What is the first step in setting up a donor advised fund?

The first step is to sign a standard donor advised fund agreement with the Community Foundation. Community Foundation staff will customize the fund agreement to reflect the charitable focus of your fund, what you want to name it, whether there will be successor advisors on the fund, and if so, who, and whether the fund is being established as a permanent endowment (available annual grantmaking may not exceed 5 percent of the fund balance) or a pass through (available grantmaking is not restricted) fund. In most instances, it takes just a couple of hours to finalize and sign the fund agreement.

For more information on setting up a donor advised fund, visit our Establish a Fund page.