Community Pulse: What it means to leave a legacy

People often talk about leaving a legacy, but what does that mean? Honestly, I think a leaving a legacy looks different for everyone. For some, simply leaving an abundance of memories and family traditions for their loved ones is enough of a legacy. For others, they want something more concrete to pass on to loved ones such as land, a home, or money. And yet for others, they wish to leave behind a legacy that reaches beyond their immediate family with the potential to impact the community for generations to come. For those individuals, Community Foundation of Grundy County (CFGC) has options to accomplish those goals.

CFGC has the ability to steward funds of all shapes and sizes helping donors meet their philanthropic goals. While we certainly appreciate gifts left to us upon a donor’s death, we understand other donors are interested in seeing their charitable donations at work, CFGC can assist both types of donors. Two of the most well-known types of funds offered at CFGC are donor advised funds and scholarships.

As we are just finishing up scholarship season, they are fresh on our minds. Scholarships funds can be set up to benefit students from a specific high school or who plan to major in a specific degree area or attend a specific college or university. While some of our scholarship funds have very broad parameters for who can apply for and be awarded these funds, others are specific. Scholarship funds are a great way to honor a loved one’s passion for higher education or career path. Historically, scholarships were given to high school seniors; however, we are seeing more and more scholarships created to benefit non-traditional students (adults going back to school) or to assist college students in completing their majors.

CFGC currently has two scholarship opportunities open for students who will enter their junior or senior year of college in the fall of 2025. The Farrell Fellows Scholarships in Memory of Mike and Char Farrell will provide a $10,000 scholarship to an education major and a $10,000 scholarship to a communication/journalism major. Students must be residents of Grundy County and have until June 1st to apply. Applications can be found be visiting https://cfgrundycounty.com/student/.

Donor Advised Funds (DAF) are the most flexible of all funds. They are charitable funds that are advised by the donor but administered by CFGC staff. Once a DAF is created at CFGC, the donor can recommend a grant to local or national 501c3 not-for-profit organizations and CFGC staff take care of the rest. DAFs can be set up by individuals, families, and corporations.

In addition to scholarships and DAFs, the Community Foundation of Grundy County can also offer donors the ability to create designated funds which benefit a specific organization. In the case of designated funds, the charity will have access to an annual distribution. In some cases, this distribution is automatic and in other cases, the organization must submit a proposal on how they would like to use the funds for that specific year. In cases where a proposal is necessary, the Grants and Programs Committee at CFGC reviews the request to ensure the donors original intent is being met.

If a donor is interested in supporting a specific topic, they may consider a field of interest fund. Field of interest funds are created to support a specific topic such food insecurity, women’s health, or youth development. These funds can also be set up to benefit a specific geographically area.

The last type of fund is an agency fund. Agency funds are set up by an agency to build a long-term endowment to support their organization.

Whether your end goal as a donor is to assist students in attaining higher education, ensuring an organization has a steady pipeline of funds each year, or streamlining your personal philanthropy, the Community Foundation of Grundy County is able to help you design a fund to leave the legacy you desire. For more information on our funds and how to set one up, visit www.cfgrundycounty.com or contact us at 815-941-0852.