DONORS

MAKING YOUR GIFT WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY

If you are interested in making a donation on-line using a credit card to a particular fund or in memory of an individual, please click here.

The Niagara Community Foundation gives individual donors, family foundations, businesses and charitable organizations a number of ways to support our community’s well being. We specialize in building endowment funds, where the capital is not spent, and use the fund’s earnings to support the ever-changing needs and opportunities of Niagara. We believe that by strengthening the gifts, assets and capacity of individuals and groups, we strengthen our community.

We have a number of funds available for our donors to consider. Many of them are open funds. Gifts may be made to these funds by any interested contributor thereby allowing even modest contributions to be joined with others’ gifts for maximum charitable benefit.

The Niagara Fund is comprised of donations from a variety of sources – individuals, corporations and foundations. A donation to this fund gives the Foundation the greatest flexibility. The earnings on this fund enable our Board of Directors to respond to current community needs through the provision of grants to charities throughout the Niagara Region.

Field of Interest Funds work much like our Niagara Fund, except that donors identify a particular area of interest that they would like to target their support. Some examples include the arts, heritage, environment, health, scholarships/bursaries, seniors, children and youth, recreation, relief of poverty, or education. With these funds, you define the area of interest but empower the Foundation’s Grantmaking Committee to select worthwhile projects to support.

A Donor-Advised Fund enables you to have ongoing participation in the selection of charities that will benefit from your gift. Donors may choose this type of fund instead of creating a family trust of private foundation. Existing foundations may transfer their assets to the Niagara Community Foundation to achieve higher returns and reduce administration while still remaining involved in allocating grants.

A Designated Fund gives you the opportunity to specify, at the time the fund is established, which particular charities you would like to support in perpetuity. If unexpectedly, an organization ceases to exist, we can redirect your funds to a similar cause.

Our Local Community Funds enable donors to ensure that their gifts support charities providing programs and services in a particular community. These funds have been established for Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara West (including Grimsby, Lincoln and West Lincoln).

A donation to our Operating Endowment Fund helps to keep the costs of running the Niagara Community Foundation as low as possible. This fund is critical to the ongoing success of our organization.

Charitable Organization Endowment Funds can be created and administered by the Foundation on behalf of registered charities. This allows the organization freedom from investment responsibility and gives donors the confidence of knowing that a permanent foundation is in place to professionally administer the charity’s endowment. Once established, the charity can encourage their donors to contribute to their endowment fund.

Emerging Funds enable donors to establish named family funds with an initial gift of at least $1,000 and a pledge to contribute regularly until the fund reaches one of the levels identified below, at which time annual disbursements will start to be made to charitable causes.

Memorial or Tribute Gifts can be made in any amount at anytime to an existing Fund.

Click here to view information on the different types of gifts we are able to accept.

Our Annual Reports list all of the funds created by our donors. Click here for a link to our annual reports. Our most current one features the most recent list of our endowment funds.

Donate Online
You can make a credit card donation online through the Canada Helps website. Canada Helps allows charities, such as The Niagara Community Foundation, to receive online credit card donations by facilitating the donation process. They provide a safe, secure environment for donors to make a contribution. Once the donation is made online, a tax receipt is generated electronically and emailed to you. Your donation is then sent to The Niagara Community Foundation, less only the administrative fees that Canada Helps is charged by the credit card company for processing.

Clicking on the Donate Now button will redirect you to CanadaHelps.org. You will then be asked to specify name of the fund ito which it should be directed and, for memorial gifts, name the individual in whose memory the gift is made.

Donate by Mail
If you would like to send a cheque, click on the Donor Form to download a simple card that can accompany your cheque [it also has all of our mailing information]. Then just pop it in the mail and we will send you a tax receipt!