CUSTOMIZING YOUR FUND
We can help you to transform your giving and create the kind of impact you want.
We understand that every donor’s experience is unique. Some of you want to take a deep dive into philanthropy with your family and are seeking a highly participatory experience. Perhaps you are looking to the future and are interested in understanding how you can leave a legacy. Or maybe you are facing a significant financial event and need to understand the tax implications of different and more complex gifts.
Whether you’re considering a donor-advised fund to start your charitable giving now, or you’re planning for the future, we have flexible fund options that can help you make maximum impact. We’ve listed a few of the fund options for you below.
1. DONOR ADVISED FUND
This is our most popular fund offering because of the flexibility it provides. Each year you can choose to support your favourite registered Canadian charities or any of the Foundation’s charitable causes. Interested in a Give Where You Live Gift? Our volunteer Community Grants Committee evaluates local grant applications annually on your behalf, ensuring your granting dollars will have the most impact. Donor Advised Funds are a lower cost, lower administrative option to a private foundation.
“I have been studying community foundations for about 30 years. One important conclusion I have drawn is that they know or can find out the needs of a community to an extent that private individuals or small private foundations simply cannot do. My wife and I shut down our family foundation about 3 years ago, and then, among other things, we put $5 million into an endowment fund in the West Vancouver Foundation. I have been monitoring the West Vancouver Foundation for about 10 years and I am very pleased that it has now become a substantial, thoughtful and energetic enterprise with proven leadership.”
2. COMMUNITY FUND
The Caring Community Fund is our community granting fund, grown with the generosity of caring individuals and families who support the long-term vitality of our community. The Fund supports programs that align with our Vital Signs research, that strengthen the quality of life in the region.
We want to thank those who have established a named Fund, within our Community Fund, to support The Foundation’s community building.
“When we moved to Canada, we talked as a family about our new philanthropic goals. Our current goals include the environment, supporting girls, and education. Many of these impact areas line up with the Foundation’s areas of impact so it made sense for us to open a named Family Fund within the Community Fund and give back to the local community that way.”
3. BEQUEST FUND
Create a Fund today and fund it through your estate, when that time comes. It’s a way of ensuring the causes you care about are supported beyond your lifetime. In addition, you can change the charities you want the Fund to support at anytime without having to update your Will.
4. IN MEMORIAM
Donors who wish to set up a fund in honour of a loved one can do so quickly and easily through a named fund.
Whether it is a scholarship, hospital, university or a charitable organization with programming in an area that was meaningful to your loved one, the income generated each year on your fund is sent back to the charities. There are several options with these funds including permanent funds which are held and invested by the Foundation in perpetuity. Find out more.