Why Work With the International Community Foundation?

There are various ways donors can make a difference, no matter one’s income level or personal interests. The International Community Foundation offers internationally oriented charitable giving options to a wide range of donors including individuals, businesses, corporations, family foundations, and community foundations. The foundation can accept gifts of cash, appreciated property, publicly traded or closely held securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) and life insurance.

Primary Categories of Giving
Endowment – An endowment is a permanent fund through which net investment proceeds are available for grant making in perpetuity.

Non Endowment – A non endowment fund allows both the earnings and the principal of a donation to be used for granting. It is a non-permanent fund.

Specific International Donor Giving Options
Donor Advised Fund – This type of fund can be established by individuals, corporations, family foundations, and community foundations. It can be funded using either an endowment or non endowment funding mechanism. Donor advised funds are the foundation’s most widely used giving vehicle. A donor advised fund allows active donor participation in grantmaking, with donors making recommendations to the International Community Foundation board regarding charitable giving preferences. Private foundations may also be converted into a donor advised fund.

Friends of Fund – A friends of fund is an agreement between a nongovernmental organization (NGO) and the foundation allowing the foundation to accept contributions on the behalf of the NGO. The foundation manages those funds and issue grants to the NGO as needed. Friends of funds provide U.S. donors the opportunity to make a tax-deductible contribution – large or small – to support worthy organizations overseas.

Field of Interest Fund – Contributing to the foundation’s “field of interest funds” provides donors the opportunity to directly impact priority issues and needs in regions served by the foundation, without having to establish a donor advised fund. Donors can contribute at any level. Some of the International Community Foundation’s field of interest funds include: the Border Environment Fund, Sea of Cortez Fund, Baja Disaster Relief Fund and the International Children's Fund.

Deferred or Planned Gifts
Charitable Bequests - Bequests are the most frequent type of planned gift made to nonprofit organizations. Bequests to the International Community Foundation are not subject to estate or inheritance taxes, thus ensuring the maximum benefit for the charitable fund. Life insurance and retirement life insurance policies or retirement plans (IRA, 401k) can be used as a charitable gift. To ensure that your charitable intentions are fulfilled in perpetuity, a testamentary fund can also be established. Such a fund can be established with a gift from your estate, either immediately by a bequest or after a period of time through a planned gift to be executed by the foundation, upon your passing, precisely as you wish.

Charitable Remainder Trusts - Charitable Remainder Trusts enable donors to transfer assets to a trustee to be held on behalf of specified beneficiaries during the trust's lifetime. Donors receive an immediate federal tax deduction for the year the trust is established, subject to Internal Revenue Service limitations. Distributions of income from the trust are made to the donor and to other beneficiaries for the life of the trust. When the trust terminates, the proceeds are used to create a charitable fund in the donor’s name or in any other name as designated in the original trust agreement.

Charitable Lead Trusts - A Charitable Lead Trust is the reverse of a Charitable Remainder Trust. This type of trust allows for payments to a charitable fund within the International Community Foundation for a specified number of years. Upon termination of the trust, the principal is paid to the donor or any other non-charitable beneficiary the donor selects. This vehicle is especially useful for property that has the potential to significantly appreciate.