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When you create a fund with The Peninsula Community Foundation of Virginia you have a flexible and effective way to make a lasting impact on your community. The Foundation accepts both current and deferred gifts and provides you with an alternative to starting a private foundation. By working with potential donors and their professional advisors, the Foundation helps you explore ways your gifts can improve our community while you achieve your charitable goals.

An individual, family, business, nonprofit organization or a private foundation can open a fund and receive all the benefits offered by the Foundation. These include administrative and record-keeping services, timely distribution of grants, and assistance in identifying grant opportunities for donors with donor advised funds.

Steps to Opening a Fund

To open a fund, follow these simple steps:

1. Our staff can assist you in selecting the appropriate fund to meet your interests and needs. We would be happy to work with you and your professional advisor to decide which charitable fund option works best.
    
2. You can work with our staff and your advisor to determine the amount and date of your gift, the name of the fund, eligible advisors if it is a donor advised fund, and the purpose of the gift fund. Contact our staff to receive a charitable gift form. Our staff is available to help you determine the best ways to carry out charitable goals and benefit the community.
    
3. To create a named fund, make an irrevocable gift of at least $5,000 to the Foundation. A lesser amount can be used to start a fund as long as you plan to increase the amount to a minimum of $25,000 within five years. Gifts can also be added to existing funds, or to the Unrestricted Fund to support general grantmaking. For types of assets that work well to establish funds click here. To receive simple instructions for transferring appreciated assets click here to view a sample letter and instructions for stock transfers, or call the Foundation office..

The Foundation's Executive Director will sign the document and return a copy to you along with an acknowledgement letter. That letter serves as your official receipt, which must be retained for tax records.

(Note: Regardless of the number of distributions from a gift fund,
you need only that one letter for tax purposes.)

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