Open 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.
Types of Funds
DESIGNATED FUND
If you want to give overtime to the same charities, then consider a Designated Fund. The nonprofits will receive regular grants from your funds, providing them with 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.
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 a single donation and contribute to the fund whenever you choose. Additionally, you can transfer your fund to the next generation. Click here to view a PDF file that provides more detailed information.
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.
Organization fund
Like a savings account a nonprofit sets up to grow its money for the future, the Foundation invests the money and handles all the administrative tasks. Therefore, the nonprofit can utilize the earnings to support its work. It’s a smart way for nonprofits to save in the long term with expert help.
UNRESTRICTED FUND
Gifts to our unrestricted fund underwrite worthwhile nonprofits and projects. You are entrusting the Foundation to make grants from your donations.
Discover how we can help you achieve your charitable goals through tax-smart giving by contacting the Foundation at (337) 491-6688.