From The President

Here at The Community Foundation we administer various types of charitable endowments, all intended to serve the priorities of those who establish them. Nonprofit organizations can establish an Agency Fund to help support their expenses. A family could establish a Memorial Fund to honor a loved one and carry on a charitable legacy. A corporation could establish a Charitable Savings Account to serve the needs of its community and fulfill its philanthropic goals. And of course, College Scholarships serve to assist generations of students who wish to continue their education. By far the charitable endowment that provides the greatest amount of flexibility for a donor, be it an individual, family, or corporation, is a Donor Advised Fund.

Donor Advised Funds have become incredibly popular over the years by providing donors with vast charitable flexibility without the need to establish and maintain a private foundation. Donors entrust The Community Foundation to act as stewards of their financial contributions while advising us where their charitable grants are to be provided. Our job is to ensure that the grants are provided to appropriate causes and are used correctly. We are not constrained by geography and we in fact provide charitable grants throughout all of the United States as directed by those who have established a Donor Advised Fund.

Some examples of grants from our Donor Advised Funds include supporting Susquehanna County Interfaith for its Christmas Program and assisting cancer patients experiencing financial difficulties, The Tunkhannock Public Library for its services for the community, Camp Archbald for building renovations, Endless Mountains Health Systems for community healthcare expenses, Countryside Conservancy for its land stewardship programs, and various private schools and public school districts in northeastern Pennsylvania. We administer Donor Advised Funds that have provided assistance across the country to food banks in New York City, a public garden in New Jersey, a church in Michigan, and a camp in Arizona for children enduring spina bifida. On an international level our donors have advised us to provide grants to Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief Services and various agencies helping the citizens of Ukraine. From our corner of northeastern Pennsylvania our charitable reach extends far and wide as directed by those who have established our endowments. This tradition will continue for generations to come.

BY PETER QUIGG, COMMUNITY FOUNDATION PRESIDENT