For Ministries, Schools & Churches That Want a Sustainable Future

Many organizations feel uncertain how to ask for and receive non-cash gifts. With IHS Foundation as your fundraising partner, we’ll help you grow planned gifts, estate gifts, stock gifts, and a thriving endowment, giving you diversified income and enduring stability to fulfill your God-given mission. Here’s how we can help:

An endowment instills confidence in your organization. 
It shows you have staying power and leadership that is well-prepared for the uncertainties of the future. It gives your donors assurance that their intentions will be honored for generations.

IHS Foundation manages dozens of endowment funds for schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, and ministries of all sizes.

  • Imagine a growing scholarship fund that allows your school to weather tough economic times with limited effect on enrollment.
  • Imagine a building maintenance or capital improvement fund that never dried up.
  • Imagine the new resources that could be deployed if 20% or more of your salary costs were permanently endowed. 

Get a $10,000 Matching Gift!

Open an Endowment Today

IHS Foundation will match the first $10,000 your organization raises with our own $10,000 matching gift to help you grow a thriving endowment.

Additionally, if you allow IHS Foundation to manage your existing endowment, we can gift up to $50,000 depending on the size of your endowment.

Will an Endowment Grow Your Ministry?

Learn from these IHS Foundation fundholders how memorial, legacy, scholarship, and other endowment funds give your donors assurance that their intentions will be honored for generations.

  • Offer Your Donors Gift Options That Pay Them Income

    John wanted to leave a meaningful gift to his Christian school that meant so much to him, but he wasn’t sure the best way to do it until he heard about the possibility of establishing a charitable gift annuity. 

    This unique gift option was a great way to earn an immediate tax deduction, secure guaranteed, partially tax-free income (annuity) for the rest of his life, and leave a large gift to the school when he went to heaven.

    John’s school didn’t have the resources to administer this, so they directed him to IHS Foundation, who set everything up on behalf of John and the school.

  • Administer & Manage Long-Term Giving Arrangements

    Mary told her pastor that after her death she wanted to use the majority of her estate to send kids to church camp for generations to come. 

    The church board loved this idea but expressed concern about the burden of administering this arrangement forever. 

    Instead, Mary and her pastor consulted IHS Foundation and put together a plan that would honor Mary’s intentions, invest the money for growth in the market, and send a check to the church once a summer. Mary and her church felt great peace about the everlasting gift plan.

  • Receive Complex, Non-Cash Gifts

    Jill is a part-time Development Director at her community pregnancy support center. Recently a few potential donors called with questions she struggled to answer. 

    One wanted to donate some mutual fund shares, another wanted to know about charitable remainder trusts, and another wanted to know the tax implications of donating a car. 

    Thankfully, the pregnancy support center has an endowment relationship with IHS Foundation.  In each case, Jill was able to reach out to IHS Foundation and get answers to her questions, resulting in three new gifts that month.

“Without individuals, nothing changes.
Without institutions, nothing endures.”

You’re leading the institution with the enduring mission that we’re here to serve.

The Journey to a Sustainable Future

Estate Gifts Make the Best Endowment Gifts

As a society, we are on the threshold of the largest transfer of generational wealth in history. Trillions of dollars are at stake. We believe the world would be a better place if your organization was included in that.

An estate gift is often a donor’s largest gift to your organization—and it is a gift that won’t cost them anything in their lifetime!

Large hospitals and universities are already asking your donors to give an estate gift to their endowment in their will or estate plan. When donors are asked why they didn’t remember their church, school, or ministry in their estate plan, their answers are almost always the same: “They never asked.” 

IHS Foundation is your estate planning partner, offering training and resources to help you grow your endowment and estate gifts. 

We Can Help Your Nonprofit Grow & Manage:

Your organization’s financial strength is best illustrated by a three-legged stool:

  1. Annual Fund—regular cash gifts that keep the lights on and your immediate work moving forward. 
  2. Major Gifts—large gifts often given in response to a specific need (e.g. capital campaign).
  3. Endowment—transformational gifts are given to ensure your sustainability into the far future. An endowment operated by an independent, third-party foundation (such as IHS Foundation) is a compelling feature donors look for when preparing their estate plans. It gives your donors  assurance that their intentions will be honored for generations. 

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 additional cost.  

We can help you receive, receipt, and sell many gift types, including stocks and mutual funds, IRAs, real estate, business ownership, tangible property, mineral rights, life insurance policies, intellectual property, and more.

TIP: If a donor alerts you about their intent to sell an asset and make a gift to your organization with the proceeds, we strongly suggest you invite them to consider gifting full or partial ownership of the item to you, the charity, before they sell it. This will likely benefit you and the donor. For example, suppose a donor tells you he is selling his business in the near future, and he would like to make a gift with the proceeds to offset taxable income. Great! But you might suggest he transfer a percentage of ownership to IHS Foundation before the sale. This scenario will almost always increase the donation amount your organization receives while decreasing your donor’s taxable income. 

We will receipt the gift for the donor and the IRS, so you don’t have to. Once sold, you will receive the full proceeds from the sale. 

An estate gift is often a donor’s largest gift to your organization—and it is a gift that won’t cost them anything in their lifetime!

IHS Foundation is your estate planning partner, offering training and resources to help you grow your endowment and estate gifts. 

Popular Planned Giving Options Include:

  • Charitable Gift Annuity—an arrangement between a donor and your organization in which the donor receives regular payment from IHS Foundation for life, based on the value of assets transferred to us. After the donor’s death, the remaining assets are put into your endowment fund.
  • Charitable Remainder Trust—an irrevocable trust that generates income for the donor (or other specified beneficiaries), with the remainder of the donated assets going into your endowment fund. 
  • Charitable Lead Trust—an irrevocable trust designed to provide financial support to your organization for a period of time right away, with the remaining assets eventually going to the donor’s family or other beneficiaries.

Your journey to a sustainable  financial future begins here.

Let’s Talk About Your Goals

Endowment Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is a community foundation?

    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. 

  • Are there any minimums to open an endowment?

    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. 

  • How much would an endowment pay to our organization annually?

    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. 

  • We already have an endowment elsewhere—is this a problem?

    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. 

  • Do you have other funds that may be of value to our organization?

    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.

  • How else can you help us fundraise?

    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.

  • What fees does IHS Foundation charge for an endowment fund?

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

  • Is an endowment biblical?

    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