The Schuylkill Area Community Foundation (SACF) has accomplished great things through donors who have supported our mission of building a permanent endowment to meet the most pressing current and emerging needs of our community. Whatever your charitable goals, the Foundation is ready to help you get started.

You Can:

• Support the Foundation's ongoing work with an unrestricted gift of any amount
  
• Contribute to an existing fund
  
• Start your own fund

SACF currently manages over 100 funds that benefit a diverse range of causes and interests. These funds form a pool of dollars whose earnings are disbursed through informed grant making to nonprofit organizations and scholarship/award applicants, as well as by the intent of each donor.

Minimum amounts required to establish a fund:

$3,500 . . . . . . . . .to establish an annual award for a high school graduate
$5,000 . . . . . . . . .to establish any other fund
$20,000 . . . . . . . .to establish a scholarship fund

You may make a contribution to an existing fund at any time and in any amount.

There are many ways to give through Schuylkill Area Community Foundation. Here are some of the most common methods that philanthropists choose.

Cash
Cash is the easiest way to contribute. Donors who make gifts of cash are eligible for a charitable deduction in the year the gift is made.

Appreciated Stock
Stocks may be donated to the Community Foundation as a charitable gift. Donors are eligible for a tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock. By donating appreciated stock to the Community Foundation, donors can avoid capital gains tax that would otherwise occur at the sale of the stock.

Bequests
A charitable bequest is the most common form of planned giving. By including a charitable bequest in a will, donors are able to make gifts that are simple, and in many cases larger than they could make during their lifetime. The bequest can take the form of a specific amount of money, or may serve as a "residual bequest," where the remainder of a donor's assets become a gift after all other specific bequests have been paid out. Gifts made to charity by bequest are deducted from the donor's adjusted gross estate.

Retirement Plans & Life Insurance
Donors can use assets held in an individual retirement account (IRA), 401(k), 403(b) or similar account to start a fund at the Community Foundation at the time of their death. Many donors choose to donate all or part of their retirement plan to the Community Foundation. These accounts, while very attractive to defer tax during lifetime, are the most heavily taxed assets in an estate at death.

To make a gift using retirement assets, your client simply fills out a form with the plan administrator designating the Community Foundation as a beneficiary. There is no cost, and the beneficiary designation can be changed at any time.