Donor Login to My Fund
Scholarships
Donate Online
Community Calendar
Frequently Asked Questions
SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarship listings for the current year are available on our website mid-December.
Review the scholarship listings on the website to identify scholarships for which you're eligible. Download the scholarship application or take note of where you need to go to pick up an application. If we don't have the application, we have provided contact information for applying. Once you have filled out the application, please send it, along with any required documentation, to the Community Foundation of Louisville at 325 W Main Street Suite 1110, Louisville, KY 40202.
Each scholarship has its own application deadline. This deadline is noted on the website and on the application. Please note that the deadlines are postmark deadlines – your application and all required documents must be postmarked by the given date.
No. Because we receive so many applications, we are unable to extend the deadline for any reason. Applications sent after the deadline are considered late and will not be reviewed.
- Copy of your 2012-2013 Student Aid Report (SAR) when you complete the 2012-2013 FAFSA (www.fafsa.ed.gov)
- Most current official, transcript produced by your school
- Essay (required for some funds)
Each scholarship fund has its own committee. The Community Foundation of Louisville processes the application materials for these committees that make the decisions.
You may apply for as many scholarships for which you are eligible and you may receive several awards depending on your financial need.
Scholarship funds offer varying award amounts, which range from $400 to several thousand dollars. Awards are dependent upon the size of the particular fund, the number of qualified applicants and the directions given by the donor(s) of the funds.
Scholarships can be used for direct education expenses including tuition, books, fees. Some scholarships also cover room and board. Please note that the IRS regulations state that scholarship awards not used for direct education expenses may be considered taxable income. If you have any questions about how your scholarships might affect your income taxes, please consult your family's tax advisor.
You will receive a notification letter in the mail whether you have been chosen to receive an award or not after the selection committees meet which may be any time between April and July.
Yes, donors enjoy reading thank you notes and like to know something about the person who is receiving their scholarship. If you were fortunate to have received one or more scholarships from funds at the Community Foundation of Louisville, please address your thank you note to "______________ Scholarship Committee" and mail it to the Community Foundation of Louisville, 325 W Main Street Suite 1110, Louisville, KY 40202. The Foundation will forward it to the committee and/or donor(s).
No. College scholarship payments are mailed directly to the school's financial aid office. Your scholarship check will be made payable to the accredited, educational institution of your choice.
You must notify the Community Foundation if you move or transfer to a new school. Contact Meredith Zahirovic by email or by phone at 502.855.6971, as soon as you have made your decision to transfer. The Foundation will send the remaining balance to your new school.
BECOMING A DONOR
Opening a Fund
Creating a fund is simple and fast. You can start the process of opening a fund by sending an email to the Gift Planning team or by calling the Foundation at 502.585.4649. There is no minimum to open a Charitable Checking Fund, while most endowment funds require a minimum gift of $25,000. You may claim a charitable deduction for the full amount of the gift (for outright gifts) in the year of each contribution. You can make additional contributions to the fund in any amount at any time. Others can also make contributions to your fund, perhaps to mark a special occasion or support a special project that interests you. For more Information about starting a fund, contact Mike Schultz, Vice President of Development & Stewardship, or Regina Rapier Beckman, JD, Director of Gift Planning at 502.585.4649.
Throughout your lifetime, or until you resign, you may recommend grant distributions from your fund. You also have the option to designate your spouse or partner, your child, or another member of your family or a friend as an advisor to your fund.
Yes, you can name your children and grandchildren as successors to your fund. At the end of the Advisory period for your fund (after your death or resignation or your successors’), the Foundation's Board of Directors will make grants from your fund in accordance with your wishes.
Many donors use their family name for their fund, which appears in Foundation publications, such as the annual report. You may prefer a name that is representative of the types of programs you want to support, or you may choose a name for the fund that preserves your anonymity.
You may choose from three investment options four your endowment fund: a balanced pool, an aggressive pool, and a socially responsible pool. Each investment pool is a mixture of equities and bonds, designed to maintain the purchasing power of the funds over time. Within each pool, the Community Foundation hires managers who specialize in particular asset classes to ensure that there is superior performance and adequate diversification. Our goal is to benefit from a range of expertise from managers in a way that would be impractical and cost-prohibitive for individual investors.
Donors who create a fund with a gift of $2 million or more may recommend their own investment advisor for their endowment. Please contact the Community Foundation at 502.585.4649 to discuss this option.
Charitable Checking Funds do not have the option to be invested in any of our investment pools.
There is no minimum to open a Charitable Checking Fund, but there is a minimum grant amount of $100.
Endowment funds generally require a minimum gift of $25,000. However, named funds within the Fund for Louisville or the Education Counts Scholarship Fund may be started with a minimum gift of $5,000.
You may make a charitable gift of any amount to any existing fund.
The Foundation can accept many types of assets including cash, publicly traded securities, closely held and restricted stock, real estate, and life insurance policies.
Establishing a fund at the Foundation is free of charge. The Foundation files the federal and state tax returns, provides an independent audit, processes disbursements, mails checks to recipients and grant reports to the donor, administers and invests the assets of the fund, and issues regular financial reports on the status of the fund to the donor.
Charitable Checking Funds are not permanent, while endowment funds are. It's your choice.
Yes, and all contributions are tax-deductible charitable gifts.
When You Have Created Your Fund
Keep one signed original and return the other to the gift planning staff at the Community Foundation who helped you establish your fund. Please call that contact person if you have any questions regarding the Fund Agreement.
After we receive your signed Fund Agreement, you will be sent a welcome packet containing information about the administration of your fund.
You may recommend grants to qualified nonprofit groups and government entities. To comply with applicable IRS regulations however, the Community Foundation's Board of Directors retains the final responsibility for approving distributions from funds. Grants are generally made to organizations recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
You may recommend a grant of any amount from your Charitable Checking Fund, up to the total value of the fund.
Endowment funds are generally limited to the Foundation’s spending policy, which is 5% of the fund’s total value (based on a 12-quarter rolling average). Some funds have the option to distribute a larger portion of the fund’s total value.
All grant recommendations (from endowments or Charitable Checking Funds) must each be at least $100.
Yes, the Community Foundation has a spending policy for endowment funds. The spending policy, a formula that determines the amount of money available for grantmaking from endowments, is based on a designated percentage of the fund's fair market value. The Foundation's current spending policy distributes 5% of an average 12-quarter market value annually. Based on historic stock and bond market performance, this should allow the endowment fund to distribute grants in inflation-adjusted amounts in perpetuity.
We have professional staff members that are available to help you make effective and meaningful grants. For example, we can help you learn about nonprofit groups that work in your areas of interest or do customized research on issues you're interested in. Contact Shannon Kisselbaugh, Director of Stewardship, at 502.585.4649 to discuss your interests and goals.
All gifts represent an irrevocable contribution to the Community Foundation of Louisville and are not refundable. However, if you want to terminate your Charitable Checking Fund, simply recommend grants of the fund's entire balance, and then we will close the fund.
Endowment funds are permanent and cannot be closed.
To comply with IRS regulations, the Foundation cannot distribute grants to non-operating private foundations, even though they are 501(c)(3) organizations. However, grants may be made to foundations classified as private operating foundations.
CURRENT DONORS
Administration of my Fund
Yes, in most cases this can be done easily with an Addendum to the Fund Agreement, a document that reflects the intended language changes and is signed by you and the President and CEO of the Foundation.
The easiest way is to log on to My Fund, your personal online tool for managing the fund you have established. You may view your current fund balance, make grant recommendations, and review past grants. You will also receive a quarterly donor statement by mail for your reference.
You may choose from three investment options four your endowment fund: a balanced pool, an aggressive pool, and a socially responsible pool. Each investment pool is a mixture of equities and bonds, designed to maintain the purchasing power of the funds over time. Within each pool, the Community Foundation hires managers who specialize in particular asset classes to ensure that there is superior performance and adequate diversification. Our goal is to benefit from a range of expertise from managers in a way that would be impractical and cost-prohibitive for individual investors.
Donors who create a fund with a gift of $2 million or more may recommend their own investment advisor for their endowment. Please contact the Community Foundation at 502.585.4649 to discuss this option.
Certain local invesment firms also have an investment option for Community Foundation funds that do not require a $2 million minimum. We currently have relationships with Stock Yards Bank & Trust, Glenview Trust Company and PNC Wealth Management. Contact Matt Bacon, Chief Financial Officer, at 502.585.4649 with any questions.
Charitable Checking Funds do not have the option to be invested in any of our investment pools.
Grants from my Fund
You may recommend a grant online through the My Fund online fund management system. Or you may download a grant recommendation form and fax it to the Foundation at 502.587.7484.
MyFund is your personal online tool for managing the fund you established at the Community Foundation of Louisville.
To access My Fund, click here. Once on the log-in page, enter your User Name and Password, which can be found in your fund handbook.
If you do not have a User Name and Password, would like to explore the features of MyFund, or have any other questions about using this tool, please contact Melody Raidy, Staff Accountant, at 502.855.6960 or by email.
Grants may be recommended to organizations in the United States that are recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt, charitable organizations with 501(c)(3) status and that meet the Foundation's due diligence requirements.
You may request grant distributions to organizations in Louisville, Kentucky, and throughout the entire U.S.
Community Foundation funds may not make grants to individuals. Scholarship funds may recommend a grant to support an individual only if that individual has been selected through an objective, predefined process. The grant be made to the educational institution that the student will be attending.
Grants cannot be directed to specific individuals who are victims of a disaster or who have a personal illness. Support in these situations may be provided through non-profit groups that serve many people affected by disasters or illnesses.
In addition, no grant from a fund can benefit a relative of the donor.
According to IRS regulations, the cost of a ticket to such an event cannot be paid by your fund, even when only a portion of the ticket price is identified as tax-deductible and another portion as non-tax-deductible. Two examples illustrate this point:
a) If a charity's fundraising event is $250 per person, and the charity states that $100 is tax-deductible and $150 is non-tax-deductible, you may not divide the event support between a donor-advised fund and your personal check. You must pay the full $250 personally.
b) If you wish to sponsor a charity's event (at which individual tickets cost $200 per person) at a $5,000 level, you may recommend a grant of $5,000 from your donor-advised fund to support the charity and personally pay $200 per ticket to attend.
You may support the event by recommending a general operating grant from a donor-advised fund so long as you do not attend the event.
In some cases, a membership can purchased through a donor-advised fund, as long as any benefits or privileges received are considered “incidental benefits” that would not reduce the value of a charitable deduction in return for an annual contribution. General operating grants to a nonprofit are always allowed.
Please contact the Community Foundation at 502.585.4649 if you have any questions regarding grants that may include membership benefits.
Yes, but only if you explicitly reject the benefit at the time the gift is made. You cannot choose to refuse the benefit after you already received it. In a case like this, we suggest that you recommend the grant for general operating support in order to avoid the appearance of conflict.
You may recommend grants for religious institution memberships, which are not affected by legislation or regulations.
However, you may not pay for religious school tuition through a grant from your donor-advised fund.
You can recommend grants to nonprofits registered with the IRS as 501(c)(3) organizations that engage in lobbying or the practice of advocating their clients' interests. However, the grant you recommend can only be for general operating support and not for specific lobbying activities.
There are instances where it makes sense to request a final report from an organization to which you are recommending a grant. Such instances would be when the grant is of a magnitude that is beyond the contribution size the organization typically receives, when the grant is related to a specific outcome you are interested in, or if there are specific activities the organization needs to complete in order to receive your contribution (such as the case of a challenge grant).
In a case like this we ask the nonprofit to sign a grant agreement prior to distributing the funds to ensure that they understand the conditions under which the grant is being made.
Challenge grants are grants offered to nonprofits to challenge them to raise matching monies. An example is when a donor offers a nonprofit a challenge grant of $50,000 and the nonprofit must raise $50,000 in order to receive the grant. We will enter the grant in our system but not complete processing it until the challenge has been met by the nonprofit. If you are interested in making a challenge grant, Community Foundation staff will be happy to discuss the details with you.
Although you may not fulfill an irrevocable personal pledge through your fund, you may recommend that the Foundation make a multi-year grant from your fund to a nonprofit organization or school. Please talk to staff at the Foundation when you want to make this kind of grant so that we can help facilitate it.
Yes, you can make a grant anonymously at any time. You may request all grants to be made from your fund anonymously, or you can indicate it your preference on a grant by grant basis. Both the name of your fund and your own name can remain anonymous to grant recipients.
Yes, you may recommend grants anywhere in the U.S., as long as they are made to IRS-approved, 501c(3) nonprofit organizations, schools or churches.
To comply with IRS regulations, the Foundation cannot distribute grants to non-operating private foundations, even though they are 501(c)(3) organizations. However, grants may be made to private foundations classified as private operating foundations.
Due diligence is the process the Community Foundation uses to ensure that organizations are qualified to receive grants and are capable of fulfilling your charitable intent. The due diligence review may involve our receiving and reviewing the organization's current 501(c)(3) tax-exempt letter as well as financial and programmatic information.
Grant recommendations that are received by Friday will generally be processed and mailed by the following Friday. Grants to organizations that require additional time for verification may take longer to process.
The Foundation sends checks directly to grantee organizations. You can, however, present a Grant Certificate to inform the organization of your pending grant.
The minimum grant amount is $100.
Yes, the Community Foundation has a spending policy for endowment funds. The spending policy, a formula that determines the amount of money available for grantmaking from endowments, is based on a designated percentage of the fund's fair market value. The Foundation's current spending policy distributes 5% of an average 12-quarter market value annually. Based on historic stock and bond market performance, this should allow the endowment fund to distribute grants in inflation-adjusted amounts in perpetuity.
We have professional staff members that are available to help you make effective and meaningful grants. For example, we can help you learn about nonprofit groups that work in your areas of interest or do customized research on issues you're interested in. Contact Shannon Kisselbaugh, Director of Stewardship, at 502.585.4649 to discuss your interests and goals.
Making a Gift to the Foundation
All gifts are an irrevocable contribution to the Community Foundation of Louisville and are not refundable. However, if you want to close your Charitable Checking Fund, simply recommend grants of the fund's entire balance, and we will then close the fund. Should you move to another community, if you like, we can facilitate moving your fund to the community foundation in your new area.
Please contact Rachel Adkins, HR and Operations Officer, at 502.585.4649 or by email each time you wish to gift securities. She will provide you with current account information for stock transfers. This will ensure that your contribution is credited to the correct fund in a timely fashion.
Charities are not permitted to value non-cash gifts, such as artwork and real estate. It is the responsibility of the donor to obtain an independent, professional valuation.
Yes. You may give real estate, closely held stock, an interest in a family business, and many other assets. All such gifts are reviewed individually by our Gift Acceptance Committee. We will talk with you about the details of your proposed gift and the appropriate procedure for transferring the asset. We do not accept vehicles or livestock.
Checks should be made out to the Community Foundation of Louisville with a note in the memo section as to which fund it is for-e.g., the XYZ Fund. Or, send a cover note indicating the name of the fund to which the contribution should be credited.
In all cases the receipt will show the date the gift was received. If the contribution was a check, the dollar amount and check number will also be shown.
If the gift was in the form of securities, the receipt will list the date the securities transferred and the number of shares. We also provide the high, low, and average value of the stock on the day it was received into our account (or the date the physical stock was delivered to the Foundation). The value is based on the high and low average for the day of the stock multiplied by the number of shares, with appropriate disclaimers.
Receipts for real estate and other non-cash gifts identify the property transferred. The IRS may require you to obtain an appraisal and to file a Form 8283 with your income tax return. We can provide you a Form 8283 on request.
Most gifts are processed within 72 hours or sooner after receiving them. Publicly traded securities are typically sold upon receipt unless special circumstances dictate that the Foundation must hold the stock for a period of time. Of course, the processing time for real estate, non-publicly traded securities, and other unique gifts will take longer, depending on the nature of the gift and the liquidation plan.
Yes, your fund can be named as a beneficiary of your estate to fulfill your charitable goals. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact Regina Rapier Beckman, JD, Director of Gift Planning, at 502.585.4649 or by email.
Simply recommend a grant of any or all the assets in the commercial fund to the Community Foundation of Louisville to be added to your Donor Advised fund.
Yes, these contributions are allowed and at this time do count toward the 5% minimum distribution requirement for private foundations. We suggest that you consult with your legal counsel when making a grant from a private foundation.
PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS
When your clients give to their favorite organizations through the Foundation, they're able to recommend contributions on their timeframe and have the flexibility of supporting any charitable organization they wish. Additionally, the Foundation handles all of the administration, record keeping, and financial statements.
Through the Community Foundation, your client's giving is made simple. The Foundation is also equipped to accept a wide variety of assets, from cash and securities to real property and closely held stock. Another benefit of using the Community Foundation of Louisville for your clients' charitable giving activities is timeliness. With a Donor Advised fund, for example, a donor receives an immediate tax credit for his or her contribution, but retains the ability to recommend grants to nonprofit organizations at a later time.
Review this comparison chart for more information regarding a gift to the Community Foundation compared to other charitable options.
As a public charity, the Community Foundation of Louisville offers the maximum charitable tax advantaged available by law. Because the Foundation is a community foundation, it is not subject to the taxes and regulations affecting private foundations, and it has greater flexibility on matters such as minimum payout.
Review this comparison chart for more information on the differences between a gift to the Community Foundation and other charitable options.
Your client can recommend a grant to any organization that falls within the broad philanthropic mission of the Foundation and is qualified as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The United States has over 650,000 IRS-approved charities. The Foundation will ensure that groups recommended for a grant meet this requirement.
In complying with federal tax laws, and for the protection of your client, the Foundation must reject grant recommendations that would benefit an individual, fulfill a personal obligation, support a political campaign, or that is for a private foundation.
Your client can establish a Donor Advised fund with a minimum opening gift of $25,000. At that time, your client will receive a tax deduction. Your client then recommends how the fund should be invested, choosing between one of our three investment options. The fund is invested, and a portion of the fund balance is available for grants based on our spending policy. Your client then recommends grants when they would like to support a particular group.
A Charitable Checking Fund is similar to a Donor Advised Fund, but it is not invested for long-term growth and there is no minimum gift amount. New gifts must remain on deposit with the Foundation for at least 60 days, and then the full fund balance is available for grant distributions.
Each grant recommendation must be at least $100.
Yes, your client can name a successor or successors to the fund. If they do not name a successor, or after the successor's death or resignation, the Foundation's Board of Directors will continue to use the funds in accordance with your client's wishes.
With a 1% annual fee (with a minimum of $300), the Foundation's fees are highly competitive with commercial gift funds. But even more important, the Foundation offers your clients unique value that can come from our staff's knowledge of the community and expertise in the philanthropic field.
Opening a fund at the Community Foundation of Louisville is generally less expensive than starting a private foundation, since we handle all administrative details, including filing annual tax returns, performing due diligence on grants, and all details associated with processing and tracking grants.
Our role is to help donors create funds that carry out their charitable goals, be that in Louisville or elsewhere. Foundation donors have the ability to recommend grants to nonprofit organizations around the U.S.
There is no minimum amount required to start a Charitable Checking fund at the Foundation. Most named endowment funds have a minimum gift of $25,000, however, your client can create a named fund within the Fund for Louisville for a gift of $5,000 or more.
The Community Foundation has the ability to accept a range of assets, including:
- Cash
- Stocks and bonds
- Real estate
- Personal property, such as jewelry and artwork
- Life insurance policies
Additional information on acceptable gifts to the Foundation
Yes, the Foundation offers an annual seminar for which professionals can receive credit.
Facebook
Become a fan and join in the community conversation
Photos
Visit Flickr for photography of our latest events
Twitter
Follow us for up-to-the minute philathropic information
Videos
View short videos highlighting
important community events and stories
