There are countless reasons to give, and endless causes to support, but where do you start? Right here — at your statewide community foundation. We help you help others. Let’s get started.
Donors Pete and Chris on OCF's knowledge and expertise on nonprofits
Donors Chuck and his son Stone on family giving
OCF donor Su on both receiving and starting a scholarship
What is a community foundation?
A community foundation is a nonprofit platform for people of all means to make a lasting difference in their communities by supporting causes they care most about. OCF offers donors the opportunity to create their own named charitable funds, providing flexible, efficient, and tax-effective ways to ensure their charitable giving achieves the greatest possible impact, right now and into the future.
Fast donor facts
OCF works with you (and your family if so desired) to create a charitable fund that support the causes and issues chosen by you.
- Whatever your giving style, our flexible, supportive approach helps achieve your charitable goals with a variety of fund types and accepted assets.
- We have regional offices with philanthropic advisors who expertly guide you through the process. Your local OCF team will continue to support your giving.
- We offer a variety of fund types, including donor advised funds and scholarship funds. By creating a fund at OCF you can enjoy tax benefits while adding good to the world in your name.
Assets we accept
- Cash
- Appreciated securities
- Real estate
- Business interests
- IRAs
- Qualified charitable distributions
- Transfers from other charitable entities like donor advised funds and private foundations
- Bequests, retirement plan assets and life insurance
Frequently Asked Questions
Connect with an OCF philanthropic advisor from one of our five regional offices to learn the most effective way to give all types of assets, including stock, real estate, business interests and retirement assets and make the most impact. When you’re ready, your OCF philanthropic advisor will work with you and your attorney, financial planner or accountant to create a fund that reflects your charitable goals. You can create a fund to use during your lifetime, as part of your estate planning, or both. OCF offers several types of funds that are tailored to each donor’s wishes.
- Donor education and consultation: OCF supports your giving through educational events and focused conversations to help align your priorities with causes to support.
- Trusted relationships: Because we’ve established long-term relationships with community leaders and nonprofit organizations, we’re familiar with challenges facing our state as well as promising solutions. Our expert staff can help you direct resources where you can make the greatest impact.
- Grantmaking and scholarship support: If you have an active donor advised or scholarship fund, when it’s time to recommend grants or award scholarships, we support you with recommendations and backgrounds on organizations aligned with your interests, or scholarship applications from students who meet your selection criteria. If you start a donor advised fund, you can involve family members or collaborate with other OCF donors for greater impact.
You can open a fund with as little as $5,000 until you meet the minimum balance to make grants or scholarship awards ($25,000 for donor advised funds and $50,000 for scholarships and other types of funds).
Our philanthropic advisors can create a named fund for you that comes into being with an estate gift and makes grants to organizations or areas of interest important to you. OCF’s expertise in Oregon ensures that your charitable legacy is stewarded into perpetuity. We can also create an annuity or trust that makes payments to you during your lifetime with the remainder creating or adding to an OCF fund.
Talk With an Advisor
After you’ve completed our Getting Started worksheet, you’ve begun to outline your plan. You can meet (in person or virtually) with your regional OCF philanthropic advisor to complete your plan and learn about options for creating your own charitable fund.
(503) 227-6846 | giftplanning@oregoncf.org
Regional offices: Portland | Bend | Salem | Eugene | Medford