groups remain relevant over time and responsive to changing circumstances.

3. What ‘community’ does it cover? Who do you serve?
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country generally serves the counties of Bandera, Gillespie, Kendall and Kerr. Several donors, however, have interests elsewhere which they fund through the community foundation.

4. Where do you get the money you donate?
Donors to community foundations range from people of relatively modest means to those with large financial resources. By establishing a fund or donating to an existing fund within a community foundation, donors can contribute their gifts of cash and appreciated property toward a permanent named endowment. This enables their contributions to have a long-term impact that will continue to meet community needs over time. Many donors are interested in planned giving and have the Community Foundation in their charitable remainder trust.

5. Why be a donor?
The Community Foundation donors are people with a strong sense of community and personal commitment to making a significant contribution to the communities in which they live. Some donors tell us that the resources we bring to weighing the unique contributions of organizations seeking support is an important feature for them. They want to support worthwhile causes in their communities, and the Community Foundation can help them find the best way to commit their funds. Other donors appreciate the speed, flexibility, and ease of using a Community Foundation. Because the legal apparatus is already in place, existing forms are available so that a fund literally can be established, and the tax advantages obtained in a very short time. Donors also appreciate the opportunities for a long-term giving, providing opportunities to improve the quality of life in Hill Country County communities now and for future generations.

6. Who governs the Community Foundation?
A governing board of trustees comprised of individuals who are representative of the four Hill Country Counties that we serve.

7. Is this a national or local group?
The Community Foundation is completely autonomous and decisions are made locally. The Foundation is a member of the Council on Foundations and can use the Council as a resource on policy, legal, and tax questions. There are nearly 550 Community Foundations nationally and they are the fastest growing instrument of planned giving in the United States. The first community foundation was founded in 1914. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country was established in 1982.

8. What do you fund?
Since 1982 we have been granting to non profit organizations addressing the full range of issues. This includes the areas of education, health, human resources, arts & culture, environment, economic development, and social justice. In addition, Field of Interest and special funding initiatives enable us to conduct significant grant making that addresses other specific community initiatives.

9. How is this different from the United Way?
Both are important resources to the community. They are both necessary and compatible. Some have described the differences by suggesting the United Way is more like the community’s check book, raising and distributing money annually, while a community foundation is more like a savings account, distributing interest from long-term funds in perpetuity. Additional differences include The Community Foundation’s broad scope of funding, including the arts, education, the environment, and scholarships, not just health and human services.

10. What are the financial benefits and tax advantages of gifting through the Community Foundation?
The Community Foundation approach to planned giving offers a number of important financial benefits to donors. Because community foundations manage a large number of unrestricted and discretionary funds, administrative costs and service fees for any one fund is minimized - meaning less overhead cost to the donor’s fund. Another important advantage is that the Federal tax code provides significant incentives for contributions to a community foundation.

11. I do have a fair sized net worth and would like to consider sharing with community. How can the Community Foundation help me?
Gifts to community foundations during the donor’s lifetime are deductible to the maximum extent permissible under current tax law. There is also a significant benefit for the deductibility of gifts of appreciated property to community foundations. The full fair market value of such gifts to community foundations (long-term capital gain property such as stocks and bonds, real estate or personal property) is deductible up to 30 percent of adjusted gross income.

12. I always thought foundations were for rich people. I am not rich. Why should I think about giving a small amount through the Community Foundation?
The Community Foundation offers a variety of options for making donations. By combining your resources with those of others who share your interests, you can maximize the impact of modest contributions with minimal administrative costs through economies of scale.

13. How do I set up a fund?
Donors can create several types of funds within a community foundation. They can set up an unrestricted fund to help meet a variety of needs within the community, or can specify a purpose or area of concern for which income from the fund is best used. Donors can also name the fund that they endow for themselves, spouses, a family member, for a company, or valued friend. Funds may also be anonymous. Some funds have names that convey a specific goal or purpose, or hold special meaning for the donor. Gifts also may be contributed to an existing fund, or general or specific purpose fund, or one of the Community Foundation’s special initiatives.

The process is managed by professional staff and takes approximately thirty minutes to open a fund and does not require an attorney or CPA for establishment of a fund.

14. How can I give to the Community Foundation?
Cash of course, there are, however, many other ways, including securities and real estate. Gifts to the Community Foundation may be made at a surprisingly low cost by giving real estate or securities that have appreciated in value. Were the donor to sell the property, a substantial tax would be levied on appreciation, whereas a gift to the Community Foundation not only incurs no tax, but entitles the donor to a tax deduction for the full value. Gifts to the Community Foundation may be made subject to life income agreements. Such an irrevocable gift may provide for an annual income paid to the donor for the remainder of his/her life. Through this sort of gift, depending on the individual circumstances, substantial income and inheritance tax benefits are created. A variety of instruments could be used including a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, or an Annuity Trust.

15. Explain the difference from a private, family foundation. Does this have importance for my taxes?
Community foundations combine the tax advantages of a public charity with the lasting quality of a private foundation. Gifts of cash and ordinary income property to a community foundation are deductible up to 50% of adjusted gross income versus 30% for a private foundation. Gifts of appreciated property can be credited for 30% versus 20% for a private foundation. There is no excise tax on community foundations as there is on private foundations, and community foundations do not have the payout requirements of private foundations. The most important quality may be flexibility, in design and in anticipating future needs.

16. What services do I receive as a donor and is there a fee for this?
The Community Foundation provides all IRS reporting, accounting and accountability. The Foundation does all grant review, site visits and works with the donor if the donor wishes to participate. The Foundation assures that all grant and scholarship recipients meet the tests to assure tax deductible status. Where appropriate, the Community Foundation helps the donor advise recipients of the intent to solicit proposals or funds certain categories of interest to the donor. Donors are kept apprised of special community needs. The donor is charged an annual fee which can be deducted from interest earnings on the fund.

17. How much must I contribute to have a fund named?
There is a minimum amount required of $7,500.00. The Community Foundation encourages giving at all levels.

18. Can I give anonymously? Yes.

19. How will funds be invested? Can a donor influence or tell you how and with whom to invest his/her funds?
Investments are recommended by the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees with advice from the professional investment managers that manage the funds and decisions are made by the board.

20. What is your endowment goal and what is the size of the present endowment?
The Community Foundation’s goal is to grow a permanent endowment. The present endowment is more than $7 million.

21. Do you have field of interest funds?
Yes. These allow the donor to contribute in a specific interest area and maximize the contribution by joining others who share a common interest.

22. In addition to setting up a charitable fund, I understand that a donor can participate in the Community Foundation’s special initiatives. What are some of the special initiatives?
A. The Tivy Education Center Capital Campaign to support the renovation of the former 6th grade building at the main campus of Kerrville Independent School District for use by the Alamo Community College District for classes.
B. Friends of the Butts-Holdsworth Library Improvement Fund to support renovation of the library located in Kerrville.