The Foundation recognizes that different people have different goals for their charitable dollars. So we offer six different types of endowments for you to choose from, ranging from those that permit your involvement (and that of succeeding generations) to those where you leave all the decisionmaking to the Foundation, forever.  

Unrestricted Funds
Field of Interest
Designated
Donor Advised
Nonprofit Endowments
Supporting Organizations

 

Unrestricted Funds
You leave the grantmaking decisions entirely up to the Foundation. Our professional staff determine current community needs and recommend choices to the Board. You still name the fund and it is permanently and individually identified. The minimum gift to establish an Unrestricted Fund is $10,000.

The MacColl Family chose to create an Unrestricted Fund.

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Field-of-Interest Funds
Field-of-Interest funds support an area of interest either topical or geographic, but without designating a specific organization as beneficiary. Examples the Foundation already manage include endowments for the environment, the arts, health, childcare, elder care, human service, and historic preservation, as well as funds that benefit most of the cities and towns of Rhode Island. Again, the Foundation’s Program Staff and Board of Directors identify appropriate grants. The minimum gift to establish a FOI Fund is $10,000.

Here’s a good example: the Butler and Brougham funds for the humane care of animals in RI.

Designated Funds
With designated funds, you can "designate" one or more charitable organizations anywhere in the United States to receive grants from the endowment (in your name) in perpetuity. The minimum initial gift required to establish this type of fund is $10,000.

An example is The Crowell Fund

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Donor Advised Funds
Donor advised funds allow you to recommend grants from the fund to charitable organizations throughout the year for as long as you and any successor you name are alive. The minimum initial gift required to establish a Donor Advised fund is $10,000.

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Nonprofit Endowments

While many of the Foundation’s endowments were established by individuals to benefit the nonprofit organization of the donor's choice, dozens of nonprofit organizations have elected to place their endowments under Foundation management. As of April 2008, that list now includes:

• Aquidneck Land Trust Merritt Neighborhood Fund (2004)
• Asbury United Methodist Church Fund (1993)
• Barrington Christian Academy Endowment Fund (1993)
• Barrington Christian Academy-Stratton Scholarship Fund (2005)
• Barrington Congregational Church Fund (1990)
• Andrew Bell Scholarship Fund (2004)
• Block Island Conservancy Inc. Stewardship Endowment Fund (2008)
• Block Island Medical Center Endowment Fund (2008)
• Borders Farm Endowment Fund (2004)
• Boys & Girls Club of Newport County Fund (2002)
• Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Funds (2002) [14]
• John P. Burke Memorial Funds (2005) [3]
• Button Hole Fund (2004)
• CANE Child Development Center Fund (2005)
• B. Jae Clanton Scholarship Fund of the Urban League of Rhode Island (1990)
• Clark Memorial Library Endowment Fund (1999)
• Phil West Spirit of Common Cause Rhode Island Fund (2006)
• Community MusicWorks Fund (2008)
• Community Preparatory School Scholarship Endowment Fund (1988)
• Paul Cuffee School/Rosalind C. Wiggins Fund (2008)
• Norman A. DesLauriers Memorial Fund (1993)
• English-Speaking Union Boston Branch Educational Endowment (2007)
• Louis Feinstein Endowment Fund (1994)
• Flower Power Inc. Fund (2005)
• Lois Hamilton Fontaine Scholarship Fund of the Westerly College Club, Inc. (1997)
• Friends of the Middletown Public Library Endowment Fund (2003)
• Fund for Community Progress Endowment Fund in memory of Joseph R. Vanni (1993)
• Nancy H. Gewirtz Fund for the Poverty Institute (2005)
• Glocester Heritage Society Endowment Fund (2008)
• Gordon Fund (1996)
• Lisa Lofland Gould Native Plant Program Fund (2007)
• Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island Endowment Fund (1993)
• Hope Alzheimer’s Center Endowment Fund (2005)
• Governor Stephen Hopkins House Endowment Fund (2000) [2]
• Interfaith Health Care Ministries/The Reverend Dr. Duane F. Parker Endowment Fund (1998)
• International House of Rhode Island – Rooke Fund (2008)
• Island Free Library Endowment Fund (2003)
• Jamestown Historical Society Endowment Fund
• Jamestown Historical Society Mary R. Miner Archives Fund (2007)
• Jamestown Historical Society Windmill Endowment Fund (2006)
• Jamestown Philomenian Library Endowment Fund (1996) [2]
• Jonnycake Center Fund (2005)
• Herbert E. Kaplan Fund for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, RI Chapter (1996)
• Peter Kaplan Memorial Fund for Gordon School (1996)
• Peter Kaplan Memorial Fund for Trinity Rep (1997)
• Martin Luther King Scholarship Endowment Fund (2001)
• Linden Place Endowment Fund (2003)
• Frederick Lippitt Endowment Fund for the Woonasquatucket River Watershed (2005)
• Little Compton Playground Fund (1988)
• Little Compton United Congregational Church Fund (1981)
• MaGown-Roberts Endowment Fund (1999)
• Barry A. Marks Fund for the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities (1984)
• Mount Hope Farm Endowment Fund (2007)
• Museum of Primitive Art and Culture (1998)
• Museum of Primitive Art and Culture Wallace Campbell III Endowment Fund (2005)
• Museum of Yachting Endowment Fund (2007)
• Musica Dolce Endowment Fund (2006)
• Narragansett Public Library Endowment Fund (1996)
• Narrow River Preservation Association/John Elder Dick Endowment Fund (2004)
• Narrow River Preservation Association/Carl W. Otto Endowment Fund (2007)
• New England Wireless and Steam Museum (2000)
• Newport Public Library Endowment Fund (2004)
• North Kingstown Free Library Corporation Fund (1996)
• NSCDARI Endowment Fund (2000) [2]
• Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church Living Memorial Fund (1987)
• Providence Center/Charles E. Maynard Fund for the Future (2001)
• Providence Center School/Charles E. Maynard Fund for the Future (2004)
• Providence Country Day School Funds (2002) [10]
• Providence Singers Wachner Fund for New Music (2006)
• Providence Preservation Society Fund (2005)
• RICH/Tom Roberts Humanities Ingenuity Prize Fund (2005)
• Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Endowment Fund (2005)
• Rhode Island Legal Services Endowment Fund (2006)
• Rhode Island Meals on Wheels Memorial Fund (1981)
• Rhode Island School for the Deaf/John Spellman Scholarship Fund (1989)
• Rhode Island Tree Stewards’ Endowment Fund (2001)
• RIVMA Companion Animal Fund (2007)
• Rhode Island Zoological Society Fund (1986)
• Ray Rickman Fund for African Doctors (2007)
• Riverwood Endowment Fund (2005)
• Friends of Rogers Free Library Children's Endowment Fund (1987)
• Saul B. Saila Fellowship Fund (2007)
• Friends of Sakonnet Lighthouse Fund (1985) [2]
• Ilon Sillman/Sara Andrews Endowment Fund (1997)
• Smith’s Castle Fund (1998)
• Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians Endowment Fund (2001)
• South County Garden Club of RI/Margaret Dunbar Fund (2004)
• South County Museum Endowment Fund (1996)
• South County Museum Rhode Island Red Endowment Fund (2004)
• Tiverton Land Trust Fund (2000)
• United Way of Rhode Island Endowment Fund (1990)
• United Way Fund of Rhode Island (1995)
• Urban League of Rhode Island Scholarship Fund (2004)
• Volunteer Center of Rhode Island Endowment Fund (2005)
• Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Education Fund (2007)
• Volunteer Services for Animals - Warwick - Humane Education Fund (2008)
• Warwick Public Library Endowment Fund (1999)
• Westerly Hospital Auxiliary Fund (1992)
• Westminster Senior Center Fund (1994)
• Westminster Unitarian Church Fund (1998)
• Whitehall Museum House Endowment Fund (2000) [2]
• YWCA of Northern Rhode Island Fund (1990)

Supporting Organizations
A supporting organization enables a family, business or existing foundation willing to make a substantial opening investment to affiliate with The Rhode Island Foundation and utilize the many benefits afforded a community foundation through its public charity status. The Foundation for Trinity Repertory Company, for example, is a Supporting Organization to the Foundation, as is the Haffenreffer Family Fund. Benefits for them include an independent board of directors, a distinct investment policy, the Foundation handles all administrative details and tax reporting, and increased flexibility in the grantmaking process. The minimum to establish a Supporting Organization is $1 million.  

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