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FAQ – Creating a Fund with CCCF
Frequently Asked Questions – Creating an endowment or scholarship fund with the CCCF.
Is there a minimum commitment to establish a fund with the CCCF? YES, the CCCF Board of Directors requires a minimum commitment of $10,000 to establish a fund.
Are donations to CCCF Funds Tax Deductable? The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is registered with the IRS as a 501c3 organization and with the Commonwealth of PA – Department of State as a Charitable Organization. All donations to the Charitable Foundation or any of the individual funds are tax deductible. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation charges a 1% annual management fee to all funds that covers all services provided and the CCCF Board of Directors reserves the right to modify the fee.
Do I / My Family / My Organization retain ownership of the fund / Can we pull our money out of the fund after it is created? When an endowment or scholarship fund is created with the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, the fund and all of the donations made to the fund are part of the CCCF and the specific fund that is created. The donations and earnings may not be withdrawn by you or your organization at a later date and can only be distributed as designated by you in the Fund Agreement. Endowments will be paid out to the organizations and / or grant programs as described by YOU in the Fund Agreement and Scholarship Awards will be paid out using the criteria YOU set up in Schedule B of the Scholarship Fund Agreement.
Is a CCCF Fund the same as a PRIVATE TRUST? While you may be considering creating a private trust, private trusts ARE NOT tax deductible and there are no assurances how a private trust will be maintained after the founder is no longer around. In comparison, establishing a fund with the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation guarantees the fund will be maintained, promoted and distributed according to your wishes.
Can I set up an Endowment Fund to provide annual funding to a community organization I / My Family wishes to support? A fund can be created as a “Field of Interest” fund with future distributions directed to a specific community asset like a church, cemetery or community organization like the YMCA, Clearfield Community Pool, C.A.S.T., the Reitz Theater, Clearfield County Historical Society and community public libraries among many others. If there is a specific non-traditional entity someone wants to endow to, we would have to research if it is permissible to run thru a 501c3 endowment fund. The CCCF Board does reserve the right to reject any endowment or scholarship fund.
Will the fund I establish be promoted and how can donations be made? The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation provides general ongoing publicity for all funds established with us. These efforts include media releases when appropriate to announce special donations or distributions by a fund to a community project. We maintain a website, www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org that includes the ability to accept ONLINE donations. Every fund has their own DONATE button that directs donors to a secure PAYPAL account for each specific endowment or scholarship fund. We also maintain a Facebook page to publicize the Charitable Foundation and all of our funds. If you or your organization are planning a specific fundraising effort or event, we will post it on the CCCF website, on the CCCF Facebook page and may do a specific press release if the effort / event is substantial enough to warrant a press release.
How specific can I be with the criteria for a Scholarship Fund? Scholarship funds can be created to benefit students from a specific school, community or those going into a specific career area. We also have scholarship funds that award to recipients based on their involvement in specific community organizations. NOTE – there are many specific career areas beneficial to Clearfield County that are lacking scholarships. Also, while there are many scholarships that recognize students who are high achievers in academics and specific areas of athletics, scholarships recognizing mid level academic students who really need the financial help are lacking.
Will I receive ongoing information regarding the fund I establish? Will donors to my fund receive acknowledgment letters they can use for tax deduction purposes? Once your fund is established, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation will maintain regular ongoing correspondence with you and any fund contacts you designate. These regular contacts include financial reports for the fund, notifications of any donations received and reports of disbursements made from the fund. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation will also send acknowledgement letters to all donors that includes information necessary to declare the tax deduction when donations are received for your fund. The CCCF website also posts a list annually of all donors and the funds they donated to (unless the donor requests to remain anonymous).
Financial filings, investment of fund, expected return on investments – ETC Currently all financial / investments are handled by the Trust Department of Mid Penn Bank at the Clearfield office. Funds are typically earning around 4% annually depending on fluctuations in the investment markets. The established policy of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors is to only invest in secure and conservative investments. Using this conservative investment strategy, funds established with the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation have seen safe, steady growth since the Foundation was established in 2004, and have now grown to over $14 million in value. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation also has an annual audit conducted by an independent auditor. All audit reports are placed on the CCCF website at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org and can be viewed by the general public.
Overview of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation: Currently the Charitable Foundation manages over 60 endowment and scholarship funds with a total market value of over $17 million dollars as of January 25th, 2024. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors meets quarterly to make decisions on the operation of the Charitable Foundation and any decisions necessary to a specific endowment or scholarship fund. The Charitable Foundation maintains a main office in Clearfield, a satellite office in DuBois and employs an executive director to oversee the daily operations of the foundation. The Board and the executive director maintain a working relationship with the staff of the Trust Department at Mid Penn Bank who oversees the financial records and investments for the Charitable Foundation. The Charitable Foundation is audited annually by a certified accounting firm.
FAQ – Creating a Fund with CCCF
Frequently Asked Questions – Creating an endowment or scholarship fund with the CCCF.
NOTE – The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation charges a 1% annual management fee to all funds that covers all services provided.
Overview of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation: Currently the Charitable Foundation manages over 60 endowment and scholarship funds with a total market value of over $17 million dollars as of January 25th, 2024. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors meets quarterly to make decisions on the operation of the Charitable Foundation and any decisions necessary to a specific endowment or scholarship fund. The Charitable Foundation maintains a main office in Clearfield, a satellite office in DuBois and employs an executive director to oversee the daily operations of the foundation. The Board and the executive director maintain a working relationship with the staff of the Trust Department at Mid Penn Bank who oversees the financial records and investments for the Charitable Foundation. The Charitable Foundation is audited annually by a certified accounting firm.
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