Fund Options

Each Grand Rapids Community Foundation donor is unique. The Community Foundation is here to help you achieve your personal philanthropic goals. These flexible fund types have been created to meet your needs and desired outcomes.

Fund for the Community Good

Together, our professional grantmaking staff, volunteer Resource Committee and Board of Trustees will select the best programs to meet Kent County’s most pressing needs. As community needs change, so will the programs that your fund supports.

The greater Grand Rapids area is developing quickly, with dramatic changes throughout the community and the surrounding vicinity. A diverse variety of people and businesses are entering (and sometimes leaving) the community creating new opportunities and challenges. The community's economic, educational, health and social needs are constantly shifting. Addressing these issues becomes more challenging as the population grows.

With change and transition, what is a concern of today may not be an issue in the future. Through a conscientious effort and hard work issues of today like homelessness, AIDS, illiteracy may become like polio tomorrow - nearly obsolete.

Grand Rapids Community Foundation is able to help philanthropists meet the ever-changing needs of our community with a gift to the Fund for Community Good, an unrestricted permanent endowment. An unrestricted gift or fund accommodates societal and community changes and allows the donor to support a broad range of present and emerging needs.

Community needs are difficult to anticipate many years in advance; but with an unrestricted fund, Foundation staff can assess community needs and make grants to nonprofit organizations that engage in the most essential work. The flexibility of an unrestricted fund empowers the Community Foundation to support long-term solutions to problems facing education, human services, health, cultural and the ecological frameworks of our community.

Field of Interest or Community Endowments

You select a specific area of interest, such as education, the arts, environment, or health, and establish a fund or contribute to an existing fund to benefit it.

Charles "Bob" Evenson, a lifelong outdoorsman, was passionate about preserving Michigan's lands and waters. Lucy Barnett felt great compassion for elderly people in need. Mary and David Hunting cared deeply for children and believed that positive camping experiences had the power to transform young lives.

Because of the heartfelt dreams and generous bequests of Mr. Evenson, Ms. Barnett, and the Huntings, Grand Rapids Community Foundation today holds a field of interest fund in each of their names. It is impossible to anticipate the needs that the environment, the elderly population, or summer youth camps will face in future years. But because of the commitment of caring people, those causes will have a secure source of funding through Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

Your fund will award grants to projects or programs within your specified area and carry your name or the name of a loved one in perpetuity. When we approve a grant to an organization in that specific field of interest, we make the gift in your name.

A $10,000 Named Fund

The Community Foundation offers a named field of interest fund at the $10,000 level.This endowed fund is ideal to honor or memorialize a person. With this fund, the Community Foundation makes grant decisions that honor the donor’s intentions.

Community Endowments

If you are not ready to establish your own fund for a specific area, you may contribute to one of the Community Foundation's community endowments. The community endowments are designed to achieve six strategic community goals, each focusing on a specific need area in the community. Community endowment options include:

Fund for Academic Achievement
Fund for Arts and Social Enrichment
Fund for Economic Prosperity
Fund for Healthy Ecosystems
Fund for Healthy People
Fund for Vibrant Neighborhoods
Fund for Community Good (supports all six goals)

Key benefits to remember:

Create a lasting gift in one or more special interest areas
Receive an immediate tax deduction
Add to a fund at any time

Donor Advised Funds

Three ways to give.

To best meet your needs, we offer three different Donor Advised Funds.

Legacy Fund

The Legacy Fund is established with a gift of $25,000 or more. This Fund is permanently endowed and each year a percentage of the Fund's market value is used for grants that you recommend.

Springboard Fund

The Springboard Fund is established with a $25,000 minimum that can be built over five years or established with a single gift. This Fund is not endowed, meaning once it is fully established, donors may recommend grants up to the Fund balance. This Fund is a great way for people to test out a Donor Advised Fund to see if it is a good fit for them.

Dynamic Fund

The Dynamic Fund is established with a gift of at least $250,000. Of this amount, $50,000 is permanently endowed, with the remaining balance available for immediate grantmaking. This type of Fund is permanent, but is designed for the donor who wishes to make more grants than the Legacy Fund.

Investment Management

Donors with these types of Funds at the Community Foundation have three investment options. A member of our development team will explain these in greater detail if you'd like more information.

Gift Preservation Pool is designed for minimal investment risk and invested in a money market fund. This pool is designed for those who do not want to take either equity or long-term investment rate risk.
Balanced Plus Pool is designed to produce the highest long-term investment returns. This pool is invested 86 percent in equity type investments and 14 percent in fixed income.
Balanced Pool is designed for long-term investing. This pool is invested 60 percent in Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund and 40 percent in PIMCO Total Return Fund with no exposure to alternative investments.

A Private Foundation Alternative

A Donor Advised Fund is a good option for those who wish to be involved in philanthropy personally or with their families, but prefer not to handle the administrative and organizational duties that come with a private foundation. Read Arv and Pearl Tap's story.

Key benefits to remember:

Create a lasting gift in your name or in the name of a loved one
Establish a fund which acts like a private foundation without the administrative work and expense
Participate in the grantmaking process
Access the expertise of the Community Foundation's professional staff
Add to your fund at any time
Receive an immediate tax deduction

Scholarship Fund

A Board-approved volunteer committee reviews applications for the scholarship and selects the top recipients based on your criteria. If you choose, you can be part of the selection process.

Higher education has long been seen as one of the surest paths to increased opportunity. Unfortunately, many young people who could benefit the most from a college education are least able to afford it. Scholarship funds help them on their path to higher education. Grand Rapids Community Foundation holds funds for aspiring artists, engineers, musicians, pilots, teachers and others.

Applications are available online, and awards are decided based on a competitive process, which considers academic achievement, extracurricular activities, a statement of the applicant's personal aspirations and goals and financial need. Advisory committees, comprised of responsible and knowledgeable community members, help screen and select candidates. They make recommendations to the Community Foundation's Board of Trustees. You may designate a member of your family to participate in the scholarship selection process if you wish.

Scholarship funds are endowed, and may be named to honor loved ones. Community Foundation staff handles all details of awarding scholarships—from announcing their availability to processing applications to writing the checks.

Since the inception of Grand Rapids Community Foundation's scholarship program in 1945, the Community Foundation has awarded more than 5,000 scholarships. Each year, more than half a million dollars in scholarships are awarded to students.

Key benefits to remember:

Create a lasting gift in your name or in the name of a loved one
Help students from any high school in Kent County attend any college
Improve the lives of young people through continued education
Participate in the scholarship selection process
Receive an immediate tax deduction

Nonprofit Endowment Fund

Provides endowment funding for a specific nonprofit organization and can be set up to allow the organization to continue to build the fund over time.