The
history of our nation reveals the enormous impact of individual initiative in building
communities, regions, and the country. This initiative is responsible developing
some of the great corporations, businesses and enterprises that have made our nation so
great. Once a national economic base was established focus was then directed to
providing for a wide range of activites that would benefit the communities served by these
individuals, corporations and businesses.
In 1914 the first community foundation was formed in
Cleveland, Ohio. Today, nearly 1,000 community foundations are scattered throughout
the United States meeting the needs of the community as well as those of the donors.
Designed to capture the characteristics of a private
foundation yet provide greater freedom of investment and grant making, the community
foundation affords a donor the opportunity to creat a "foundation" within a
foundation. By establishing a fund in a community foundation the donor has, for all
intents and purposes, created a "foundation" without engaging in the legal
technicalities,IRS reporting procedures and paying unnecessary taxes. The critical
distinction of a community foundation with respect to taxation is that the donor or donors
relinquish the final decisions on grantmaking to an independent board of directors.
By being one step removed from the grant making and investment decisions the donor's tax
responsibility is reduced.
The Beaver County Foundation was
established in 1992 by a group of community minded individuals who value the heritage of
this great community and believe they can make a difference in the lives of the people of
Beaver County and the communities they serve. The commitment of these founding directors
was and still is "to make Beaver County a better place to live, play, work, and
worship for generations to follow." Using the model created by Benjamin
Franklin, "giant oaks from tiny acorns grow" the first fund of less than $30,000
was begun in December of 1992. Today, nearly $400,000 of endowed monies are invested
and provide a nucleus from which to grow. When asked, "What is the Beaver
County Foundation, the answer is simple. It is a community trust designed to
continue to make Beaver County a wonderful place to live, play. work, and worship for the
generations to follow. This is accomplished through the community interst
desires of local citizens using the vehicle of philanthropy.
The Beaver County
Foundation embraces a wide variety of funding mechanisms all aimed at assisting the domor
in his or her planning. They are all designed to enable the donor to do exactly what
he or she wishes. The following is a sample of the types of funding programs
available to donors.
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