The Community Foundation - Rochester Area The Community Foundation

Are You Interested In A Memorial Fund?

Are you interested in establishing a memorial fund or making a gift to remember or honor a loved one, but need more information?

You’ve come to the right place. Our personalized approach to philanthropy, combined with our years of experience with a broad array of funds, ensures that your goals, desires, and values will be carefully considered and implemented through Rochester Area Community Foundation. We are here to help you:

  • Establish a permanent, named fund to provide grants to charitable organizations or scholarships to students in your loved one’s name forever.
  • Give a one-time grant or scholarship in honor or memory of a special person.
  • Contribute to an existing permanent endowment fund at the Community Foundation and have your loved ones’ names forever remembered that way.

The first step is to talk with us. We know this may be a difficult time for you, but we encourage you to help us understand your hopes and dreams so that we can recommend a direction that will reflect them. Our staff has years of experience with more than 1,000 funds, which vary by size and purpose. Suggested here are possibilities for your consideration.

Establish Your Own Permanent Fund. When you establish a permanent fund, it will bear the name you choose, will remain distinct and separate, will be listed in our annual report unless you request otherwise, will be wisely invested and managed, and will make grants or scholarships (usually within our eight-county area) in your loved one’s name forever. We encourage permanent memorial funds to be established with at least $25,000. At that level, you may determine the purpose of the fund and its criteria for recipient selection. “Acorn” memorial funds may be established with an initial gift of $2,500 and the commitment to grow to at least $25,000 within 10 years through annual contributions, fundraisers*, or planned gifts. Until your “acorn” memorial fund reaches $25,000, the dollars generated for charitable activities are pooled with other “acorn” funds and awarded by the Community Foundation in the name of those memorialized. 

For all our permanent funds, the principal is carefully invested in a common pool from which our returns have ranked in the top 5% of community foundations of similar size for the past 5 years.  The annual amount available for grants from permanent funds is 5% of the twenty-quarter average market value of the endowment; the annual administrative fee is 1%. For example, a $25,000 memorial fund will generate about $1,000 a year for grants. The balance of the earnings is retained in the fund so that over time the principal grows. Of course, you can always contribute to the fund to help it grow even faster. Please note that new funds may take a year or more to generate enough income to make any grant or scholarship award, and that a slightly higher fee may be incurred if the fund engages in active fundraising activities involving many individual donors. If an “acorn” fund does not reach $25,000 through gifts and growth within ten years (and if there is no planned gift), its assets will be added to an existing fund, with your loved one’s name remembered forever to grant or scholarship recipients.

Make a One-time Charitable Distribution. If you’re interested in collecting memorial contributions and making a one-time charitable award with the proceeds, we can receive memorial contributions in your loved one’s name, acknowledge individual donors, and pay out the proceeds within a year. Our staff will work with you to ensure that an appropriate recipient (or recipients) is selected. A handling fee of 5% on contributions is charged for these “pass-through” funds.

Make a Gift to Endowment. If you do not wish to establish a separate fund but want your loved one’s name remembered, you may choose to make a contribution of any amount in his or her name to the Community Foundation’s Memorial Endowment Fund or Community Scholarship Endowment Fund. Grants and awards from these funds are selected by the Community Foundation to support important and changing needs of the community and are accompanied by a list of all those who have been honored or memorialized. A contribution to one of these endowments will ensure your loved one’s name is remembered forever. There is no fee for this service.

Still Not Sure What to Do? We understand how stressful this all can be. If none of these options sounds exactly right at this time, we can establish a temporary fund to collect memorial contributions, then consult with you later on the details. 

Give us a call today. We know the importance of memorial funds for loved ones and look forward to working with you.

Dana K. Miller
Vice President, Advancement
Rochester Area Community Foundation
500 East Avenue, Rochester NY 14607
(585) 341-4390 or dmiller@racf.org

*All fundraising activities must follow the Community Foundation’s fundraising guidelines. Copies are available upon request.