Trinidad Community Foundation

Often, people establish a private family foundation because they don't know that in many cases, working through a community foundation offers an easier alternative. In addition to the tax benefits listed below, setting up a fund through the Trinidad Community Foundation has a short turn-around time. Additionally, the staff of the foundation becomes available to help with grants (including facilitating work with families), screen applications and take care of auditing and financial reporting requirements. Many community foundation donors are also pleased by the fact that community foundations have none of the annual payout requirements of a family foundation.

Community foundations combine the tax advantages of a public charity with the lasting quality of a private foundation. Gifts of cash to a community foundation are deductible up to 50% of adjusted gross income versus 30% for a private foundation. Gifts of appreciated long-term capital gain property can be credited for 30% versus 20% for a private foundation. There is no excise tax on community foundations as there can be on private foundations.

Some have described the differences by suggesting the United Way is more like the community's check book, raising and distributing money annually, while a community foundation is more like a savings account, making grants from long-term funds in perpetuity. An additional difference is the Trinidad Community Foundation's scope of funding is broader than the United Way's focus on health and human services.

Applicants use the Trinidad Community Fund Grant application, which can be requested by calling the Foundation offices at 719 846-3943.There are several grant cycles and each has deadlines for application. Foundation staff reviews applications and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors and Founding Board give final approval for all grant awards.

Community foundations offer a variety of options for making donations. By combining your resources with those of others who share your interests, you can maximize the impact of modest contributions with minimal administrative costs.

Donations to the Trinidad Community Foundation offer a number of important financial benefits to donors. The Community Foundation manages several unrestricted and discretionary funds; therefore, administrative costs and service fees for any one fund are minimized. This means less overhead cost to a donor's fund. Another important advantage is that the Federal tax code provides significant incentives for contributions to a community foundation.

The Trinidad Community Foundation has a number of different types of funds to accommodate every donor. Each provides different benefits to the donors and the recipients. Through your choice of funds, you select your desired level of involvement in the grantmaking process.

Donor Advised Fund. Donors who want a more active role in grantmaking can establish a Donor Advised Fund. This allows you to recommend charitable organizations to receive grants from your fund. The Trinidad Community Foundation helps you by verifying the charitable status and mission of the organizations and identifying organizations you may want to support. Other family members can also be named as advisors, thereby encouraging children and grandchildren to carry on family philanthropy. Donor Advised funds are a more efficient and easy vehicle for family philanthropy than private foundations.

Donor Restricted Fund. Donors with strong ties to a particular organization or institution may want to establish a restricted fund. With a Restricted Fund, you designate a charitable organization that your fund will support during and beyond your lifetime. The Foundation actively monitors all its grantees. If the beneficiary organization ceases to exist, loses its tax-exempt status or changes its mission, your gift is redirected to support an organization with a similar mission.

Field of Interest Fund. Donors who feel strongly about a particular cause but do not wish to take an active role in grantmaking may want to establish a Field of Interest Fund. This type of fund allows you to identify and support a category of interest (i.e. the arts, the environment, kids at risk, etc.) that you feel passionate about supporting. TCF staff will identify appropriate organizations working in your field of interest to support.

General Community/Unrestricted Fund. An unrestricted gift of any size to the Trinidad Community Foundation helps meet changing needs in our community, now and in the future. Grants are made to qualified organizations seeking funding through a competitive grants process. Trinidad Community Foundation funds support education, health and wellness, recreation, historic preservation and communication.

Special Project Fund. From time to time, the TCF or donors may establish pass-through or project funds to support the work of an organization without charitable status. These funds are generally not permanent, and are established for a defined purpose.

A governing board of directors comprised of individuals who are representative of Las Animas County provide leadership and direction for the Foundation.

Trinidad Community Foundation donors are people with a strong sense of community and personal commitment; they value their communities and want to make a positive and lasting contribution to those communities. Some donors want to support worthwhile causes in their communities, and the Trinidad Community Foundation, which offers considerable expertise and familiarity with the community, can help them find the best way to commit their funds. Other donors appreciate the speed, flexibility, and ease of using the Trinidad Community Foundation. Because the legal apparatus is already in place, existing forms are available so that a fund can be established, including obtaining all applicable tax advantages, in a very short time.

Donors to community foundations range from people of relatively modest means to those with large financial resources. By establishing a fund or donating to an existing fund within a community foundation, donors can contribute their gifts of cash and appreciated property toward a variety of causes. Donors may also participate in planned giving and may include the Trinidad Community Foundation in their estate plans or other planned gifts.