Create a Fund

Why Create a Fund?

Make Giving Easier

Creating a charitable fund such as a Donor Advised Fund or Charitable Checking Fund allows you to simplify your giving and maximize your tax benefits.

Preserve and Grow Your Charitable Gifts

Many of our funds offer the opportunity to invest and grow your charitable gifts tax-free.

Instill the Spirit of Philanthropy in Future Generations

Creating a fund establishes your legacy. It can be passed down to your children or grandchildren, helping to foster charitable giving as a family value.

Four Simple Steps

Select the Type of Fund

Contribute, Cash, Stock or Other Assets 

Choose Investment Options

Recommend Grants/Distributions to Qualified Charitable Organizations

Types of Funds at the Foundation

Donor Advised Funds

When you want to maximize tax benefits and retain flexibility to support your favorite charitable organizations. A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) allows donors to make a tax deductible gift now, and then decide later which charitable organizations to support. Gifts to your DAF are invested for long-term growth, so there is the potential for your initial gift to grow tax free, which can allow you to have more money to give to your favorite nonprofits. With a DAF, donors receive an unmatched level of personal service and community expertise and can involve successive generations to create a legacy of giving. Learn more.

Charitable Checking Funds

A Charitable Checking Fund (CCF) gives you great flexibility to support the causes and organizations you care about most. You can create an Individual/Joint CCF today by completing the online authorization form. There is no minimum to create your fund and no fees. You can use cash, stock, or other assets to get started. Investment options are not available for this fund.

Create an Individual/Joint CCF here.

In certain circumstances, groups and organizations can open CCFs. Certain rules apply. For more information, please contact Miranda Reece at 502.855.6958 or mirandar@cflouisville.org.

Learn more.

Fund For Louisville

When you want to meet the most pressing needs of the Louisville area by relying on the expertise and local knowledge of the Community Foundation.

With a gift to the Fund for Louisville, you are entrusting the Community Foundation to identify and respond to the ever-evolving needs in our community. You can make a gift today and know that decades from now, your gift will still be having an impact. The Community Foundation is committed to keeping its finger on the pulse of the community and using the Fund for Louisville to ensure the most pressing needs are being met to maintain a community where people and place thrive. Learn more.

Designated Funds

When you want to support specific charitable organizations.

A Designated Fund is an endowed fund that supports one or more charities. The specific nonprofit organizations you care most about can receive a gift in your name every year through a Designated Fund. Learn more.

Field of Interest Funds

When you want to focus your charitable giving on a broader area of concern that is meaningful to you.

With a Field of Interest Fund, you can support the most appropriate and effective nonprofits within the charitable field you select, such as the arts, education, human services or a particular geographic area. Learn more.

Scholarship Funds

When you want to establish a scholarship to support others in achieving their academic dreams.

Scholarship Funds can focus on an area of study, a geographical region, or a specific demographic. The selection criteria is customized to fulfill your vision, whether honoring a loved one or encouraging young people at your alma mater to continue their education. Learn more.

When you open a charitable fund with the Community Foundation, you can do more with your philanthropy than you ever thought possible. See how fundholders impact the the community through their philanthropic dollars below.

Why Work With Us?

Personalized Giving

We accept a wide variety of gifts and work with you to recommend personalized giving strategies that meet all your charitable goals. Through Donor Advised Funds and other charitable funds, we offer a range of grantmaking services that can be tailored to ensure support for the specific causes and organizations that are important to you.

Experience and Local Knowledge

The Community Foundation’s team of charitable giving experts will help you create your charitable fund in the most effective way possible and partner with your professional advisors to provide a convenient and full-service experience. Community is the inspiration for all we do. We are dedicated to understanding the most pressing community needs, sharing innovative ways to engage in philanthropy, and identifying nonprofit organizations that are creating transformational change in our community. When you have a fund at the Community Foundation, you have access to this knowledge and the unique opportunity to do more with your philanthropy than you ever thought possible. Learn more.

Questions about opening your own Fund?

Heather Cash, JD
Heather Cash, JD
Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Services
502.855.6955
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