Community Pulse: Using donor dollars to supplement government dollars

We community foundations across the nation are being increasingly asked to help local units of government raise and invest donor dollars. There are a number of reasons for this.

More and more donors want to support their favorite local institutions, such as libraries, park districts, and fire departments. This usually happens via wills and estates, and can often be large donations. One example is the $1 million+ gift to the Morris Area Public Library from Dick Coulthard via his estate.

In many instances, local units of government (those with authority to levy local taxes) want to keep their donor dollars separate from their tax dollars. This can be due to limited investment options or wanting to keep donors dollars out of county coffers.

One option is to work with the local community foundation to take those dollars and create a “designated fund” to accept this money and set up the fund to distribute money to the local unit of government on a regular basis. This fund can be set up by the donor or the local unit of government.

One reason why local units of government may want to access the services of a community foundation is investment returns. In the State of Illinois, local units of government cannot invest tax dollars in “risky” investments, but this law does not apply to donor dollars. Because community foundations have diverse portfolios that are consistent with positive returns, local units of government can put their donor dollars into these higher-earning portfolios that we manage rather than the lower-risk investment options required by the State, which usually results in more money for use by the local unit of government.

Many local units of government think that they have to, or want to, create a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit simply to accept and manage donor dollars. This is usually so that the donor dollars do not have to pass through the county coffers. This is another reason to create a “Designated Fund” at the local community foundation. It alleviates the local unit of government from having to go through the hassle of creating a new nonprofit, as well as the monthly administration of running a nonprofit.

The newest fund at the Community Foundation of Grundy County (CFGC) is the Grundy Transit System (GTS) Charitable Fund. GTS is a department of Grundy County government.

Today I want to spell out the bigger question and conversation that is the backstory about why GTS set up a charitable fund for donor dollars at CFGC.

For us taxpayers, our individual taxes are already out of our hands – already collected and sent to the state and federal governments.

But like GTS and local municipalities have discovered, our individual tax dollars are being offered back to our local units of government as “grants.” If “we” (the local units of government) don’t go apply for these grants, then the state and federal governments give them to the local units of government that do apply.

This system sucks, and it is beyond our collective ability to control at this time, so we go to Plan B.

With the Grundy Transit System, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has an annual grant program where GTS can apply for funding that can be used to provide existing and expanded services. The kicker is that GTS has to raise “local match dollars” in order to access this IDOT grant money.

There are a number of ways for GTS to raise local match dollars, one of which is donor dollars.

I know this angers Grundy residents and businesses to know that GTS has to get more local money to go get the money back that Grundy residents have already paid in taxes, but this is the process we have to work with.

Our collective Grundy option is to pitch in so GTS can go get IDOT grants, or not pitch in and allow other counties who do pitch in to go get the money that should rightfully come to Grundy County for public transit.

It’s enough to make you sigh.

A huge request from Grundy residents and workers is the request for evening and weekend service so that employees can work a second shift and/or work retail and food service into the evening and on weekends.

We have a lot of second shift work in Grundy County and just as many retail and food jobs. But without public transit, many Grundy residents cannot take these jobs.

Why not just drive? A growing number of Grundy residents don’t have cars, drivers licenses, or valid registration and insurance. Sometimes it’s due to affordability – car payments, insurance, plates, gasoline, tires, and other maintenance. Others have lost driving privileges due to DUIs and other misdemeanors. Others have a disability that precludes them from having a license.

Believe it or not, some Grundy residents simply don’t want to drive. For them, GTS fits the bill, but only Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

So while the big picture process of making GTS get local match dollars in order to access “our” money at IDOT is not a process we all enjoy, I believe it’s important for Grundy residents and businesses to understand why GTS is asking for donor dollars.

There are a number of reasons why local units of government might want to use the services of the Community Foundation of Grundy County and we invite everyone to learn more about how we can solve problems!

Julianne Buck is the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Grundy County, located in the historic Coleman Hardware Building at 520 W. lllinois Avenue in Morris. You can contact them via phone at 815-941-0852 and julie@cfgrundycounty.com.