Give Back Alexandria

Give Back Alexandria logo What happens when you have more passion than capital to help Alexandria? That’s the challenge facing today’s young professionals, many of whom have joined together in ACT’s Give Back Alexandria. Members Scott and Sonia Price believe the group is true to its name. Says Scott, “It’s a great vehicle for giving back. You may not be able to give large sums of money, but collectively and combined with ACT matching funds, we see a big impact.” And the group’s fundraising is always … fun. Last year, its annual Blues and Bluegrass event attracted 200 young Alexandrians. For Scott, who makes a special effort to reach out to diverse segments of the community, the group is also “a great way to get so many different groups together with the common goal of helping the city.” And now, he says, given the current economic climate, “There couldn’t be a better time to get involved.”

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About Donor Advised Funds

Donor Advised Funds are an excellent tool to assist donors who wish to assure their charitable interests are carried out in perpetuity. ACT provides a cost-effective vehicle to meet those objectives.

How It Works

Donor Advised Funds are component funds of ACT for Alexandria. They are generally permanent funds with a percentage of the fund used each year for charitable purposes. If the donor wishes, the fund can be set up to spend some or all of the principal as well.

Once the fund is established, the donor provides advice to ACT about where gifts from the fund should be made. While this advice is not legally binding on the community foundation, the grantmaking team gives great weight to the advice of the donor.

Donors can advise ACT about the distribution of grants from the fund during their lifetime. In addition, donors may designate their children to succeed them as donor advisors. At the end of the donor-advisement period, the remaining principal may be used to create an Undesignated Fund or a Field of Interest Fund within ACT. The guidelines for these funds are agreed upon when the initial gift is made.

Recognition

Many donors recognize that their leadership will inspire others to give. For these donors, having their gift publicly recognized increases the value of the contribution. Other donors prefer to remain anonymous. Still others want to honor or memorialize a loved one. Donor Advised Funds can be created to satisfy any preference.

Funds are established with a name chosen by the donor. Grants made from a Donor Advised Fund are identified to the recipients as such. For existing private foundations, the change may be as simple as switching the name from "The Jones Family Foundation" to "The Jones Family Fund."

Types of Funds | Advantages | Setting up a Fund | Ways to Give | Fee Structure