Endowment Funds Explained
The Lethbridge Community Foundation specializes in building endowment funds to provide support for the community, now and forever. Through the creation of permanent endowment funds, the Lethbridge Community Foundation provides donors with the opportunity to truly make a difference in their community, now and forever. Gifts received by the Foundation are not spent they are permanently invested. The endowment fund grows over time, and each year a portion of the income generated from the fund is given out as grants to charities.
Endowment Fund Basics
- Anyone can set up an endowment fund - an individual or family, a business, a group of people with similar interests or a non-profit organization.
- A charitable tax receipt is issued to the donor for each donation.
- The original gift [the capital] is not spent; it remains intact forever.
- All foundation funds are pooled together and permanently invested.
- The Foundation distributes an annual average of 3.5% of the investment income [not the original gift] to charities & important causes in the communities of southwestern Alberta.
- A portion of the investment income is returned to the fund to protect the capital from inflation and allow the fund to grow over time.
- The operating costs of the foundation are kept as low as possible.
downloads & links
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Updated September 2009
www.lethbridgecommunityfoundation.ca
403.328.5297 office@lethbridgecommunityfoundation.ca 404 8th St South
