Giving Now

Addressing Timely Needs

Make a grant from your fund

A central part of our mission is to identify and respond to the most pressing needs in our community. We do so through our discretionary grant funds and in partnership with our fundholders. Here is more information about the most timely needs facing our community right now:

Food insecurity, housing, family, and assistance/basic needs continue to need significant support.
Due to remote learning and NTI, there are also significant needs for youth and childcare support to keep students learning and families working.
One in seven people in Kentuckiana continue to experience hunger and food insecurity, and one local food bank has seen its food distribution increase by 15-20% since last year.
Without additional legislation or action, the federal stimulus assistance package and residential eviction moratorium will expire on December 31.
With the eviction moratorium expiring soon, the Housing and Homeless Collation of Kentucky estimates that 26,000 Jefferson County residents are at risk of eviction.

If you can support the most urgent needs in our community right now, we recommend you consider extending an unrestricted grant to organizations working in food insecurity, housing, basic household needs, and youth support. If you would like more details about specific organizations working in these areas, we encourage you to review the nonprofits listed in our COVID-19 Related Needs giving resource.

We hope this helps make your year-end grants as meaningful as possible. Thank you as always for your generosity and partnership with the Community Foundation.

Watch Video

Watch this video to learn about a few tax advantageous ways to do philanthropy in our current environment.

Types of Funds at the Foundation

Charitable Checking Funds

When you want to simplify and organize your charitable giving.

Opening a Charitable Checking Fund (CCF) is the simplest and quickest way to organize your charitable giving. There is no minimum amount needed to open a CCF and no fee for this type of fund. You can start a CCF by filling out a simple, 2-page authorization form. Please note that we do not offer investment options for charitable checking funds, so there is no opportunity for the fund balance to grow overtime.

Fact Sheet

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 away 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.

Fact Sheet

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.

Fundholders

Fact Sheet

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.

Fact Sheet

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.

Fact Sheet

Scholarship Funds

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

Scholarship Funds can be customize to support an area of study, particular school, recipient profiles and a host of other criteria to meet the donor’s intent. A Scholarship Fund is a wonderful way to honor a loved one. We handle the administration of the fund, including application and selection processes, with as much or as little donor involvement as desired.

Fact Sheet