Opening A Fund

The Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana is your partner in philanthropy.

Our goal is to help you produce the greatest impact and lasting improvements in Southwest Louisiana. The first step to changing the world is opening a charitable account. With an account, you can make grants to qualified nonprofits, no matter where they are in the world. 

HOW IT WORKS 

1. Open a charitable account. 

2. Make a tax-deductible donation to the account. You can make gifts of cash, stock, real estate, closely-held stock, retirement plan assets, life insurance, or other assets to your account, and we'll acknowledge your donation.

3. Your gifts will grow tax-free. We'll grow your fund with investments managed by Wall Street firms, with a portion invested in smaller companies that are creating jobs in Louisiana.

4. Make grants to support effective charities that align with your causes. We can help you find the charities and follow up to see whether they are producing the promised results. 

Learn about how we can help you achieve your charitable goals with tax-smart giving by contacting the Foundation at (337) 491-6688. 

Types of Funds

DONOR-ADVISED FUND

Our most popular choice and for good reason. DAFs are easy to open and manage. You can support all the charities with one donation, and give to the fund whenever you choose.  As well, you can transfer your fund to the next generation. Click here to see a PDF file providing greater detail.

UNRESTRICTED FUND

Gifts to our unrestricted fund underwrite worthwhile nonprofits and projects. You are entrusting the Foundation to make grants from your donations. 

FIELD OF INTEREST FUND

What do you want to improve? Education? Arts? Environment? Then you should consider this type of fund, which focuses your philanthropy in a field you care about. Grants are made to nonprofits that are in the field you choose to improve.  

DESIGNATED FUND

If you want to give overtime to the same charities, then consider a Designated Fund. The nonprofits will get regular grants from your funds, giving them a reliable source of revenue to carry out their missions. Qualified Charitable Distributions, which can be made as part of a Required Minimum Distribution through an IRA, are one example of a tax-smart way of supporting a Designated Fund.