Establishing your own charitable fund at BCF is simple and quick to do. We offer a variety of types of funds to fit the broad range of our donors’ philanthropic goals.

• Donor-Advised Funds
• Field of Interest Funds
• Unrestricted Funds 
• Designated Funds 
• Organizational Endowments
• Charter Foundations

Naming your fund. You can name your fund for your family, in honor of a loved one, or whatever inspires you. Your fund can even be completely anonymous, if that’s your preference.

Choosing permanence. Your fund may be endowed or non-endowed. Grants from endowed funds are limited to the amount of BCF’s spending policy, currently set at 5% per year. Grants from non-endowed funds may spend the entire assets of the fund, according to your plan.

Fund minimums. The minimum amount to establish a fund at BCF is $10,000. For a charter foundation a minimum of $1 million is recommended.

To find out how BCF can help you achieve your charitable goals, please contact the philanthropic services department to request information or a private consultation.

TYPES OF FUNDS

Donor-Advised Funds

With a single gift of $10,000 to the Baltimore Community Foundation, you can establish a donor-advised fund that allows you to be actively involved in grantmaking to any number of charitable organizations. Gifts to your fund qualify for an immediate tax deduction, and you can take your time deciding which organizations to recommend for grants from your fund. More information is available from our Donor Advised Fund fact sheet.

Field of Interest Funds

Creating a field of interest fund, either during your lifetime or through your will, is a wonderful way to perpetuate your support for an area of special concern to you, such as the arts or the environment. BCF will use your fund to make grants within the area you specify, even as conditions and needs evolve over the years to come. A field of interest fund for medical research, for example, might have been used years ago to fight polio, and today might be working to rid the world of AIDS.

Unrestricted Funds

An unrestricted endowment is your gift to the community. Unrestricted funds allow BCF to respond to emerging and changing needs. You leave all decisions about grantmaking from the fund to BCF, knowing that your gift will be used to encourage new initiatives, support key programs and build bridges within the community. Because grants are made only from the income on unrestricted funds, these funds will be working for generations to come, addressing issues we haven't yet imagined.

Designated Funds

Creating a designated fund allows you to provide permanent support for a specified program or institution. What a wonderful gift to the organizations you value most! In the future, should the purpose of your fund become impossible to fulfill, BCF will ensure that distributions continue to be made, following your original intent as closely as possible.

Organizational Endowment

As a service to the nonprofit community, BCF holds and administers endowments on behalf of Baltimore area nonprofit organizations. Distributions to beneficiary organizations are made quarterly, based on a spending policy currently set at 5% per year. Donors are assured that their gifts will be wisely invested and available in perpetuity. The organizations reap the benefits of a professionally managed endowment and a close partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation, including the opportunity to offer supporters a BCF charitable gift annuity as a planned giving option.

Charter Foundations

A charter foundation (known in legal terms as a supporting organization) operates much like a private foundation, while taking advantage of the public charity status gained through affiliation with the BCF. To qualify, the charter foundation’s grants must support the broad charitable purpose of BCF, and BCF must appoint more than half of the charter foundation’s trustees. A charter foundation is separately incorporated and its board of trustees is responsible for all decisions about investments and charitable distributions. Grants administration and filing of annual tax reports are all performed by BCF staff. A $1 million minimum is recommended, though an opening gift of $500,000, with a declaration of intent to reach the minimum within three years, may establish a charter foundation.