Giving
- Becoming a Donor
- Why Choose The Dayton Foundation?
- Types of Funds
- What You Can Give
- How to Create a Fund
- Community Impact Endowment Funds
- Advantages of the Charitable Checking Account Service
- Open a Charitable Checking Account Now
- Family FoundationPlus vs. Private Foundation
- Options for People with Disabilities
- For Foundation Donors
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Donor-Designated Fund
Why Establish a Donor-Designated Fund, Instead of Giving Directly to Individual Charities?
Endowing your gift through a Dayton Foundation fund enables you to provide a source of continual income for your favorite charities, today and long after your lifetime. As a well-established community foundation, The Dayton Foundation can safeguard your fund’s principle, preserving your charitable gifts and intent.
Plus, establishing a fund through the Foundation opens the door to a wealth of charitable-giving expertise and the flexibility to give assets (such as appreciated stock or real estate) that some smaller organizations might not be able to receive on their own.
What If Your Designated Charity Goes Out of Business or Changes Its Mission?
You may designate an alternate charity to receive grants from your fund. If you are no longer living, we will identify another organization that most closely matches your charitable intentions.
Can Your Grants Be Made Anonymously?
Yes. We can make your grants anonymously, if requested, or in the name of your fund.
How Much Must You Contribute to Establish a Fund?
Most donors make a commitment to bring their fund to at least $25,000 in assets, which they can accomplish over a reasonable period of time.
Can Others Contribute to Your Fund?
Others - as well as you - can add to your fund at any time with gifts of cash, appreciated securities, real estate or tangible property. The Dayton Foundation can facilitate even the most complex planned gifts through your estate or make possible charitable gift options that also provide income for life.
Can You Set Up a Fund to Be Established After You Pass Away?
Yes. When you are making important estate-planning decisions, you often think of leaving something to your loved ones. Why not consider a gift of continual financial support for the charities that have meant the most to you during your life? You may designate your fund at The Dayton Foundation as the beneficiary of a bequest of cash, securities, qualified deferred retirement assets, a life insurance policy, a charitable gift annuity or a charitable trust. Our staff can work with you and your estate-planning advisor to review these and other planning options.
Is There a Fee to Establish Your Fund?
There is no start-up fee, and the Foundation’s low, annual administrative costs mean a higher percentage of the returns on your contributions will remain in your fund to benefit your chosen charities.
How Do You Get Started?
Give us a call at (937) 222-0410. We will work with you and your financial or legal advisor to customize a plan that will enhance your charitable goals and offer you significant tax advantages.
Download our Donor-Designated Funds brochure for more information.
HERE TO HELP

“Scholarship funds are an excellent way to honor a special achievement or memorialize a loved one. The Foundation manages nearly 300 scholarship funds for donors across the Greater Dayton Region. Contact me for more information.”
– Michelle Lovely,
Senior Vice President of Development and Donor Services, (937) 225-9948
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