The Polk County Community Foundation welcomes your questions about gifts and bequests and the establishment of new funds.

Our donors are encouraged to consult with their attorneys, accountants and other financial, legal, and tax advisors. We have additional printed information about fund minimums, investment options and fees. Please contact our President & CEO, Sara Bell, for more information about tailoring a fund to suit your needs.

Cash

This is one way of supporting the work of the Foundation. Checks may be made payable to the Polk County Community Foundation.

Securities (Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds)

Gifts of appreciated securities may provide important tax advantages. The Foundation has accounts with many local brokers so it can receive stock and bond transfers quickly. Also, the Foundation has some low and no commission arrangements with local and national brokerage firms.

Bequests

There are many ways to remember the Polk County Community Foundation in your will. The Community Foundation may be named as the residuary beneficiary of your estate, or as the recipient of a specified gift or contingent bequest. Your will or trust may establish a fund named after you to achieve your charitable goals. We can establish a fund for you now that will be funded later by a provision in your will.

Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT)

If you establish a CRT, you will receive an immediate tax deduction and income payable to you or other named beneficiaries over your lifetime. Charitable remainder unitrusts provide payments to you which vary according to the market value of the trust assets. Charitable remainder annuity trusts provide fixed payments to you. After your death, the assets are distributed for the charitable purposes you specified in your trust agreement. We offer trustee services for charitable remainder trusts which means that we will administer the trust during your lifetime. We employ a professional investment advisor to manage the assets when we are named as the trustee. You may name Polk County Community Foundation as the charitable beneficiary of your trust regardless of who administers the trust.

Retirement Plan Assets

If you have retirement plan assets in an IRA, 401(k), or similar plan, you may want to name Polk County Community Foundation as a secondary beneficiary or the primary beneficiary if your spouse predeceases you. You do this by changing your retirement plan Beneficiary Designation Form, not by your will. Your tax advisor can help you review the unfavorable tax treatment of these assets at the death of the owner and determine if these assets are best used to achieve your charitable goals.

Life Insurance

Polk County Community Foundation may be named as the owner and beneficiary of a previously existing or new life insurance policy.

Private Foundations' Assets

Private foundations may find it desirable to transfer assets to Polk County Community Foundation to eliminate the burdens and costs of administering a separate entity and to take advantage of the more favorable tax treatment given to public community foundations. You may establish a significant fund within the Community Foundation which retains the name and purposes of the transferring foundation.

Supporting Organization

You may use the resources of your community foundation to help you establish a separate grantmaking organization that is closely linked to the Polk County Community Foundation. For example, The Marjorie M. & Lawrence R. Bradley Endowment Fund of Polk County, North Carolina is a supporting organization which has its own Board of Directors.

Please contact Sara Bell, our President & CEO, for additional information about philanthropic opportunities. Our office is open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and Fridays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. We may be reached at 828-859-5314 or by email at foundation@polkccf.org.