Nonprofits receive over $2 million in endowment payouts from Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) recently authorized $2,473,140 in agency and donor-advised endowment payouts for fiscal year 2017, up from $2,151,140 last year. This total will rise as the Foundation continues to calculate endowment payouts for two new affiliate foundations in Clinton County.
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 CFGD 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. Any earnings beyond the 5% are reinvested.
Endowment payments help nonprofits like Opening Doors. The year’s payout will help the nonprofit offer a new program called Doorways to Hope, a job skills training program that teaches women soft and hard job skills so they can get a living wage job.
“In 2013, we lost a very large federal Housing and Urban Development grant, and the endowment payout was there to fill that gap,” says Ann. “It was there for stormy times like that and it is there for the future growth of our organization.”
Nonprofits like Opening Doors, as well as individual community members, have established 657 endowment funds through CFGD and its six rural affiliate foundations in Allamakee, Delaware, Clayton, Clinton, Jackson and Jones Counties and the Dyersville community.
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.
“Endowment funds help to diversify nonprofits’ funding and make their operations secure so they can deliver on their missions and continue to enrich life in our community forever,” said Nancy Van Milligen, CFGD president and CEO. “Each fund is unique and the payouts fund everything from special projects to facility repairs and general operations.”
Since the Foundation’s inception in 2002, more than 9,500 community members have made donations or created funds at CFGD. As the largest annual grantmaker in the greater Dubuque region, the Foundation has made a total of $29.8 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, including $6.4 million last year alone. The Foundation is also a community leadership organization, bringing people and institutions together to create long-term solutions to community challenges through initiatives like Project HOPE (workforce and unemployment), Every Child/Every Promise (youth and families) and Inclusive Dubuque (equity and diversity).
"The Community Foundation is only 15 years old, but thanks to the generosity of community members and the commitment of local nonprofits, its ability to create a positive impact in our region has grown exponentially,” says Chad Chandlee, chair of the CFGD Board of Directors. “Every day, the Foundation is working to learn more about the needs of our community so we can help people give with meaning and impact.”
Read more about how Opening Doors is using its endowment payout to help women and their families: www.dbqfoundation.org/endowments