Foundation for the Future of Delaware County Endowment Funds Pay Out $114,000

The Community Foundation of Delaware County recently authorized $114,000 in agency and donor-advised endowment payouts for fiscal year 2017.

Community foundations are charitable organizations that administer funds to benefit their communities and improve the lives of people in their geographic region. Nonprofit organizations and community members can create endowment funds at FFDC to benefit charitable causes. These funds are invested and pay out 5% annually to the designated nonprofits, providing a reliable source of income to sustain organizations’ operations forever.

Endowment payouts help organizations like the Maquoketa Valley Dollars for Scholars. The scholarship organization has awarded more than 600 scholarships totaling over $700,000 since 2001 to students in the Maquoketa Valley School District.

“Endowments allow us to award scholarships every year to all graduating seniors at Maquoketa Valley that decide to go onto college after high school,” said Maquoketa Valley Dollars for Scholars Director Keith Kramer.

Several nonprofits like Maquoketa Valley Dollars for Scholars have established endowment funds through FFDC. Nonprofit leaders look to the Community Foundation to hold their organizations’ endowments because the reliable source of funding helps them to respond to emerging needs as well as to plan and sustain the good work they do.

Donors who give to endowments through a community foundation also benefit from the Endow Iowa 25% State Tax Credit in addition to federal charitable income tax deductions.

“Whether it’s ensuring bright futures for youth or creating small miracles in the heartland, these funds help sustain the crucial missions of nonprofits in Delaware County so they can continue to enrich lives forever,” said Jerry Burke, FFDC board president. “Each fund is unique to a donor’s dreams for the future of Delaware County.”

For more information about the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County, visit www.dbqfoundation.org/FFDC.

In the late 1990s, Keith Kramer co-chaired and helped rally local citizens around a successful $8.6 million bond issue to upgrade facilities at Maquoketa Valley and build new schools in Earlville and Delhi. Energized by the group’s success, he led a vision to establish a scholarship program at Maquoketa Valley that would give all students the opportunity to succeed. Don't see the video above? Click here to watch.