How to Give
We have been Gloucestershire's biggest provider of philanthropic services, to individuals, families, companies and organisations since 1989. We are here to inspire philanthropy, by providing a simplified approach to charitable giving, helping people who are passionate about helping their local community give where it is most needed and where it will make the most impact.
Develop a giving strategy
Every donor is different and we can work with you or your advisors to develop your own giving strategy.
In setting up a fund for your philanthropy, we offer two main options for named funds, endowment funds which are invested for long term giving and revenue funds which can be used for immediate grant- making.
A named fund allows you to give in a straightforward, meaningful and rewarding way that suits your wishes and means. It is like having a charitable trust but without the administrative and regulatory burdens. You benefit from our community knowledge and philanthropy advice and, if you wish, the opportunity to meet like-minded others.
A fund can be totally anonymous, or you can set it up in the name of your family, business or charity. If you keep growing a fund, you can also nominate successors to work with us when you are no longer able or willing to be involved.
All funds contribute to the charitable costs of our philanthropy, funding and leadership work, meaning we can continue growing to serve the needs of our communities even better in future.
Three Main Fund Choices
There are three main choices to make when setting up a named fund, and we can advise on which options will best suit your wishes and means.
Do you want a fund to be forever or for now? If it’s forever, set up an endowment fund: we invest your gift as capital, with the return used to support charitable activities every year in perpetuity. If it’s for now, set up an annual fund: we apply your gift as revenue to support charitable activities in the year ahead. We can also look to combine elements of an endowment and annual fund for you.
Do you want to help specific causes in an area or be flexible? You can specify the charities, causes or communities you want to benefit from, or you can be open to a wide range. In all cases, we will research and match suitable requests for support to a fund.
Do you want to be hands-on or arm’s length? You can recommend which matching requests should get funded, or you can ask us to select them in line with your wishes. Alternatively, you can allow us complete discretion to fund the things that most need support at any time.
Further details on how to give below.
MOST POPULAR FUNDS
Community Foundations are specialists in endowed funds, building an asset for the long-term benefit of the local community. Our endowment is made up of multiple funds, set up by people who care about their community and who want to support causes locally. Funds are invested and returns used for grant-making year after year. Endowed funds are great if you want to:
- Make a difference over the long term
- Leave a legacy
- Create a fund in memory of a loved one
- Create a corporate fund rather than setting up your own foundation
- Transfer a trust whilst ensuring its name, aims and objectives live on.
For larger funds, you may want greater involvement, so choosing a donor-advised fund means you can be actively involved choosing the causes to support. You can be hand-on or hands-off as you’d like to be, from projects visits to groups to simply reviewing applications on line.
Donor advised funds can be flow-through or invested for the long term. We work closely with you to understand what you want to achieve and tailor your fund and our relationship to meet your needs.
Funds can be set up as “flow through funds” and used for immediate benefit, with grants awarded straight away, usually within the year, making an immediate impact for the local community. Flow-through funds can be one -off or regular gifts.
From time to time we have access to match funding which enables you to increase the size of your fund, by attracting additional funds from another source (for example national and local government or another major funder). This is a fantastic way to grow your fund, increase your impact or leverage more money for a specific cause or area.
Setting up something as important as a legacy can be daunting. It is a privilege to work with people who want to be sure their charitable giving goes beyond their lifetime. We can help you deal with all the sensitivities of deciding how to best make a difference.
By naming the foundation as a beneficiary in your will with no restrictions, you will give us the maximum flexibility to support important causes and respond to ever changing needs in our county.
You can create a named fund to ensure your name lives on, you can also allow your family to have an input on how its funds are distributed. Which ever route you choose, we will help you manage your legacy, giving you the confidence that the money you leave will always be used wisely.
We also welcome gifts form donors who wish to make one-off or regular gifts. You can contribute to the main grants pot, support one or more named charities, or make an entirely unrestricted gift.
You can transfer an existing charitable trust to Gloucestershire Community Foundation. We will ensure that grants are distributed in the spirit of the trusts original objectives, both now and in the future. The Community Foundation is able to assume management of charitable trusts that benefit the people of Gloucestershire.
Trusts can be recreated as a new Named Fund, with the same name as the former Charitable Trust. The objects of the trust can be retained or amended and if any of the Trustees wish to remain involved they can often do so as an advisory panel.
We take on all responsibilities of investment, administration and compliance with Charity Law. All applications for funding will be thoroughly assessed by our grants team and ratified by the board of Trustees, ensuring that good quality grants are made regularly from the fund, now and in the future.
We have expertise and experience in receiving donations of shares , land or buildings. Speak to the CEO Talitha Nelson about how we can help.
Every company we work with has access to our extensive local knowledge, advice on how to structure their CSR programmes and which initiatives will work for them and which wont. We work with a number of businesses ranging from SME’s, professional advisors, to some of the regions largest corporates.
During our long standing relationships, many of our corporate donors have helped us by providing interesting venues for meetings and events, recommending us to their peers and sponsoring our events and activities.
We have a Community Investor Fund so businesses can financially support the community where they work, safe in the knowledge that GCF has the local expertise to maximise the funds and the impact that they make in Gloucestershire.
We connect people with Communities
Our foundation is made up of both short-term (annual) and long-term (endowment) funds. Over the past 2 years, we have distributed over £2,200,000 to over 340 organisations in Gloucestershire. We have a robust process and undertake stringent due diligence checks on all grant applicants to ensure your money is accounted for.
2,200,000
Awards Granted
340
Local Groups & Projects
184,000
Individuals Supports
