You set up a fund at the Foundation with an irrevocable gift. You choose the fund’s name and its purpose, which the Foundation will execute in perpetuity.
The Foundation invests your gift as part of our endowment pool. Because the value of our assets is considerable, the Foundation attracts some of the country’s top-performing money managers. We aim to protect and grow the principal of your gift. Our growth target each year is inflation plus 6%. But that is a minimum. The returns beyond grants and fees are added to the fund you established.
We offer several choices. Based on your needs and interests, we can help you decide if it is appropriate to establish a fund now, through your will, or through other planned giving strategies. Many donors begin funds during their lifetimes, then add to the funds upon their deaths. The Foundation introduced donor advised funds in the 1970s. They have become extremely popular. With a donor advised fund, you stay actively involved as a philanthropist and each year recommend how to distribute grants from your fund.
These funds are similar in some respects to the Foundation's donor advised funds: you give money, and you get a tax advantage. But there are important differences.
Commercial gift funds confine themselves to simple due diligence, assuring that a charity is IRS-compliant. The Rhode Island Foundation offers extensive research services to its donors, to help you find just the right charities. If you tell us, for instance, that you want to do something about teen pregnancy, we'll help you identify the state’s most innovative, most successful program to invest in. In fact, we invite donors to co-fund projects with us to extend the reach of our discretionary grantmaking dollars even further in Rhode Island. Maybe the biggest difference is this: The Rhode Island Foundation is in business to help the community. Commercial gift funds are in business primarily to manage money and profit from fees.
Forever. If you set up a fund now to benefit the XYZ Library, the Foundation will continue to make grants to that organization as long as it exists. If it ceases to exist, the Foundation will apply the fund to the closest similar organization.
Almost any asset of appreciated value can be transferred to the Foundation; we will convert it into cash. Many donors give appreciated securities (stock that has risen in value) to maximize their tax benefits. You also can earmark IRAs or pensions to the Foundation. Or even purchase life insurance that names The Rhode Island Foundation as the beneficiary.
Contact the Development Department at (401) 274-4564, check out the "
Donors" section of our website, and/or request your free copy of
Creating Your Legacy at The Rhode Island Foundation: A Guide for Donors.
You can name the Foundation in your will or trust to receive a portion of your estate when you're gone. Or, you can choose a giving vehicle that will continue to pay you or a loved one income for the rest of your life, creating an endowment fund here after death.
In most cases, our minimum is $10,000.