Story County Community Foundation

Teaching Charitable Giving
One Family's Story

This donor story is an illustration of how the act of giving through a
community foundation can strengthen a family, impact future generations
and improve local quality of life.

The parents wanted the opportunity to make charitable decisions as a
family. They also wanted to teach their children financial and community
responsibility, giving them hands-on community experience and providing
each with the opportunity to express his/her own giving preferences.

With these goals in mind, the parents chose to set up a Charitable Family
Fund (Donor Advised Fund) through their community foundation. In 1994,
they created a named family fund with a gift of $200,000. Twice each year,
the family comes together to recommend charitable distributions. In 1998,
they distributed more than $12,000 in grants to their local community. By
1999, the fund had grown to $250,000, allowing even more grant dollars to
be distributed annually.

These parents fostered the opportunity to work together to help improve
their local community. Their tradition of giving embracesmultiple
generations, and creates a wonderful legacy that impacts their community
and their family members far into the future.

Although this family began their fund with a significant dollar
amount, the same lessons can be learned with a $10,000 initial
contribution to open your fund. True, it grows much more slowly,
but it might be possible to add to the fund at a later date. The
important point is that you are beginning to teach your family about
philanthropy.