Eight Great Reasons to Create an Endowed Fund
1. Legacy – What better legacy to leave than a legacy of caring? Create an endowed fund in your name, your family name, or the name of someone you wish to honor, and that name will be forever associated with generosity.
2. Permanence – Endowments are forever. By creating an endowed fund at the DCF, you establish a permanent stream of charitable dollars for the causes and organizations you care about. The principal of your fund is never spent, so it will continue to grow forever.
3. More charitable dollars – Money invested in an endowed fund at the DCF is invested for the long term and benefits from being invested in a pool with millions of dollars from other charitable funds. The result is more money to support the causes you care about. Since inception, the DCF’s portfolio has returned an average 7.5% annually.
4. Immediate tax advantages – Even if you haven’t decided what organizations or causes you wish to support, you can take advantage of immediate tax benefits by putting your charitable dollars in an endowed fund at the DCF, which is a registered 501(c)3 organization.
5. Security – If you establish an endowed fund at the DCF to benefit your favorite charitable organization, your gift is protected. Even if that organization dissolves, is subject to litigation, or otherwise endangered in the future, the DCF will always ensure that your gift is used to benefit the charitable causes you care about.
6. Choices – As a fund adviser, you can be as active or inactive as you choose in decisions regarding how and where your charitable dollars are allocated. Some donors prefer to make their own grant recommendations every year, while others prefer to leave allocations in the hands of the DCF’s expert staff.
7. Family – Older and younger generations can work together to make grants from donor advised funds, creating a tradition and culture of philanthropy in your family.
8. Community – Opening your endowed fund at the DCF is an investment in Delaware and supports our collaborative grants and other community leadership work.