Donors

Our donors make a lasting impact that reaches beyond our generation. Discover the difference one donation can make.

The Power of Endowment

“A society grows great when elders plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.”

- Greek Proverb

Plant a tree once, and it bears fruit year after year. Allow it to grow, and it will offer shade for future generations. This is the power of giving for endowment.

When you make a gift through Ashland County Community Foundation, your gift is never spent. Rather, it is invested, creating income that is used to make grants or provide scholarships each year.

Whether you want to choose exactly how your dollars are distributed or you’d like us to direct your funds to the areas of greatest need, you’ll have the confidence of knowing your legacy is in good hands. We’ll manage your investments wisely and administer your funds with care.

We are a local organization with deep roots in the community, and our professional staff has broad expertise regarding community organizations, issues and needs.

We’ll work alongside you and your professional advisors to help you create a plan that maximizes tax advantages and makes the most of your charitable giving.

How We Invest

Our investment philosophy is focused on growth and distribution. We’ll invest your money in a way that grows the principal of your gift while generating enough investment income to reinvest in Ashland County. Each year, distributions from your fund will be granted to the causes you designate.

Ashland County Community Foundation’s primary pool of assets is held in low-fee Vanguard index funds, with the ACCF Finance Committee monitoring performance.

What You Can Give

We can work with you and your professional advisors to find giving solutions that match your assets and your goals. These are some of the common types of gifts we receive.

Cash

Usually in the form of a check, a cash gift is the most direct and popular way of giving. You can also Give Online.

Stock

When you gift appreciated stock, you avoid paying capital gains tax on the increase in stock value, and you receive a tax deduction for the full market value of the stock.

Real Estate

If you have owned property for many years, a charitable gift of that real estate can be especially tax-advantageous.

Retirement Plan Assets

You can name ACCF as a beneficiary of your retirement plan assets and channel other assets to your loved ones.

Life Insurance

If you no longer need a previously purchased life insurance policy, it may be desirable to use the policy for charitable giving.

Bequests

Bequests allow you to use your will as a means of making gifts to ACCF. We can provide suggested language for a variety of bequest types.

Life Income Gifts

With life income gifts, you can receive annual payments for your lifetime and then leave remaining dollars to ACCF.

Types of Funds

We offer several endowment fund types, allowing you varying levels of involvement in how grants are distributed from your fund.

Any of our fund types can bear your name or the name of someone you wish to honor or remember. We can also offer anonymity if you prefer.

There is no cost to set up an endowment fund with ACCF, but we do charge each fund an annual fee to cover the costs associated with administering the fund. This fee is always deducted from the fund, so additional dollars are never required from the donor.

Agency Funds

Establishing an agency fund is a way of providing ongoing support for a nonprofit organization. Earnings from these endowment funds provide an ongoing source of income for the organization’s operations and programs. Agencies that create endowment funds with ACCF become Agency Partners.

Donor Advised Funds

Having a donor advised fund is a bit like having your own private foundation from which you can make grants to support organizations, programs and projects. This fund type allows you to add money to your fund on one schedule and distribute dollars from your fund on another, so you can maximize tax benefits and have money available when you’re ready to give.

Donor Designated Funds

Donor designated funds are a great way to sustainably support specific nonprofit organizations. Establish your fund with us, and each year, we’ll grant distributions from your fund to the organization you designate. We’ll also monitor the organization to make sure your grant is being used in the way you intended.

Field of Interest Funds

With a field of interest fund, you can ensure your gift is used to support a certain program area, such as arts or education, without designating a particular charity. This type of fund provides the foundation with flexibility to meet changing community needs within your field of interest.

Scholarship Funds

By creating a scholarship, you can help make higher education possible for students. Scholarships are often created to honor or remember someone special and can be named for the donor or honoree. We can set up your fund and administer your scholarship based on your desired criteria.

Unrestricted Funds

When you set up an unrestricted fund with ACCF, you are trusting our board of trustees and our staff to invest your gift and use the income it generates to support the areas of greatest need in our community. You can still create a named fund, even if you choose not to designate the recipient of your grant dollars.

Legacy Leaders

Any estate plan provision that uses Ashland County Community Foundation as an “instrument for good” beyond the life of the donor is considered a legacy gift. These future gifts can be used to establish a new fund or may be added to any of ACCF’s existing funds.

Too often, legacy gifts are unrecognized because they occur at the end of a donor’s life. Our Legacy Leaders page provides a way for us to recognize and thank legacy donors during their lifetime.

See our Legacy Leaders.

Legacy Leaders are also included in the Legacy Book at our office, recognized at ACCF events and acknowledged in our annual report to the community.

Legacy donors may choose to remain anonymous. However, public acknowledgment can serve to inspire and encourage others to look to the future and dream about how they, too, might make an enduring gift to the causes about which they care.

If you’ve already included the Ashland County Community Foundation in your estate plans, we encourage you to let us know so that we can honor you as one of our Legacy Leaders.