Power of endowment

Give a gift that benefits the community forever

When you create a fund through Placer Community Foundation, your gift can benefit the community forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift is a permanent source of community support, helping do good work today and in the future.

One gift, many generations

Consider how an endowment gift can grow. If you make a $100,000 gift this year, 15 years from now, the fund you establish will have a balance of $158,000 and will have distributed more than your initial gift amount in grants. In 25 years, your initial gift amount will have been given away twice. And by year 50, your fund will have a balance of $455,000 and will have made cumulative grants of $627,000—a philanthropic rate of return of nearly 1,000 percent in grants and growth. This example assumes a 5 percent annual payout and an 8.5 percent rate of return.

Legacy and stability

Donors who endow their gifts make a difference in their community during their lifetimes and provide a gift that lasts forever. Grants will continue to be made in the name of the fund you establish so that your charitable wishes are preserved, even if an organization receiving grants ceases to exist in the future.

Nonprofit leaders may also look to the Foundation to hold their organizations' endowments because they know that having a constant source of funding helps them respond to emergency needs as well as plan for the future and sustain the good work they do. Protect American River Canyon, a group with 30 years of environmental activism and experience in Placer County, established the PARC Endowment Fund at Placer Community Foundation in 2008. All gifts to this fund will be endowed in perpetuity and invested for growth, allow PARC to protect the American River and its canyons for generations to come.

Expert help

When donors or nonprofit organizations work through the Foundation to achieve their charitable goals, they benefit from the expertise of experienced local staff, community leadership, and investment management.

Considering an endowment gift? Contact us. We can calculate your gift's potential over time and discuss your preferences.

Lasting value