What's your Legacy Footprint?

Be an active part of community grant gifting by creating your own fund with the Rock County Community Foundation.
Donors to the Foundation use a variety of assets - from appreciated stock to real estate to cash - to make gifts. They may give to any of the existing specialty funds or create their own named fund. Each fund may be customized to meet a particular charitable goal.

Donors may choose from the following general types of funds when making a gift to the Foundation:

• A donor advised fund allows you to participate directly in the grant making process by making recommendations for grants to specific organizations from the fund. A donor advisor also may work closely with the staff of the Rock County Community Foundation to select grant recipients.
• If you wish to establish a fund for a specified, broad purpose, a field of interest fund is the appropriate choice. Donors with particular issues of concern (children's services, the environment, or improving access to health care by the poor, for example) may focus their giving by setting up this type of fund. Rock County Community Foundation then makes grants to meet current needs in the specified field.
• A fund designed to endow one or more specific charities is a designated fund. If a charity changes its mission or type of services, or goes out of business, Rock County Community Foundation directs grants to a similar organization. In this way, the donor supports the organizations he or she chooses, but ensures that the gift will remain relevant over time.
• The unrestricted fund is one of the most flexible ways to give, since it may be used for any purpose approved by the Foundation's Board of Directors. This fund allows the Rock County Community Foundation to identify community needs and award grants designed to address those needs.

If Joe & Sally Brown want to design their legacy footprint with the Rock County Community Foundation, their fund might look like one of the following depending on what their personal and financial goals are:

• The Brown Family Donor Advised fund – purpose: to be directed by the Brown family for charitable organizations (like a charitable savings account) – matching passions with purpose.
• Joe Brown Youth Involvement Field of Interest Fund – purpose: to support the needs of organizations that offer activities for youth, a passion of Joe’s.  
• Sally Brown Food Shelf Designated Fund – purpose: Focus on needs of local food shelf, a passion of Sally’s.
• Joe and Sally Brown gift to the Unrestricted Fund – Joe and Sally give to the community unrestricted fund and allow the Rock County Community Foundation to use these funds as part of their community grant process, addressing and assisting with community needs.  ​