Gifts to the Piedmont Community Foundation can be made at any time. Immediate gifts represent the most direct method of benefiting the Foundation and can be completed with little complication as listed below.

Online Donations: Simply click on the Donate Now button found below. You will leave the PCF website and enter the Network for Good website (secured by VeriSign) to complete your online donation. There is no charge by this site to complete your gift. You can find a complete description of the process and answers to the most frequently asked questions on their site.

NOTE: You will see a box that says... Designation (Optional). To designate your donation for a specific fund or purpose, please enter a description of how you'd like your donation to be used.

No designation is necessary unless you wish a specific PCF existing fund to benefit from your gift, in which case please indicate that information in the space provided. Please also provide your address or contact information to receive a gift acknowledgment letter from PCF. Online donations are acknowledged by PCF after the 15th of the month following the donation (as this is when PCF learns of your online donation).

With a minimum of $10,000 a new fund can be established by an individual or family that may be targeted by the donor to specific needs in the community. The donor may add to that fund at any time. Agency and corporate funds have a suggested minimum of $20,000 to $30,000 depending on donor requirements.

Also, for those who wish to ease into long-term philanthropy, the Acorn Fund opens with a minimum investment of $1,000, then grows to $10,000 over the course of ten years.

PCF services are covered by a low annual fee, most often 1% of Fair Market Value of fund assets for funds that do not require an extra burden of administration. Fees reflect reasonable costs of administration.

Some of the most popular options* in establishing a fund include the following:

Designated Fund—Benefits one or more specific charitable organizations selected by the donor.

Field-of-interest Fund—Enables a donor to restrict grants from their funds to one or more particular fields, such as education or programs for the elderly.

Donor-advised Fund—Enables donors to make periodic suggestions about distributions from the fund to different qualified organizations.

Agency Fund—Set up by a charitable organization to grow endowment for their agency.

Unrestricted Fund—Authorizes the community foundation to allocate the donor's gift to support the changing and emerging needs of the community.

Restricted Fund—Established with a restricted purpose.

*Acorn Fund— The Acorn Fund grows into any of the fund types (shown above) selected by the donor. Acorn funds are established with an initial investment of $1,000, then having a 10 year window to grow to maturity; a minimum of $10,000. Once maturity is attained, anytime within the 10 years, the Acorn fund converts to a permanent fund and is used as per the fund type pre-selected by the donor. Makes long-term philanthropy accessible to more people! more info- 76 KB PDF

Give to the Foundation's Operating Fund. A gift to the Foundation's General Fund helps us meet the costs of "running the organization" and keep the dollars allocated by other donors focused toward community charitable purposes during the development years of the Foundation.

Donate to an Existing Fund. Anyone may donate to an existing fund, with a gift of any amount. A donor may choose from various types of funds, all of which function like a saving fund for the community. Donations are used to generate income that continues to help the community for years into the future.

 

"Planned" gifts are donations that are decided upon currently but do not take effect until some future date. They can range from a simple bequest in your will to more complex strategies that provide benefits both to the Foundation and to you or members of your family. A charitable remainder trust, for example, enables you to reserve the income from the gifted property for your lifetime (or the lifetime of another member of your family) with the ultimate transfer to the Foundation postponed until the expiration of those reserved interests. Because a charitable remainder trust does not pay income tax, it can sell appreciated assets without having to pay a capital gains tax. In addition, the donor is entitled to an income tax deduction at the time of creating the trust.