Whether you are thinking about a gift, helping a client plan, applying for a grant, or getting ready for college, you probably have a question or two. We've gathered the ones we hear most often in one place, organized by who is asking, with a link to the page that covers each topic in more detail.
If you don't see your question here, please call or email us. A member of our team will be glad to answer it.
A community foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit that brings together charitable gifts from many people and uses them to make grants and scholarships for one place. It is governed by a volunteer board of community leaders and run by professional staff. The Fond du Lac Area Foundation has been the community foundation for Fond du Lac County since 1975. See What Is a Community Foundation?
The Fond du Lac Area Foundation is a community foundation founded in 1975 and based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. People who care about Fond du Lac County give charitable gifts to the Foundation, we invest those gifts, and we award grants to local nonprofits and scholarships to students. We also proudly serve our affiliate communities of Beaver Dam, Horicon, Oakfield, Ripon, and Waupun. See About the Fond du Lac Area Foundation.
Yes. The Fond du Lac Area Foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit and a public charity, so gifts to a fund at the Foundation are generally tax-deductible in the year they are made. As a community foundation, its main work is making grants to other nonprofits and scholarships to students, and every gift receives a receipt. The Foundation does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your advisor.
Your gift goes to the fund you choose, whether that is a fund you started, a scholarship, a memorial fund, or a fund for one of our affiliate communities. If you don't name a fund, it goes to the Community Fund, the Foundation's general fund for Fond du Lac County. Funds are invested, and grants follow each fund's purpose. See Ways to Give and Family of Funds.
The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors of eleven local volunteers who bring experience from business, law, finance, and community life across Fond du Lac County. The Board oversees every fund at the Foundation and votes on grant awards after the Grant Committee and the Executive Director review each application. Current members and officers are listed on Board of Directors.
The Foundation is accredited under National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations. Its finances are reviewed in an annual audit, its funds are invested in accordance with the Foundation's investment policy, and its Board of Directors oversees every fund. Audited financials, governance policies, and information about the administrative fee are published on Accountability and Financials.
The Foundation serves the affiliate communities of Beaver Dam, Horicon, Oakfield, Ripon, and Waupun. The Beaver Dam Area Community Foundation is a regional affiliate, a community foundation operating under our umbrella. The Oakfield Community Foundation, the Horicon Family of Funds, the Ripon Community Fund, and the Waupun Community Fund are funds within the Foundation that support their own communities, guided by local volunteers. See Affiliates and Supporting Organizations.
You can give online through our secure giving page, mail or drop off a check at 1020 S. Main Street, Suite E, Fond du Lac, or transfer appreciated stock. Name the fund you would like to support, or leave it blank and your gift goes to the Community Fund for Fond du Lac County. Every gift receives a tax receipt. See Donate.
Giving through a community foundation connects your generosity with local knowledge and long-term stewardship. Our staff work with nonprofits and community leaders throughout Fond du Lac County, grant decisions are guided by people who live and work here, and we handle the investing, record-keeping, tax receipts, and acknowledgment letters. You decide what your giving supports. See Why Give Through a Community Foundation.
We'll help you identify your charitable goals, choose the right fund type, complete a straightforward fund agreement, and make your initial gift. Many donors involve their attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, but it is not required. Once your first gift arrives, the fund is open, and we handle the investing, record-keeping, and acknowledgment letters from there. See How to Start a Charitable Fund.
Minimum fund levels vary depending on the type of fund you establish, but most funds can be started with as little as $1,000. Many funds grow over time through additional gifts from the donor, family, and friends, or through a future estate gift. A gift of any size is welcome to an existing fund or to the Community Fund.
The Foundation offers six types of funds: unrestricted, field of interest, donor advised, designated, agency, and scholarship funds. They differ mainly in who advises the grants, from the Foundation's Board of Directors to you and your successor advisors. Any fund can be endowed, to last permanently, or non-endowed, to be granted on your timeline. See Types of Funds and Endowed and Non-Endowed Funds.
A donor advised fund is a charitable fund you give to now and grant from over time. You make a gift, generally take the tax deduction that year, and then recommend grants to the nonprofits you choose. The Foundation invests the fund, verifies each recipient, sends the grants, and keeps the records, and our team can share what we know about organizations across Fond du Lac County. See Donor Advised Funds.
A gift to an existing fund costs nothing beyond the gift. A fund of your own carries an annual administrative fee, which comes out of what the fund earns rather than out of the gift you make. The fee supports investment management, fund accounting, tax receipts, acknowledgment letters, and the annual audit. To request the current fee schedule, please email info@fdlareafoundation.com.
Gifts by check or stock transfer are received by the fund in full. When gifts are made by credit card, processing fees are deducted before the contribution is received by the fund. Donors who wish to maximize the value of their gift may prefer to give by check, stock transfer, or another available method. See Donate.
Contact us with the stock, the number of shares, and the fund you want to support. We provide transfer instructions, your broker moves the shares to the Foundation's account, and the shares are sold on receipt and credited to the fund. A stock gift counts in the year the shares arrive, so please start a year-end gift by December 1. See Gifts of Stock and Appreciated Assets.
If you are 70½ or older, you can make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), a gift sent directly from your IRA custodian to a qualified charity. A QCD can go to a designated, field of interest, scholarship, unrestricted, or agency fund, but not to a donor advised fund. The annual limit is set by the IRS and indexed, so please check IRS.gov for the current figure. See Qualified Charitable Distributions from Your IRA.
Yes. You can leave a bequest in your will or trust, or name a fund at the Foundation as the beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy. A planned gift can create a new fund or add to an existing one, and the details of what it supports can be kept in a fund agreement that is easy to update. See Planned Giving and the Legacy Society.
When your fund is established, you'll create a plan for how it should continue. You may name successor advisors, such as your children or grandchildren, or choose for the fund to continue as an endowed fund that benefits the community or specific organizations. These instructions can be reviewed and updated at any point during your lifetime. See Types of Funds.
Yes. You can give to any fund without your name being published, and a fund of your own can carry a name that does not identify you. You can also ask that grants from your fund go out without your name attached, either grant by grant or as an ongoing preference. You will still receive a receipt for every gift.
The Foundation does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your advisor.
The Fond du Lac Area Foundation values the trusted relationships advisors build with their clients. We work alongside financial advisors, attorneys, and CPAs by providing charitable expertise, fund administration, and local philanthropic knowledge. Advisors remain the primary relationship for their clients, while the Foundation provides the stewardship and support that help bring charitable goals to life. See For Professional Advisors.
A fund at the Foundation can be particularly valuable for clients who want to support Fond du Lac County or one of our affiliate communities, establish a permanent charitable legacy, create a scholarship fund, or benefit from local philanthropic expertise and community knowledge. In some cases, the donor advised fund you already offer may be a better fit, and we are happy to have that conversation openly.
The Foundation accepts cash and checks, publicly traded securities transferred in kind, qualified charitable distributions from IRAs for clients 70½ or older, bequests, and beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance. The Foundation can also serve as the charitable beneficiary of a charitable remainder trust. We encourage advisors to review our gift acceptance guidelines early in the planning process. See Charitable Planning for Your Clients.
Please reach out as early as you can. Securities transfers take about two weeks when the client's advisor is at another firm, and longer over the holidays, so we recommend starting them by December 1. QCD timing depends on the IRA custodian. The Foundation does not provide tax or legal advice, and the client's own advisors should confirm the tax treatment. See Gifts of Stock and Appreciated Assets.
Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status and an EIN from the IRS can apply when the program serves Fond du Lac County or one of our affiliate communities: Beaver Dam, Horicon, Oakfield, Ripon, or Waupun. Individuals and families cannot apply. If you're unsure whether your organization qualifies, we can help you find out before you begin an application. See Are We Eligible?
All grant applications must be submitted through our online grant portal. Register your organization once, choose the open grant, and complete the form. You will need your 501(c)(3) determination and EIN, a project description of about 450 words, a program budget, and your board list. If you have portal questions, please email info@fdlareafoundation.com. See Apply for a Grant.
Regular grant cycles are typically open for one month, and cycle dates are posted on Apply for a Grant as each cycle is set. Fondy 100 Gives is different: its application stays open all year, and applicants are drawn to present at each quarterly meeting. Grant sizes and what each grant covers are on Types of Grants. See Fondy 100 Gives.
Grants cannot be awarded to individuals or families, to lobbying, referendum campaigns, or partisan political work, or for travel. Grants also do not cover an organization's accumulated deficit or retire its debt, and they do not fund religious mission work, though a church-run program that serves the whole community can qualify. If you're not sure where your project falls, please ask us. See What We Don't Fund.
Our Grant Committee and the Executive Director read every application and prepare a one-page summary of each request for the Board of Directors, and the Board votes on the awards. If this is your first application, the Executive Director will reach out to learn about your organization before the request reaches the Board. See How Your Application Is Reviewed.
Yes. The Board votes fresh every cycle, and a past decision predicts nothing about the next one. Each cycle brings many worthy requests, often more than the funding available, and a funding decision is never a reflection on an organization's value or impact. We encourage you to review the common reasons for a decline on Apply for a Grant and apply again.
Yes. A school applies with its own charitable status and EIN. A parent-teacher organization or an auxiliary applies under the school's umbrella, using the school's status, and we ask that the principal or board president knows the application is going in. For Fondy 100 Gives, a school that wins waits three years before applying to that program again. See Are We Eligible?
Yes. Once the funded program has run, nonprofits must complete an evaluation form describing how the grant was used and how it positively impacted the community. Our grants staff include the link with the letter that accompanies your grant check. The grant evaluation is a required step to be eligible for future grant opportunities. See After Your Grant.
Yes. A 501(c)(3) organization can open an agency fund at the Foundation with its own assets. We invest and administer the fund alongside the other charitable funds we hold for Fond du Lac County, and every distribution goes back to your organization. Your board chooses whether the fund is endowed or non-endowed. See Funds for Nonprofit Organizations.
Degree-seeking students from Fond du Lac County and our affiliate communities can apply, including graduating high school seniors, current college students, and adults enrolling in college or returning to school. Most scholarships have criteria set by the donor who established them, such as a particular high school, a field of study, financial need, academic performance, or community involvement. See Scholarships.
Start by creating a student account in our scholarship portal. If you created an account last year, it is still active, so sign in with the same login. You complete one common application, and it is matched with the scholarships whose criteria you meet. You can save your application and return to it later. See How to Apply for a Scholarship.
Graduating high school seniors must complete the common application by March 31, and current college students by April 15. The portal closes at 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date, one minute before midnight, so plan to submit earlier in the day. Please check the portal for this year's dates. Late or incomplete applications cannot be considered. See How to Apply for a Scholarship.
Scholarships can be used for qualified educational expenses at an accredited college, university, technical, vocational, or trade school. That includes tuition and required fees, and in some cases room and board or books. Awards cannot be used for costs such as parking, season tickets, late fees, or other expenses not related to school. Award amounts vary by scholarship. See Scholarships.
Some are. A renewable scholarship continues for up to four years of college, or until graduation, whichever comes first, as long as the student meets the renewal criteria. Other scholarships are one-time awards. Your scholarship communications will tell you which kind you received. See Scholarship Directory for the scholarships available.
In most cases, scholarship checks are made payable to the recipient's school and sent directly to the school, once the student has submitted the required information. Checks are typically mailed in late summer. If you have a question about your award, please contact our team. See Scholarships.
We're here to help, whether your question is about a gift, a grant, a scholarship, or a client's charitable plan. Tell us what you are working on, and we will connect you with the right person on our team.
