What is a Community Foundation?

What is the Bartlesville Community Foundation?

At its heart, a community foundation is the gift that keeps on giving. When you make a donation to an existing fund at the foundation or create a fund of your own, that money joins all the other funds and is invested to create annual income for the causes and charities that matter to you. Best of all, over the years funds grow to provide even more support. Because everyone’s funds work together, you can accomplish more good at a lower cost.

 

The Power of Endowment

The Bartlesville Community Foundation houses endowed funds. What does that mean? Each dollar you give is invested and the returns on those investments go to the charitable causes you choose.

The normal grant from a fund at the Bartlesville Community Foundation is 5% of the market value of the fund. Any returns above that amount help your fund to grow so it can give more money the next year (minus the small fee the Foundation charges to administer your fund).

 

One Gift, Many Returns

Let’s look at an example to help illustrate.  You create a fund of $10,000 to benefit your favorite charity.  Your endowment goes to work producing the following results based on a 5% grant each year with a growth rate of 3% after your grant and fees:

After 10 years your fund would have granted $4,586 and have a market value of $13,048.

But things just keep getting better with an endowed fund:

After 25 years your fund would have granted $14,485 and have a market value of $20,328

And after 50 years your fund would have granted $45,119 and have a market value of $42,562

Imagine all the good that original $10,000 can accomplish.  And best of all, those gifts keep flowing to your charity even after you are gone.  That’s the power of endowment.