Power of Endowment

A personal legacy of giving.

What is endowment? When you create a charitable fund through your Community Foundation, you have the opportunity to benefit the community forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift— and all future earnings from your gift—is a permanent source of community capital, helping do the good work today and in the future.

Legacy and stability. Donors who endow their gifts can make a difference in their community during their lifetime and, at the same time, provide a gift that lasts forever. Grants will continue to be made in the name of the fund you establish so that your charitable wishes are preserved, even if an organization receiving grants ceases to exist in the future.

Leaders of nonprofit organizations may also look to the community foundation to hold their organization’s endowment because they know that having a constant, source of funding helps them respond to emergency needs as well as plan for the future and sustain the good work they do.

Expert help. When donors or nonprofit organizations work through the community foundation to achieve their charitable goals, they benefit from the expertise of experienced local program staff, community leadership, and investment management.

How does endowment work?
A $50,000 gift was made on December 31, 1985 to establish an endowment fund at the Greater Everett Community Foundation. Over the next twenty years that fund grew from $50,000 to $162,701 AND also gave out $111,540 in grants during that same period. That is the power of endowment!

Year	Fund Value	Total Distributions to Agency for its Use
1985	$50,000	$0
1990	$76,630	$10,325
1995	$116,664	$33,048
2000	$178,631	$71,275
2005	$162,701	$111,540

Assumptions: The above fund information was based on actual returns for the years 1985-2005. Investment mix is 60% equities and 40% fixed income. The annual distribution from a fund is 5% of the fund value.