About the Fayetteville Community Foundation

In 2004, a group of residents in northwest Arkansas formed the Fayetteville Community Foundation to encourage philanthropy by creating opportunities for nonprofits, corporations and individuals to protect and invest in the people and causes that they loved. The initial funding for this effort came from generous individuals, families, corporations and foundations in our area. We will forever be grateful to this group of Founders’ Circle members.

Our mission is to serve as a steward for a wide variety of funds and work with advisors to those funds to nourish their growth so that these types of gifts will endure forever in giving back to the unique community of Fayetteville and the surrounding area.

Almost every single person has a passion or a cause that they want to support in our growing community. At the Fayetteville Community Foundation, we can help advise you on key community issues and define not only where your dollars can be best utilized, but also how they can best be invested.

Like all community foundations (over 700 nationwide), the Fayetteville Community Foundation is overseen by a volunteer board of leading citizens and run by professionals with expertise in knowing the community's needs. The Foundation goes beyond simply making grants that advance charitable activities. It strives to identify current and emerging issues, stimulate resources to address those needs, and help our region prepare for the future.

Giving to and through The Fayetteville Community Foundation is a one-stop, easy way to be philanthropic. The foundation is a tax-exempt, public charity that allows people to support emerging community needs or to establish a separate fund within the confines of a larger foundation. Donor’s funds are pooled with other Foundation funds and managed professionally. Grants are awarded from the funds to support charitable needs, in accordance with the donor’s interests. Donors who work with the foundation find that we add value through our flexibility, expertise about the community, staff and administrative assistance.

A donor can create a fund now, or establish it in a will or a living trust, or create it through a charitable trust arrangement that benefits the donor’s family as well as charity. Tax deductions are earned at the time of the gift, while grants awarded from the fund will continue into the future.

Donors can make gifts to establish their own named fund through FCF. There are a variety of fund options:

Community Fund
When you establish an unrestricted Community Fund, your gift addresses a broad range of local needs — including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. Many people find this is a fitting way to pay tribute to a loved one by naming the fund in their honor. We evaluate all aspects of community well-being: from arts and culture to economic development, and more. The flexibility of your unrestricted gift enables the Community Foundation to respond to the community’s most pressing needs, today and tomorrow.
Donor Advised Funds
Donor Advised Funds provide maximum convenience and flexibility, operating much like your own personal or family foundation. You select a fund name and then get to enjoy making grants to organizations committed to the causes you care about. You can also involve your children and grandchildren, to share in a family tradition of giving. Donor advised funds are particularly useful for donors who need to contribute in a particular year for tax purposes, but who want to spread the charitable giving over several years.
Field of Interest Funds
This type of fund allows you to support an area of charitable interest, defined broadly (such as education) or narrowly (such as advanced vocal music training). You also can select a defined geographic area or specific community to benefit from your named fund. You can stay involved, appoint an advisory committee or leave the work to the Foundation staff. It's your choice.
Corporate Advised Funds
Operating much like a donor advised fund, with a corporate advised fund, your company recommends grants to charitable causes, while we handle the due diligence, issue the checks and provide quarterly reports on your charitable giving.
Designated Funds
These funds are created to ensure that support will be provided to one or more specific charitable organizations named by you. Designated funds are often endowed in perpetuity with the income used to support the organizations on an on-going basis. The Community Foundation ensures that disbursements are made to appropriate charitable agencies as specified in the establishing fund document. If an agency stops functioning as an exempt charity or ceases to exist, the Foundation's Board may select an alternative charity as indicated in the fund document.
Non-Profit Agency Endowed Funds
An organization endowment fund holds assets for a charitable organization and generally distributes investment income to the organization on an annual basis. Through economies of scale, organizations benefit from the Community Foundation's investment portfolio diversification and low investment fees.
Endowed Scholarship Funds
Scholarship Funds allow you to support students at an institution (high school, college, technical), students in a particular field of study, or students from a particular geographic area. The Community Foundation handles the necessary paperwork and ensures that scholarships are distributed in an equitable manner.
The FCF makes it easy for you to be a philanthropist. There's very little red tape. Usually, a simple two-page document is all that is needed to establish a fund.

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