Fund Options

Illinois Prairie Community Foundation offers a variety of fund opportunities to help you support the needs of our community. More information on how to give can be found on our Planned Giving site.

Donor Advised Funds

Opening and using a donor advised fund at Illinois Prairie Community Foundation can give you many of the benefits of having your own private foundation without having to have a very large sum of money to start and without having to take care of a lot of legal paperwork each year. Donor Advised Funds enable donors to have ongoing involvement in the use of charitable gifts to the Community Foundation. Once you have established and funded a Donor Advised Fund, you can use it to make recommendations for gifts to the charities of your choice. The Community Foundation takes care of processing your gift and mailing it to the recipient organization. The Community Foundation also works to make you aware of additional giving opportunities that may interest you. To learn more about opening a donor advised fund, review Creating and Using a Donor Advised Fund. We will be happy to meet with you to discuss opening a new donor advised fund. When you are ready to create your fund, use our Donor Information Form to provide us the information to create your fund. If you are already a donor advisor at Illinois Prairie Community Foundation and wish to make a gift from your fund, please download and use the editable Donor Advised Fund Distribution Form, then email us or mail to the IPCF office, 915 E. Washington St., Suite 2, Bloomington, IL 61701.

Endowed Funds

What if your charitable gift could provide for community needs not just in your lifetime, but forever? Endowed funds can! The power of an endowment is in its continuity. Assets in endowed funds are pooled for maximum benefit and prudently invested to achieve long-term capital growth while preserving the purchasing power of the fund. The principal remains intact while only a portion of the fund's earnings are available to be spent each year. Endowed gifts become a part of the Community Foundation's permanent endowment, meaning they will benefit our community forever. Donors establish endowed funds to ensure that their charitable purposes are accomplished in perpetuity. A donor may establish an endowment in his or her own name, to honor or memorialize someone else, on behalf of a charitable organization or organizations, to benefit a geographic area, or to benefit charities doing work in a specific field such as education, the arts, or health. Nonprofit organizations can establish an endowed fund at the Community Foundation to fund their future needs. By doing so, the organization can assure donors that gifts to the endowment will not migrate into the organization's general operating funds. Donors who are interested in supporting an endowed fund but do not wish to establish their own may contribute to existing endowed funds that match their interests.

Field of Interest Funds

Donors specify a field of interest, targeting their gift to address the needs in an important area of community life. A field of interest fund can be established by an individual or a group, or perhaps a business that wants to support the community in a special area. Small gifts can be pooled and contributions to the fund are on-going.

Fiscal Sponsorship Fund

Illinois Prairie Community Foundation provides fiscal sponsorship for a number of organizations and projects. In some cases, the organizations are new nonprofits that have not yet received a 501(c)3 designation. Shorter term charitable projects may choose to hold their funds at the community foundation rather than establish themselves as a separate charitable organization. By virtue of being a component fund in the community foundation, the organization and project funds are eligible to receive tax-deductible donations. An organization or project must meet requirements to become a component fund of the community foundation. The community foundation manages the gifts made to the fund, writes thank you letters to donors, provides regular fund reports to the organization or project group and provides information about the organization or project on its website. In addition, the community foundation manages the expenses from the funds, assuring donors that all gifts are being properly used for charitable purposes.

Scholarship, Memorial Funds

Scholarship Funds
The primary purpose of a scholarship fund shall be to provide scholarships to eligible recipients and/or for related educational purposes. View a list of our scholarship and memorial funds.

Memorial/Recognition Funds
Donors may honor the memory of those who have passed on or may recognize a person still living. Memorial and recognition gifts need not necessarily be endowed funds. A simple and direct contribution to our unrestricted fund may be an excellent way for donors to recognize others while supporting the Community Foundation. View a list of our scholarship and memorial funds.