What is an Endowment Fund

An endowment is a philanthropic tool that is forward-looking and sustainable. It is sustainable because it renews itself through smart investing and preservation of the principal. Endowment allows for immediate gifts because people have given to it in the past.

There are funds available at any time to help with a variety of causes. An endowment speaks to the future of a community and the desire of people in the present to make sure that generations are ensured the same or better quality of life.

An endowment can be compared to a savings account or a retirement savings plan. People make donations to an endowment and the funds are invested with growth as a goal. From the income, grants are made and the principal of the gift always remains intact. In the case of the Community Foundation the gift remains whole forever and a portion of the income - about 5 percent a year - is spent on grantmaking. This "spending rule" allows for continued growth of the endowment through reinvestment of earnings and new gifts.

Give to the future of Jackson County. You've lived here. You’ve worked here. You are part of this community’s past and present. By creating an endowment fund with the community foundation, you can invest in this community’s future.

Endowments:

• Choose to endow your gift of $10,000 or more to the Jackson Community Foundation—ask us about options for making gifts over time that add up to this minimum amount.

• The principal of your fund is never spent, and it can grow over time to generate an increasing stream of funding devoted to your interest areas and this community.

• Earnings are used to make grants that meet community needs. Your gift—and all future income from your gift—is a permanent source of community capital that makes good works possible, forever.

• Gifts of $250,000 or more may qualify for an Individually Managed Fund allowing you to keep your investment advisor while getting the tax advantages of a community foundation.