Create a Charitable Fund

Make the Most of Your Giving

A Charitable Fund at the Community Foundation can simplify and streamline your current giving, helping you realize your philanthropic goals and exercise tax advantages while maximizing your impact in our community today, and tomorrow.

See Our Fund Options

Smarter Giving, Greater Impact

The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation makes the giving process simple, efficient and flexible, offering convenient, customized solutions to meet your goals with a fund type to match every need. Our team has the experience and expertise to help you determine what assets to give, how to best support your favorite causes and how to build your legacy plan with smart philanthropic strategies and tailored giving plans.

What to Give

At the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, we accept a variety of assets to make the process of giving easy and strategic:

  • Cash or check
  • Appreciated stock and other securities
  • Real estate
  • Farmland
  • Grain or other commodities
  • Qualified retirement plans such as IRAs or 401Ks
  • Life insurance policies
  • Other complex, non-cash assets

When to Give

One of the greatest advantages of a fund at the Foundation is that it allows you to take a charitable deduction in the year you give, often when it provides the greatest tax advantage.

Selling a business? Receive a big year-end bonus?

By contributing to a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation, you can make a gift in the year you need a higher deduction, then, you can recommend grants over time, when it's right for you. Essentially, you 'pre-fund' your giving when you receive the greatest tax deduction.

Types of Funds

A Donor Advised Fund is a convenient, flexible, personal and smart giving vehicle that lets you support the causes you care about. If you give to many nonprofits throughout the year, donor advised funds provide a flexible and inexpensive way to organize your charitable giving.

You can choose between a Donor Advised Charitable Fund, best suited to help you streamline your current giving, or a Donor Advised Endowment, a low-cost alternative to a private family foundation offering you greater flexibility and more strategic philanthropy without the administrative burdens that come with managing a private foundation.

We handle all the administrative work, and we offer you insights and perspective on community needs and philanthropic strategy, ensuring that your giving is not only smart and impactful, but also joyful. You'll enjoy these benefits:

  • Convenience
    Simplify and streamline your current giving with convenient online access. And, thanks to our knowledge and understanding of local nonprofits, we can help you learn more about needs that match your interests and suggest additional ways to increase your impact.
  • Tax Deductibility
    Donating to your Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation means your gift is deductible in the current tax year, but distributions can be made over the next several years. Fund statements give you a record of all the donations — or grants — you’ve advised that year, allowing you to easily track your giving history.
  • Flexibility
    We can accept a variety of gifts, including appreciated stock or other securities, real estate, qualified retirement plans, life insurance policies and agricultural assets and more. We'll work with you and your professional advisor to explore the tax-wise giving opportunities that best suit you.
  • Strategy
    Utilize our philanthropic expertise and guidance to add strategy to your giving, such as “bunching” your gifts into a Donor Advised Charitable Fund to receive maximum tax benefits, and to ensure your gift will make the greatest impact.

Let us be your guide and help you craft your philanthropic legacy. Set up a non-binding fund agreement now to accept assets later. There is no fee and the fund agreement may be changed as your charitable wishes evolve.

Learn More: See how planned gifts, sometimes called estate gifts, allow you to support your favorite nonprofits during your lifetime and beyond.

Legacy Stories: Meet those who, through their planned giving, are strengthening our community for good, for ever.

Unrestricted gifts make a permanent investment in the quality of life in the Sioux Falls area. Every year, your unrestricted fund will make grants to worthy nonprofits addressing emerging and changing community needs. Our most visionary fund, it ensures good will happen in our community, forever.

These endowments are created by donors who want to support a general area of philanthropic work. Whether your interests lie in youth enrichment, the arts, or outdoor recreation, the Community Foundation will work with you to design a grant selection process that achieves your vision.

Designated funds provide long-term support to one or more charities that you name so those organizations receive continued and reliable funding. You choose the nonprofits to support; we issue annual grants made in your name, now and forever.

Investment Options

At the Community Foundation, we offer three different portfolios each with unique investment allocations to match your giving goals. Learn more.

Ready to Get Started?

Contact us to open a fund and begin your philanthropic journey today!

Let's Talk!

While we provide guidance, we are not professional tax advisors. Always check with your tax advisor before you make any charitable gift.

Photo above by Acts of Nature | Paul Schiller.