Enhanced Funding for Greensboro – A Proposal

The Greensboro Association board has developed a proposal to launch a Fund for Greensboro that can help the community address a broader range of long term needs. The Fund for Greensboro would be a donor advised fund managed by the Vermont Community Foundation, offering a facility for major gifts and planned giving.  The board for the fund would be separate, but aligned with the Greensboro Association and made up of leaders from within the community. We plan to launch the fund this summer and proposing to partially match individual donations with an initial $10,000 allocation from a combination of existing lake reserve and general funds.

As has been considered in the past, we are also now proposing to adjust the Greensboro Association status to become a 501(3)c. This status would make annual donations more effective helping the annual small grants program while still allowing us to continue our role as an advocacy organization. Our grants program provides funding annually for specific needs and is not a source of annual funding for local charities. Contributions to the GA should not replace your direct contributions to local non-profits.

Thanks to Tara Reynolds and Clay Simpson for leading the efforts in developing this proposal as well Mary White who pushed us to explore the idea. We had expert input from Linda Ely, Trish Alley, Marcia and John Stone, Rick Lovett, Andy Dales, Clive Gray and other GA members.

Contact Clay Simpson, Linda Ely or me to learn more.

Proposal Draft

Prepared by Tara Reynolds

THE FUND FOR GREENSBORO

Proposal:  To establish a Donor Advised Fund, housed at the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) which will enable individuals, families, and other entities to make capital, planned, and testamentary donations to help provide for emerging and long term needs in the Greensboro community, cultivating sustainability and quality of life in Greensboro for future generations.

Fund Purpose:  The Fund for Greensboro’s broad charitable purposes will help provide for the long term stewardship of the Greensboro community and its environs.

Logistics:

  • As the health of Caspian Lake and the vitality of the village of Greensboro are viewed as critical to the economic stability of the town, this Fund will be available for safeguarding the preservation, quality, and integrity of the lake and village. Grants from the Fund will need to be directed to a qualified entity such as the Municipality of Greensboro, schools, churches, or other non-profits, as they cannot be granted back to the GA itself.
  • The Fund for Greensboro will have a committee of elected advisers from a cross-section of community members, who will make grant recommendations to the VCF. The advisory committee will consist of six members–two from each year–with three year term limits.  Each year, two new members are nominated as a slate.  This annual nomination will be facilitated by the Greensboro Association Nominating Committee and will be voted on by a combination of the GA Board and the Greensboro Selectboard.   The chair or secretary of the elected advisory group will be responsible for using the Donor Central tool at the VCF.
  • The GA does not have to apply for 501(c) 3 status to initiate the Fund.
  • The VCF will appoint a staff person who will serve as a liaison and direct connection between the VCF and Fund advisers.
  • The Fund will be established in perpetuity, assuring that it will continue its mission in the event that it outlives the Greensboro Association.
  • A community wide presentation of this Fund will be shared in 2013. Lifetime and testamentary gifts to the Fund will be emphasized, to avoid competition with annual giving to the local non-profit sector.
  • The VCF supporting fee is 2% of a 36 month trailing average of the fund value.  This fee covers accounting, grantmaking, compliance and due diligence, turnkey bequest and planned giving programs, research and other philanthropic advising services, event invites with other philanthropists and fundholders, IRS reporting, etc.   The VCF uses Colonial Consulting, a world-class investment management service, to manage their portfolio.  VCF investment returns are reported net of the fee charged by Colonial Consulting; that fee is currently .951% for the primary pool.

 

Recommendation:  The ad hoc committee researching this proposal recommends that the GA board approve the transfer of $10,000 from its existing reserves as a matching grant to initially open the Fund for Greensboro at the VCF.

For more information regarding donor advised funds at the Vermont Community Foundation, please visit: 

www.vermontcf.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/2012_Nov_Final_Handbook.pdf