Types of Funds Donors May Establish

Donors may choose one or a combination of Funds to meet their charitable interests. Under most circumstances, contributions that are made to establish a Fund or add to an existing Fund are never spent. Only the growth or income a Fund generates is available for making grants. Funds may be restricted in purpose, geographic area, or specific charitable organization that they support, or may be unrestricted in nature. All Funds, regardless of type, may be added to by anyone, at any time, in any amount.

Unrestricted Funds have been established within the Foundation by many visionary donors. Grants generated by Unrestricted Funds allow the Foundation’s Governing Committee to respond to the ever-changing needs of the communities in our service area. Unrestricted Funds provide the most broad-based support to our community over the years. Unrestricted Funds also provide the community foundation’s governing committee the most flexibility in grant making. Tomorrow will present our community with new opportunities and challenges. Unrestricted Funds position the foundation to meet those new challenges and capitalize on those new opportunities.

Field of Interest Funds provide for a broad purpose, geographic area or charitable goal. Donors may set up a Field of Interest Fund to support a comprehensive area such as the arts, education, the environment, health care, or services to a specific town or region.

Designated Charitable Agency Funds provide financial support to a specific qualifying organization. Donors establish this type of fund when they want to provide a permanent income stream to a church, school, or other favorite charity. Sometimes, Designated Agency Funds are called Agency Endowment Funds. Such a Fund may be established by either an individual donor or a qualifying charitable organization. The Licking County Foundation has the unique ability to hold assets for a charitable organization in a named endowment fund, and annually distribute a set percentage back to the not-for-profit organization to meet their needs as their board determines.

Scholarship Funds provide financial support for the continuing education of students. Organizations or individual donors specify the restrictions for eligibility such as course of study, school the student will attend, or high school from which the student graduates within Foundation guidelines.

Donor Advised Funds provide flexibility and convenience for a donor’s charitable giving within their community. Donors of this type of fund may suggest grants to different charitable organizations for many years to come. The recommendations follow certain guidelines and are approved by the Foundation’s Governing Committee.

Supporting Organizations are separate entities that affiliate with the Licking County Foundation to achieve public charity status and avoid the reporting requirements and payout provisions associated with private foundation status. A Supporting Organization has its own board of directors and makes its own decisions about grant awards.

Other Special Funds may be established with the approval of the Licking County Foundation.  The Foundation offers nonprofit organizations the ability to set up a project fund for receiving contributions restricted to support a specific project being done by the establishing organization.  Licking County Foundation also administers a number of funds that support various public parks.  The Foundation also offers a community charitable fund for donors in certain circumstances.