Donors receive a number of benefits and incentives for charitable giving. Anyone, regardless of wealth or position, can create a charitable gift fund at KRCF. Donors can establish their own named fund for as little as $5,000 and can take up to 5 years to fulfill their initial contribution. Contributions can be made to existing funds at any time for any amount.

• Donors know that their charitable wishes will be carried out in both present and future generations. Donors are assured that their gifts will be held in perpetuity and administered in accordance with their wishes. Unless donors choose to be anonymous, their names will be honored in perpetuity.
• Donors can pool gifts with others’ contribution to increase charitable impact, provide a better investment return, and other efficient financial management. Funds are categorized as either short-term or long-term and the investments of each may be different.
• Donors receive KRCF’s annual report, their annual fund statement, and information on other grant-making opportunities as desired.
• Donors appreciate the ease of making a gift. After establishing a fund, there is no separate tax return to file. All grant paperwork and government reporting is handled by the KRCF.
• Donors and contributors can contribute gifts at any time and to any specific charitable cause. Those who set up a specific fund are called donors. Contributors are those who give to existing funds.
• Donors and contributors receive the maximum tax benefit from a gift. Contributions made through KRCF qualify as a maximum deduction for income, gift, and estate tax purposes.

There are several ways you can give to an existing fund:

1. Contact the KRCF via phone or e-mail regarding your donation,

2. Download the PDF donation form and mail or fax it to the KRCF, or

3. Submit the online form using your credit or debit card via a secure server.

Through careful guidance by KRCF’s Investment and Finance Committee, investment decisions are made to achieve the highest return with the lowest risk. Any funds invested in stocks and bonds are professionally managed by the Trust Company of Manhattan.

• Outright gifts of cash, publicly traded or closely held stock, real estate, insurance, or other assets.
• Bequests by will of cash or property.
• Memorial tributes in honor of a friend or loved one or contributions in honor of anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
• Life insurance naming the Foundation as beneficiary and owner.
• Private foundation transfers in which your family foundation, private foundation, trust, or civic endowment transfers its assets to KRCF, while your fund retains its name and purpose. In some cases, the private foundation may choose to become a Supporting Organization to KRCF, thus achieving public foundation status. This approach saves management costs, excise taxes, and administrative burdens.
• There is no minimum for a contribution to an existing fund.

A fund can be established quickly. You may choose any name you wish for the fund you establish. Funds may be increased at any time by additional gifts. Grants from the fund you established will always be recorded in the name of the fund, a lasting symbol of your caring. The length of time depends on the complexity of your wishes, but generally a fund can be established in a matter of days or weeks.

KRCF charges a $100 setup fee to establish a new fund.

Most funds can be established in one brief meeting and can be funded with cash, securities, real estate, publicly traded or closely held stock, insurance, or other assets. Or you may wish to create a fund in your will or through special charitable trust arrangements that benefit you and your family by providing them with life income while carrying out your charitable intent. All options provide you with maximum tax advantages while helping you invest in the growth of your community.

The primary purpose of a community foundation is to preserve and protect donors’ investments and charitable intentions while still providing as high a return on investment as possible. KRCF is organized to provide permanent investment and grant making protection for each donor’s fund.

There is no minimum amount required to contribute to an existing fund.

Affiliation is the process by which a community or group of individuals can legally become an affiliated fund under the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation’s (KRC) charitable 501(c)(3) status.

Using the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation as a 501(c)(3) affiliated fund and fund manager, communities and nonprofit organizations can establish permanent and non-permanent funds to assist the charitable purposes they designate.

Affiliation with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation gives communities access to and all the privileges of a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation.

Affiliation under the umbrella of the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation’s 501(c)(3) status gives communities a vehicle through which donors can make tax deductible gifts.

Affiliation allows you to avoid the process and cost of incorporating your own 501(c)(3) charitable corporation.

Affiliated members receive the benefits of technical assistance and training from Kansas Rural Communities Foundation staff.

The Kansas Rural Communities Foundation exists to help concerned individuals mobilize charitable giving to support the betterment of Kansas Rural communities and organizations. To this end, the Foundation assists many communities in rural Kansas to provide or continue essential services, such as health care, telecommunications, K-12 education, environmental protection, libraries, community centers, parks/recreation, and scholarships. The following is a summary of some of the benefits communities and organizations receive by affiliating with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation.
Nonprofit 501(c)(3) Status
Fund Management Services
Fund Investment Services

Affiliation with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation is a simple process. If you are interested in establishing an affiliated fund with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation, just contact the Foundation office for more information or to have your questions answered.

The Kansas Rural Communities Foundation (KRCF) has been formed as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to provide services to local charitable organizations and help rural communities mobilize charitable giving.

The purpose of the KRCF is to help communities and individuals strengthen and sustain charitable giving at the local level in order to build funds and endowments that will assist local civic institutions and create a new source of opportunity capital for community economic development.

Any individual or group may establish a fund or endowment. Individuals who want to set up their own donor advised funds will be able to do so. As long as its use falls within IRS guidelines, the community, group, or individual who establishes the endowment will determine how that money is to be used.

Anyone can make a tax-deductible contribution to any fund within the KRCF and receive the full tax benefit of giving to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. As part of its services, KRCF will automatically issue receipts and tax information to the giver(s). Checks may be made out to the designated fund in care of the KRCF.

KRCF will provide all record keeping responsibilities for affiliated funds and complete any necessary tax-related duties. KRCF will be responsible for issuing donation receipts, developing fund agreements, investment management, fundraising consultations, training, and (when necessary) distribution of marketing materials.

The Trust Company of Manhattan professionally “manages” the endowed fund money within the KRCF, and there is an emphasis on getting a maximum return on investment for endowed funds. Generally, money will be invested in securities, bonds, and CDs. Funds that are not endowed may be invested only in shorter term investments that preserve capital.

No. Once enough money has been raised to fund the operation of the organization, the KRCF will only work within those communities to solicit money for each community’s endowed fund.

That depends upon how the fund is set up. Endowed funds will exist in perpetuity and annually grant back a portion of the money earned on the investment. The remainder will be put back into the endowment so it will continue to grow. Other funds may be set up to allow communities immediate or periodic access to the money deposited.

It’s called “Simple Math.”

**$1 raised locally
+ $4 often available from outside sources

Example 1: A community decides to raise money for a new community building that will cost $200,000. Without a foundation, the project needs to collect all $200,000 from local donations and fund raisers. If this project was run through the foundation, the project raises roughly $50,000 locally and can now seek grants from regional and national foundations to raise the remaining balance of $150,000.

Example 2: Without a foundation, if Jane Doe gave $500 toward the new community building, she would not be able to claim that $500 as a charitable contribution on her income tax. If this fundraising project was established through the foundation, her entire contribution would be fully deductible as a charitable expense.

1. The project is completed much faster.
2. The project has just brought $150,000 into the area from outside sources allowing the **wealth of the community to spread.
3. All donors can claim their full contribution as a charitable deduction for tax purposes.

You would need a minimum of $1,000 to establish a special purpose/pass through fund, plus the $100 administrative fee. You would need a minimum of $5,000 to establish an endowment fund, plus the $100 administrative fee.

The IRS has determined that organizing or sponsoring these efforts can be a charitable activity so long as the benefit to the public is demonstrable – and the benefit to any private interests is minimal or insignificant in comparison with the benefits realized by the public. Once renovated, if the structure is going to be used mainly for a public or educational purpose, (e.g. as a museum), then this will be a project for which you can accept contributions. You must also investigate the benefit of this project to the private owner. If it is more than incidental, then it can raise flags with the IRS. Again, if the building will be used primarily for a public purpose, this can be done. Also, restoring/preserving sites on the national historic register is considered a charitable activity, even though privately owned, but again the public benefit must far outweigh any benefit to the private owner.