The needs of our community are continually changing and to respond effectively to grant applications, or pressing community needs, the Foundation encourages gifts that are, at least in part, “undesignated” and can be applied to a “community” fund. This allows the Foundation future discretion to support community projects that may emerge as priorities or be identified by charitable agencies.

The decisions about beneficiaries are made by the Foundation Board after reviewing the recommendations of its Grants Committee. This Committee seeks grant applications from a wide variety of local charitable organizations and assesses them all based on merit.

By establishing a designated fund, donors can specify which particular charity or charities they would like to support in perpetuity.

A designated fund may also be created by a registered charity. This would allow the charity freedom from investment responsibility and gives their donors the confidence of knowing that a permanent foundation is in place to professionally administer the charity’s endowment.

Donor advised funds enable a donor to have ongoing participation in the selection of charities that will benefit from their gift. Donors may prefer this type of fund instead of creating a family trust or private foundation.

These funds work much like the Community Fund, except that the donors will identify an area of interest that they would like to target for their support (eg. environment, youth, relief of poverty, education, etc.). The donor empowers the Foundation’s Grants Committee and staff to select worthwhile projects to support.

Some donors wish to endow a scholarship or bursary and choose to rely on the academic institution to recommend the beneficiary each year. A designated scholarship or bursary fund might be the most appropriate for them.

Many donors understand that one of the best ways to help the Foundation achieve its mission is by helping to defray the costs of running the Fundy Community Foundation on a day-to-day basis