Giving

Giving through the Community Foundation to the causes you care about is rewarding for a number of reasons. Your gift creates lasting change in the community and offers generous tax incentives, making it easier for you to give more for less. The Thunder Bay Community Foundation has a number of funds available for donors to consider. Please take some time to explore the useful information below to discover the most appropriate giving option for you. Gifts may be made to these funds by any interested contributor thereby allowing even modest contributions to be combined with others’ gifts for maximum charitable benefit.

Creating a fund (otherwise known as an endowment) is a great way to give back to your community, create a lasting legacy for you and your family and/or honour a loved one. The Thunder Bay Community Foundation gives individual donors, family foundations, businesses and charitable organizations a number of ways to support our community’s well-being. We specialize in building endowment funds, where the capital is not spent and the fund’s earnings support the ever-changing needs of Thunder Bay. We believe that by strengthening the gifts, assets and capacity of individuals and groups, we strengthen our community. We have a number of funds available for our donors to consider!

Field of Interest Funds

Field of Interest Funds allow donors to identify the issues that are important to them in our community and the Foundation’s grant-making team makes effective grants on behalf of the donor.

Donor Advised Funds

Donor Advised Funds give donors the chance to participate in the grant-making process. Working closely with the Foundation’s staff and Board of Directors, donors (and their loved ones as desired) may identify and recommend specific charitable organizations they want to see benefit from their fund. The Donor Advised Fund is considered the easy and cost effective alternative to creating a Private Family Foundation. This fund appeals to existing foundations as they may transfer their assets to the Thunder Bay Community Foundation to achieve higher returns and reduce administrative costs while still remaining involved in allocating grants. Once opened, other donors may contribute to the fund. A Donor Advised Fund can be either endowed (only the interested is disbursed) or non-endowed (the entirety of the fund can be disbursed).

Pictured: Shirley and Jim Symington with Albert Aiello of Boys and Girls Clubs of Thunder Bay.

Scholarships and Bursaries

A Scholarship or Bursary Fund can either be Field of Interest Fund or Donor Advised Fund. Scholarships and bursaries assists promising students, including those challenged by education costs, to pursue education and/or training. A Scholarship and/or Bursary Fund can be either endowed (only the interested is disbursed) or non-endowed (the entirety of the fund can be disbursed).

Pictured: Deborah Kraft, daughter of MO Nelson with the 2018 Shirley H. and Meredith O. Nelson Scholarship recipient Emily Kamphof of Westgate CVI.

Donor Designated Funds

Donor Designated Funds allow donors to name one of more charitable organizations to benefit from the income generated by the fund as listed in the agreement. This allows donors to choose their favorite charities and provide a lasting gift. A Donor Designated Fund can be either endowed (only the interested is disbursed) or non-endowed (the entirety of the fund can be disbursed).

General Fund

The Thunder Bay Community Foundation’s General Fund is an endowed restricted fund made up of gifts of all sizes from individuals, corporations and foundations. Giving Donors create and/or donate to these funds to broaden the legacy of their gifts, allowing the Foundation to respond with the greatest flexibility to our community’s needs and changing priorities. The Thunder Bay Community Foundation General Fund supports the Thunder Bay Community Foundation Grant, which in turn, supports existing programs and services and new and innovative programs or other charitable works in the District of Thunder Bay. Each year the Foundation awards grants to charitable organizations for projects in areas including, but not limited to: arts, heritage, youth, recreation, capital projects, alleviating human suffering, health and welfare and community innovation.

Agency Endowment Fund

Agencies (or donors on behalf of agencies) can establish an Agency Endowment Fund, which allows the charity to receive interest earned on the fund annually (the fund will receive 3.5% of the funds market value as long as the interest earned on the fund is greater than 5%). Donors can designate the charity in their Will and funds will go into this endowment in perpetuity.

Legacy Gift

A legacy gift is a bequest in your Will. Any of the above funds can be established as a part of your estate plan. Existing funds may also be named.

When we receive your donation, it is deposited to our investment account with Mawer. If the donation is cash/cheque, it is sent directly to our account with Mawer. If the donation is a stock transfer, the stocks are sent to our custodial account with Fidelity who then converts the stocks to cash and that cash is invested into our portfolio with Mawer.