Frequently Asked Questions

Community foundations are public charities that are dedicated to supporting the common good through philanthropic giving. We bring together, grow, and deploy the financial, creative, and problem-solving resources of individuals, families, and organizations to support the work of nonprofits locally in Northeast Ohio and around the world. 

Think of a Donor Advised Fund as a combination charitable investment account and your own family foundation. Here’s how it works:

•  You make a tax-deductible charitable gift to IHS Foundation. 
• That amount is credited to your Donor Advised Fund, which we’ll invest in the market for growth, or preserve the balance in a money market account—your choice.
• At any time you can contact us directly to recommend a grant be made from the balance of your account to the nonprofit organization of your choice: ministry, church, school, zoo, orchestra, food bank, etc.
• The nonprofit organization receives payment from us along with a letter that lets them know the gift came from your fund (or you can choose to remain anonymous). 

Cash gifts are easy, but other gift types offer unique tax benefits. You can donate many types of assets, with all proceeds going to your Donor Advised Fund: stock and mutual find shares, real estate, physical property, business ownership, life insurance, and more. 

Unique to IHS Foundation, we invite you to donate your IRA’s required minimum distribution. Read more here. 

Some of our fund types allow the fundholder to choose how their fund is allocated. Depending on your unique objectives and timelines, one option may be better than the other for you.  

• Simple funds are placed in our money market account and earn no interest (growth), but they are also not exposed to market volatility (potential loss). 
• Invested funds are invested in the market according to the donor’s preferences in one of four risk lanes (conservative to aggressive). 

Read more about our Simple and Invested Funds: Simple or Invested Fund with IHS Foundation?

There is no minimum amount needed to open a Donor Advised Fund with us, and there is no minimum grant size.  Your fund will be opened when you donate your first gift of cash or non-cash asset to IHS Foundation. 

No. You can give it all away at once, or your Donor Advised Fund can grow for years in the market while you decide when and who you want to support. 

Yes. We ask our Donor Advised Fund holders to orient their giving so that roughly 50% of their overall giving goes to Christian ministries. Our fundholders use their fund to support churches, hospitals, schools, the arts, and a variety of charities that benefit the community. 

Yes! Your Donor Advised Fund can outlive you. Long after you’re in heaven, your children, grandchildren, and beyond can inherit the sacred gift of Christian stewardship. We’re happy to assist you with your estate planning goals. 

No. In general, only qualified organizations (nonprofit organizations, churches, schools, etc.) may receive a grant from your fund. Some fundholders support individuals through a sponsoring organization (for example, helping to fund a missionary). 

Generally, no. However, to comply with government regulations, IHS Foundation cannot approve donor-recommended grants that provide anything more than an incidental benefit to the donor, supports lobbying, political campaigns, or other political activities, or supports a charitable event that could constitute a quid pro quo arrangement (e.g. tickets to a golf outing or fundraising dinner). Additionally, IHS Foundation will not approve a grant recommendation to an organization that is directly hostile to or contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. 

Our invested funds have an annual 1.25% administrative fee and approximately .6% finance fee. 

Our simple funds (earning no interest in our money market) have an annual .5% or $100 administrative fee, whichever is greater. 

Community foundations are public charities that are dedicated to supporting the common good through philanthropic giving. We bring together, grow, and deploy the financial, creative, and problem-solving resources of individuals, families, and organizations to support the work of nonprofits locally in Northeast Ohio and around the world. 

No, there is no minimum amount needed to open an endowment fund with IHS Foundation. 

However, we hope you will be inspired to take advantage of our $10,000 matching gift by opening your endowment with at least $10,000. 

We encourage a 5–6% annual distribution from your fund. You decide on either once-annual or quarterly payments. Based on historic investment returns, this commitment will generally allow the principal of your fund to grow in perpetuity. 

Not at all. Sometimes having a relationship with a neighboring foundation can be a good thing. However, should you decide to move your existing foundation underneath our management, we can gift you up to $50,000 or more depending on its size. 

Yes. Our “Single Entity Fund” is a great resource you can offer your donors to contribute a variety of gift types: stock and mutual fund shares, real estate, physical assets, etc. Unlike an endowment, you are encouraged to withdraw any amount at any time. 

This fund, prudently invested by IHSF, is a great alternative to letting large sums of money sit in a non-interest-earning bank account.

Even though the average American has 90% of their wealth in non-cash assets, most organizations feel uncertain how to ask for and receive non-cash gifts. 

We have the resources in place to help you help your donors make non-cash and complex gifts to your organization. When you have an endowment with IHS Foundation you receive our full support at no cost.  

The next time a donor asks you about a complex charitable gift idea or calls with a legal question you don’t know the answer to, don’t sweat. 

Simply say, “Let me contact my planned giving office and I’ll get back to you.” 

Pick up the phone and give us a call: (330) 528-1785.

Our endowment funds have an annual 1.25% administrative fee and approximately .6% finance fee. 

From time to time we’re asked this worthwhile question. All Christians should consider their actions in light of the Bible’s teaching. We put together this document to help start a conversation on this topic: 

Biblical Basis for Building an Endowment

The pressing need to attend to the urgency of the annual fund can consume the fundraiser’s focus, often to the neglect of the largest single gifts an organization will ever receive: a planned gift. 

A planned gift—as suggested by its name—is an intentional gift, given often through a will, estate plan, or trust, which typically seeks to take advantage of the tax benefits associated with certain types of charitable giving. 

Most planned gifts involve a legal arrangement, and some (but not all) are only enacted after a donor’s death.

 A planned gift can be as simple as a donor naming your organization in their will or estate plan. Some planned gifts, such as charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts, pay the donor tax-advantaged income during their lifetime, and the residual of the gift is paid to the organization upon their death or the completion of the agreement. 

Some planned gifts involve personal property, allowing a donor to receive a tax benefit for donating a home or vacation home to an organization while still being allowed to live in the home until their death. 

There are many other types of tax-advantaged planned giving arrangements.

Writing legally binding contracts, attending to generations-long fiduciary responsibilities, and ongoing management of a planned gift can be prohibitively costly and difficult for organizations that do not have dedicated staff to administer planned gift arrangements. 

IHS Foundation has the resources in place to offer your donors planned giving options that can deliver compelling benefits for the donor and your organization. We charge no fees for these services.