2020 NONPROFIT ENDOWMENT CHALLENGE
To mark its 25th anniversary, the Community Foundation of Dunn County invited area nonprofits to apply for a 2020 Challenge Grant of $5,000 for its February 2020 Competitive Grant Cycle. This new initiative is a competitive, matching-grant program established to help up to five Dunn County nonprofit organizations open or build an endowment fund at the Community Foundation. Scroll down to find out about our 5 nonprofit recipients!Congratulations to our 2020 Challenge Grant recipients: The Dunn County Historical Society
Landmark Conservancy
The Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts
Stepping Stones of Dunn County
West CAP
2020 challenge grant recipient
Dunn County Historical Society
The Historical Society has been a staple in the community since 1950, with a mission to discover, preserve, interpret, and share knowledge about the history of Dunn County and its role in Wisconsin. This organization received this grant in an effort to secure a “forever stream of income” to support their mission and operations.
2020 challenge grant recipient
Landmark Conservancy
Landmark represents over 50 years of conservation work, with a mission to conserve Wisconsin’s natural legacy for everyone, forever. This regional organization was born of a 2018 merger between West Wisconsin Land Trust and Bayfield Regional Conservancy.
2020 challenge grant recipient
Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts
The Mabel Tainter is a nonprofit organization that offers affordable arts programming and performances for all Dunn County residents. The Mabel is on a steady path of growth and this new endowment will assist in their current strategic plan of expanding operational fundraising.
2020 challenge grant recipient
Stepping Stones of Dunn County
Stepping Stones is an organization is comprised of people helping people strengthen the Dunn County community by providing food, shelter and support. Stepping Stones opened an Acorn fund at the Foundation in 2014, growing it to over $10,000 in 2018. This grant will help build upon their current existing Agency Fund.
2020 challenge grant recipient
West CAP
West CAP works to promote the self-sufficiency of low-income families in the rural communities of west central Wisconsin. This organization will use their new endowment fund to help diversify its funding base, with a purpose to support their operations and programs to help low-income families achieve financial stability and sustainability.
Overview
Why Build an Agency Endowment Fund?
An Agency Fund provides a forever stream of income to support general operations or a specific part of the mission of the organization. Having an endowment fund sends a signal to donors that the organization is thinking long-term and building assets for its own future sustainability.
Foundation staff will handle investment management and administrative responsibilities of the fund so the organization can concentrate on fulfilling its mission. Once an Agency Fund is established, anyone can donate to this endowed fund.
About the Challenge
The Foundation will choose up to five nonprofits to receive the challenge grant, and the recipient organizations have 12 months to raise the matching funds. Once the agency has raised the $5,000, the Foundation matches them at $5,000 and uses the total $10,000 to open an endowment fund for each recipient organization. The Foundation invests the $10,000 in assets and grants out a percentage of the earnings back to the nonprofit organization every year to help fulfill its mission.
Request Amount: All challenge grant requests are for a one-time, $5,000 matching grant.
Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations that are at least 5 years old (based on the date of the IRS letter of determination) and hold 501(c)(3) status may apply if they meet one or more of the following criteria:
- The nonprofit organization is based in Dunn County
- An awarded Endowment Challenge grant and subsequent disbursements will be used only to serve residents of Dunn County
- The organization currently holds agency endowed funds at the Community Foundation at or above the $10,000 fund minimum.
F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Endowment Fund?
An endowment is a permanent fund that provides income each year to support a charitable cause. Endowment funds at the Community Foundation of Dunn County (CFDC) are professionally managed to ensure the funds remain strong over time. Currently, Community Foundation funds pay out 4% of the average fund balance.
What is the 2020 Challenge Grant?
The CFDC is offering challenge grants to help (5) local nonprofits build an agency endowment fund. Eligible nonprofits can apply to receive a $5,000 “challenge” or “matching” grant to help them leverage an additional $5,000 through their own fundraising efforts, for a total of $10,000 to open an Agency Endowment Fund at the CFDC. For consideration, nonprofits must complete the Challenge Grant Application form and submit by the deadline on Monday, February 3rd, 2020.
What is the time frame for match eligibility?
Nonprofits must raise the $5,000 match within 12 months of the award date, on or before May 6, 2021. Funds must be gathered after the CFDC award date in May 2020 and be used specifically for the approved endowment purpose outlined in their grant application. Only check/cash donations made to your organization are eligible for the match. Pledged gifts will not be accepted as matching funds.
How can our donors contribute to our fund?
During the matching period, donors should make contributions directly to the nonprofit organization, and indicate that their contribution is for the endowment match. The nonprofit organization is solely responsible for providing acknowledgement letters and tax receipts. The Foundation will provide an acknowledgement letter to your organization upon receipt of the $5,000 matching endowment contribution.
What type of funds are eligible for the match?
Funds eligible for match may be new cash or transfer of existing endowment funds held elsewhere. The CFDC can also help agencies with transfers of stock, closely held stock, and real estate. The nonprofit must use the sum total of all contributions to make a single contribution to the Foundation to establish the endowment fund match. At that time, the Foundation will initiate the matching funds of up to $5,000 to open the agency’s endowment fund.
When are the matching funds available?
Once the fund is established at $10,000, anyone can contribute to an organization’s future by making a gift of any size to its endowment fund at the CFDC. No distribution will be made from the fund until the fund has been in existence for 12 months. The amount available for distribution shall be determined in accordance with the Foundation’s spending policy, as may be amended from time to time, but currently is an amount up to 5% of the fund’s balance, net of fees, as of September 30 each year. The fund’s balance is determined using its average over 12 trailing quarters.
Are there restrictions on how the funds can be used?
The CFDC has legal ownership of funds contributed to an agency endowment. As such, the Foundation board has fiduciary responsibility over the funds. Generally, endowment funds at the Foundation provide unrestricted support to advance the mission of a nonprofit organization. For this Challenge Grant program, organizations must specify how they plan to spend endowment distributions, whether on a specific program area, ongoing equipment needs, or general operating purposes.
When a public charity established an agency endowment at the Foundation, which organization owns the contributed funds?
The Foundation has legal ownership of funds contributed to an agency endowment. As such, the Foundation board has fiduciary responsibility over the funds.
Can a nonprofit reserve the right to force a distribution of the fund (or a part of the fund) back to itself?
No. All contributions to the Foundation are irrevocable and subject to the legal control of the Foundation. Allowing the nonprofit to reserve the right to force a distribution would be contrary to the Foundation’s legal ownership of the fund once established.