Who is Stanislaus Community Foundation?
Stanislaus Community Foundation (SCF) is a place-based funder serving the residents of Stanislaus County. Since 2002, SCF has worked with hundreds of local charitably focused families to invest more than $43 million in grants and scholarships in our region. The vision of Stanislaus Community Foundation is to create a community of choice where people can live, work, and thrive. To support this vision, SCF builds impactful collaborations between donors, nonprofits, and government agencies to advance meaningful change.
What is a donor-advised fund?
A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable investment account that provides donors with the giving flexibility needed to provide grant support to the organizations and causes they care about. Donors who create a named fund (usually named after their family) and that fund is invested through Stanislaus Community Foundation. Donors, at the time they contribute into their own named fund, are eligible for a tax deduction. They then recommend grants to IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) charities.
SCF invests these funds as part of a larger investment portfolio, to create a potential growth in charitable dollars for donors over time and thereby increase philanthropic investments in the community for generations to come.
SCF does not have legal authority to grant from Donor Advised Funds; rather, the donor has the advisory privileges to recommend grants from their funds to nonprofits and causes that they wish to support.
why would someone use a donor-advised fund?
Donor-advised funds provide centralized, simplified record-keeping for all donations.
A donor may wish to donate a hard-to-value asset, like a privately held business, real estate, or bitcoin to multiple nonprofit organizations. Some nonprofit organizations may not be able to accept complex assets.
Assets in donor-advised funds are invested, so donors’ charitable assets can grow, increasing the amount they can give over time to nonprofit organizations.
Sponsoring organizations like the Stanislaus Community Foundation can provide strategic counsel to donors and can help develop custom charitable giving plans to help donors address community challenges.
Donor-advised funds support legacy planning and can involve multiple generations of family members in charitable giving.
who can open a donor-advised fund?
Individuals, families, and companies can open donor-advised funds.
how do i know if my organization is eligible to receive grants from a donor-advised fund?
Donor-Advised Funds may recommend grants to IRS-qualified charities, schools, and public agencies.
Grants cannot be made to:
Individuals
For academic or medical research
For medical treatment
To government agencies for projects that are the normal responsibility of government (school districts meeting the education guidelines may qualify)
Organizations not qualifying as either a federal tax-exempt nonprofit organization or a qualifying public organization
For sectarian, politically partisan or religious projects
For political lobbying
How do donors recommend grants to my organization?
Donors may recommend grants from their donor-advised funds online through a secure portal managed by Stanislaus Community Foundation and in other ways.
Please note, there’s no way to formally ‘apply’ for funding from Donor Advised Funds. Rather, consider them a vehicle that donors use to invest and potentially grow their charitable dollars, and approach fundholders that you know to build relationships as you would with any other donor. The DAF is simply a financial/investment vehicle some donors use for transacting their grant distributions.
Can my organization receive grants electronically?
Not at this time. Grant checks are mailed to grantees and will identify the fund name if the donor wishes.
How should nonprofits acknowledge donor-advised funds?
Grants from donor-advised funds are not tax deductible. Donors already have claimed their potential tax deduction upon making a gift to fund their donor-advised fund at Stanislaus Community Foundation. This means their gifts coming from their donor-advised fund to the nonprofit are not tax deductible by the recipient nonprofit as SCF has already provided the deduction.
If you would like to thank the donor for their gift, you can do so directly with the donor. SCF does not release fundholder contact information without the fundholders’ consent. There is no need to acknowledge the grant to us by sending a thank you note through the mail, as we are unable to accommodate forwarding this mail to donors.
Can a donor-advised fund grant be used to pay for an event sponsorship, raffles, or auctions?
Grants may not result in benefits, goods, or services to the donor, the fund advisor, members of their families, and business they control. Benefits include the payment of pledges, event tickets, meals, sponsorships, registration fees, discounted merchandise, preferred parking and/or seating, and memberships unless the membership confers nothing of value.
Can I apply for a grant from Stanislaus Community Foundation?
Stanislaus Community Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests. Our grantmaking works in two ways:
We help donors support their favorite charities and causes through individual donor-advised funds—the donor decides when and where to distribute grants (subject to due diligence and policies). Once a donor creates their donor-advised fund with Stanislaus Community Foundation, they are eligible to recommend grants to IRS-qualified charities, schools, and public agencies. No application is necessary from the grantee.
We address larger issues through grantmaking from our Special Initiative Funds. We open periodic grant cycles for these funds throughout the year.
We also sometimes have open grant cycles for corporate donor advised funds. To stay abreast of these cycles, please subscribe to our e-newsletter here.
who should i contact at stanislaus community foundation with my grant-related questions?
Our team is here to support you. Contact us with questions at info@stanislauscf.org or call us at 209.576.1608.