Community Conversations - Community Foundation of Dunn County

This month's Community Conversations event at the Menomonie Public Library was presented by Georgina Tegart, the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Dunn County. The presentation covered a lot of ground, including the history of Community Foundations, and how the Community Foundation of Dunn County serves the community and manages funds.

Meeting summary by Lorene Vedder:

On Saturday, February 22, Georgina Tegart, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Dunn County gave a presentation for Community Conversations about local philanthropy.

 

Community foundations started over 100 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio.  A banker developed a plan where individuals could give money, investments and property to benefit their local community.  These assets could be pooled and invested in securities, like a retirement plan, and then dispersed as grants for community projects and scholarships.  Our Dunn County community foundation was started in 1995.  It now has $11 million in assets and was able to distribute $780,000 in grants in 2024. Community foundations are “hyperlocal.”  Distribution of funds of our foundation generally stay in the county.  Some funds benefit select communities within the county.

 

Community foundations allow regular people, not just people of means, to invest in their communities.  The donors may want to create socially productive changes within their communities during their lifetime.  Others want to bequest their money in their wills to help their communities when they pass away.  The endowments are invested and part of the interest from those investment is granted to community projects, local nonprofit organizations, and youth scholarships.  These grants help in our more financially stressful times, during recessions and depressions when money is not readily available.

 

A large taxable event for an individual or family, such as a sale of a family farm, can provide the opportunity to donors to invest in their community rather than pay taxes to the government as estate taxes or capital gains taxes.  In rural communities we can keep this money working locally filling in the needs of the local nonprofits or by developing projects that serve the needs of the communities.  We are able to invest these funds to provide for our communities for “the long haul.”  The distribution of funds can adapt over time as communities change.

 

One type of fund available in our community foundation in Dunn County is called a “designated fund.”  In this kind of fund, organizations are selected to receive grants.  If any of those organization cease to exist, funds are redirected to continue to address the charitable intent of the donors.  If the donors are still living, they are given updates on the impact of their fund.

 

Another type of fine is a “donor advised fund.”  These funds are developed for individuals, families, businesses, or groups who want to be personally involved in suggesting grant awards.  Gifts can be combine with other funds for community projects.  By being an endowment, these funds become a permanent community funding source, also known as “community capital. " The board of our foundation needs to oversee and approve the recommendations of the funders.

 

In our foundation there are “field of interest funds” for causes donors care about in areas of the arts, education, and health.   There are also “nonprofit agency endowment funds” that provide these agencies a permanent source of capital to support their selected organization “forever.”  In those funds the principle is not spent and will grow over time as part the interest gained is also preserved in the fund.  “Scholarship funds” are a permanent funding source for students in our county schools.

 

Funds for endowments can come from Qualified Charitable Distribution from IRA’s belonging to people that are 70 1/2 years old or older.  They can come from life insurance policies.  Individuals can bequest assets and money to endowments in their wills.  If stock has appreciated, it can be given to charity without the tax consequences of capital gains to the owners.  Individual investors can band together as in the Women’s Giving Circle here in Dunn County to pool money so their fund can give grants to the non profits that serve Dunn County women and families.

 

The Community Foundation of Dunn County is a 501 (c) 3 public charity.  As a charitable organization it is closely overseen by the IRS.  Funds are carefully monitored so there is no favoritism in who gets their grants.

 

At the end of the presentation by Georgina, a participant asked about investing in socially responsible funds for protection of the environment and for social justice.  Georgina explained that most funds are invested where there is 8% growth over time.  Most of these socially responsible funds don’t meet that goal.  As her foundation has not been able to build up the amount of Dunn County funds to a level of older foundations, she doesn’t have the option to use those socially responsible funds to support the level needed for our local grants.

 

Contact information for Georgina is 715-232-8019 and [email protected].  The address of the foundation is 800 Wilson Ave, Suite 235, Menomonie, WI.  She encourages us all to “spread the word” about what community foundations offer to build community.

 

Steve Hanson has video taped Georgia’s presentation.  You can view this presentation on eyeondunn.com:    https://eyeondunn.com/community-conversations-community-foundation-dunn-county.   

 

Our next Community Conversations will be Saturday, March 29, and will be a discussion about the book “The Fall of Wisconsin” by Dan Kaufman.  The book is available through our library system.  The meeting will be at the Menomonie Public Library from 12:30 to 2:30 PM.  Feel free to come even if you do not have the chance to read the book.  The Public is welcome to all presentations - bring a friend or family member.

 

Lorene Vedder