The Story County Community Foundation manages an unrestricted endowment fund which is a permanent fund that will grow and benefit Story County forever. Each year, the board decides how 5% of this fund will be granted to meet needs in the community. As this fund grows, so will the assistance that we are able to provide in Story County.
What is an Endowment?
When you create a charitable fund through the Story County Community Foundation, you have the opportunity to benefit Story County communities and organizations forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your endowed fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Earnings from your current and future gifts to the fund provide a permanent source of community capital, helping do good work today and in the future.
Legacy and Stability — Donors who endow their funds make a difference in Story County during their lifetime and, at the same time, provide a gift that lasts forever. Grants continue to be made in the name of the fund you establish so that your charitable wishes are preserved.
Expert help — When donors or nonprofit organizations work through the SCCF to achieve their charitable goals, they benefit from the expertise of experienced staff of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, knowledgeable community leaders, and skilled investment managers.
Leaders of local nonprofit organizations also look to the SCCF to hold their organizations’ endowments. They know having a constant source of funding helps them in responding to emergency needs as well as planing for the future and sustaining the good work they do.
The Power of Endowment
A half century ago, Paul Cesarz made a choice that continues to benefit his community today. He created an endowed fund in 1952 with $150,000 in assets. The fund immediately began earning income and distributing grants to causes important to him. Fifty years later and 35 years after Paul’s death, the Cesarz Fund had grown to $1,066,003. And in that 50th year, it generated more than $50,000 in grants, supporting a range of community needs — a park renovation, a museum exhibit, cancer research, and more. Because Paul chose to endow his gift, he has enabled more than $1.1 million in grants to go to his community — almost eight times the impact he would have made by giving the original gift to charity all at once. And though Paul has passed away, the fund in his name will go on supporting his community, leaving a lasting legacy.
Although this is not a Story County story, it is a wonderful example of where we would like our Community Foundation to be in fifty years
The Story County Community Foundation manages an unrestricted endowment fund which is a permanent fund that will grow and benefit Story County forever. Each year, the board decides how 5% of this fund will be granted to meet needs in the community. As this fund grows, so will the assistance that we are able to provide in Story County.