“Though we are called the Jewish Community Foundation, people who have philanthropic and endowment funds contribute to the entire community. We support a variety of Jewish institutions, and we also like the fact that when a non-Jewish charity gets a check from us through the Jewish Community Foundation, we demonstrate our support for the community as a whole.”
– Allan (z”l) and Sandy Fainbarg
There are many types of funds available through which donors can establish their charitable giving. Some distribute funds during the donor’s lifetime. Others are endowments funded after death. Below is a list of the most common funds offered. Please contact the Foundation for other options that may be available.
COMMON FUND TYPES
DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPIC FUNDS
Established by the donor(s) to make donations to charitable organizations.
DAPF Investment Options Information
DAPF Investment Option Selection Form
Non-endowed – Minimum $1,000
- Established by the donor(s) to make donations to charitable organizations
- Donor recommends distributions to any charitable organization, including Jewish or secular agencies, synagogues, or for the benefit of Israel
- Can be utilized by individuals, families or for children to allow entry into the world of charitable giving
- Donor can control the timing of their income tax deductions, taking the deduction immediately but retaining the ability to grant distributions from the fund at any time in the future.
- Donor can make additional contributions in subsequent years.
- Donor can avoid capital gains tax when appreciated stock is gifted to our Foundation for the benefit of the donor’s chosen charitable organization(s).
- Access to funds and grant-making is available 24 hours per day through our Donor Online Access.
We offer a variety of ways for our Donors to give through a Donor Advised Fund:
A simple way to give to the charitable organizations you support regularly or on a single occasion. Once the fund is set up, you make grant requests starting with a minimum of $100 to any synagogue or charitable institution of your choice. The Foundation takes care of the paperwork and provides you with a quarterly report of your giving. Tax deductions for the full amount of the fund can be taken immediately, but grants can be made in future months or years.
It’s the gift that teaches giving and empowers our younger generation to experience tzedakah with a meaningful and hands-on opportunity to repair the world. Guided by our Foundation’s experienced staff and resources as desired, these Funds enable our future leaders to make informed decisions and to enjoy seeing the immediate results of their giving.
Celebrate any special occasion by creating a fund to allow a young couple or any recipient to give back to their local or larger community. These funds provide a tangible and life-changing gift to honor a special event, and permit the new fund donors to support their favorite local charitable organizations, pay synagogue dues or fund any area of special interest.
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Established by the donor(s) to permanently preserve the corpus of the fund.
Minimum $10,000 (no minimum for a bequest or for contributions to organizational funds)
- Established by the donor(s) to permanently preserve the corpus of the fund
- Donor states the purpose and names the beneficiary charitable organization(s)
- Distributions are made from available earnings based on the spending rate
- Can be funded during the donor’s lifetime, or through a bequest, life insurance policy or Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
- May be permanently named in honor of the Donor or in a loved one’s honor
Our Jewish Community Foundation provides several types of Endowment Funds to achieve your dreams for the future. Each of these Endowments may be funded during your lifetime or through your estate. Some donors choose to fund some of their Endowment now so they can enjoy watching the results of their giving throughout their lifetime, and then fully fund the rest of the Endowment through their will or trust.
At our Foundation, how and when you fund your own personal Endowment is entirely up to you. We are here to support your vision of the future.
With these specially-designated funds, you can choose exactly which charitable organization(s) or synagogue(s) will receive the annual earnings, and you can even designate a particular program within your favorite organization to benefit every year from your Endowment.
If you wish to permanently support a cause or particular area of interest but would like the involvement of your family or the Foundation’s expertise in deciding which specific charitable organization will best fulfill your vision, we are here to help. You may designate annual disbursements go to an area of interest instead of listing specific organizations, and you can choose to allow your children or grandchildren to designate beneficiary organizations. For example, one Donor’s passion was Jewish childhood education, but the Donor was unsure which organizations or preschool would provide the best quality Jewish holiday and celebration experiences for children in the coming decades. To ensure her annual grants were provided to an organization that would support her ideas of Jewish education, the Donor designated that her daughter would make a decision on an annual basis determining where the funds could best be utilized every year.
Another Donor asked that the Foundation’s Grants Committee determine where her annual funds could best be used, so long as they supported Jewish Special Education. Our Foundation provides all the paperwork and support for your Endowment Fund at no extra fee, and we are here to assist you and your family to identify local and global charitable organizations that work to fulfill your dreams of the future.
This is a special Endowment Fund whose annual earnings are designated to the annual campaign of the Jewish Federation and Family Services Orange County. By setting up a PACE Fund, you may ensure that your annual campaign donation to the Federation will be honored into perpetuity.
You may also choose to allocate your annual grants to our Foundation’s Unrestricted Fund. Some Donors wish their annual earnings to be utilized for the potential, unforeseen needs of the Jewish Community as a whole or for the Foundation itself. Annual earnings placed in this Fund may be utilized for any purpose as determined by the Board of Directors.
CHARITABLE TRUSTS
Benefit your favorite charitable organizations while receiving a fixed, guaranteed sum of money for life or benefit a charity and pass principal to your family with significant tax benefits.
CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUSTS
Charitable Remainder Trusts are a good way to obtain a charitable income tax deduction, avoid capital gains tax for the sale of appreciated securities or real estate, and reduce estate taxes while providing a donation to a favorite charitable organization in a permanent endowment.
- Assets are transferred to a charitable trust, and the Donor receives an immediate charitable deduction
- Donor can convert appreciated assets, such as stock or real estate, into income without incurring immediate capital gains tax
- Income is produced for the Donor and/or beneficiaries, and increased cash flow can occur now or at a later time and may be used to fund a retirement plan
- The Donor may receive more income than the original asset through funds invested at a higher yield
- The trust assets are removed from the estate for estate tax purposes (some of the Donor’s expected life income may be included in the estate depending on the existence of named trust beneficiaries)
- The Donor can control income and charitable beneficiaries, with the remainder of the trust passing to charitable organization(s) of the Donor’s choice
CHARITABLE LEAD TRUSTS
These trusts enable donors in high estate and gift tax brackets to benefit charitable organization(s) of their choice and to pass principal to family members with little or no tax penalty.
- Donor irrevocably transfers assets to a charitable trust
- During the donor’s lifetime, income from the charitable trust benefits one or more charities designated by the donor for a term of years or for a lifetime
- After the termination of the charitable trust, the remaining trust assets can pass to donor’s designated beneficiaries/heirs (children/grandchildren)
- The transfer of assets to the donor’s beneficiaries occurs at greatly reduced or eliminated federal estate and gift tax cost
- This vehicle works well for donors anticipating high estate and gift taxes, but the grantor trust is not exempt from income tax and gifts to the trust do not qualify for annual gift exclusion unless the final beneficiary is a charitable organization
- May be created during the donor’s lifetime or through the donor’s Will or Living Trust
ORGANIZATION ENDOWMENTS FUNDS
Established by not-for-profit agency to permanently preserve corpus.
Minimum $25,000
- Established by not-for-profit organization or synagogue to permanently preserve corpus
- Organization may state a specific purpose for the fund
- Distributions are made from available earnings based on spending rate
- Additional contributions can be made at any time in any amount, by Donors or by the Organization itself
SUPPORTING FOUNDATIONS
Families and other entities choose supporting foundations as a way to involve a group in a structured grantmaking process while anchoring meaning, purpose, and continuity across generations.
- Housed at the Jewish Community Foundation, these funds offer many of the advantages of a private foundation (including independent identity and structure, board leadership, professional staffing, and administrative and accounting support) with all the tax benefits of a Donor Advised Fund.
- A Supporting Foundation is a charitable corporation or trust that, by affiliating with the Jewish Community Foundation, obtains 501(c)(3) tax status as a public charity – earning maximum tax deductibility. Supporting Foundations may be created by families, affiliated groups, nonprofit organizations, or businesses, or they may evolve from an existing private foundation.
- Supporting Foundations are far less restricted than private foundations. They do not have a required annual distribution (5% for private foundations), and they are not taxed on earnings. The Jewish Community Foundation handles all accounting, grant payments, and investment, tax, and audit matters.
- The donor and the Jewish Community Foundation work together to appoint a board of directors. The Jewish Community Foundation-appointed directors must, by law, outnumber donor directors, and the board is required to meet a minimum of once a year and make at least one grant distribution.
- The Jewish Community Foundation’s expert philanthropic services staff is available to help with strategic direction, grant review and due diligence, assessing the effectiveness of grants, and engaging and educating new generations of family members.
