Give where you live“Community foundations arecommitted to keeping administrationcosts as low as possible.”of how it was used,” says Bill. “But if you give it to a communityfoundation it can be used to make a difference in a communityforever.”Donors can choose to give while they are still aliveor – as is more common in New Zealand – they can set upan endowment fund that will go to their local communityfoundation once they die.According to Bill, people with children typically endow 10%of their estate, while those without children endow up to 50%.In some cases, they specify which charity or general area ofwork they want their donation to support; in others they arehappy to let the foundation decide where the money will go.And he says that because of the way community foundationswork, by pooling lots of individual donations, even relativelymodest donations can make a big difference.“You don’t have to be rich to support a communityfoundation. What we’re trying to push is that the more peoplewho give 10% of their estate, the more money we have to invest– and the more we have to distribute to the local community.”Overseas, many community foundations have huge assets.Canada’s largest community foundation, the VancouverFoundation, for example, has almost CAD$1 billion in assetsand distributes around CAD$45 million in grants every year.Their New Zealand counterparts are tiny by comparison;the Acorn Foundation has assets of almost $9 million, and lastyear distributed $300,000 in grants.However, as the Vancouver Foundation’s former chiefexecutive, Faye Wightman, pointed out on her recent visit toNew Zealand, even small grants can make a big difference.“You don’t have to be giving away hundreds of thousandsof dollars,” she told the Community Foundations ofNew Zealand workshop in Wellington. “Our neighbourhoodsmall grants scheme distributes grants of up to $1000 toprojects that help connect and engage residents – like a streetparty or a tool-lending library. Those small amounts of moneycan make a huge difference.”And while some of New Zealand’s community foundationsare not yet large enough to distribute grants in their own right,many distribute grants on behalf of the Tindall Foundation.At present, seven community foundations act as fundingmanagers for the Tindall Foundation.They include the Acorn Foundation, which last yeardistributed $68,000 of Tindall Foundation funding. Accordingto general manager Nicky Wilkins, being able to act as an agentfor the Tindall Foundation has been central to Acorn’s success.“It’s been absolutely crucial because it meant we couldstart making distributions virtually from day one – and oncewe started making distributions it was easier for people tounderstand what we were about.”* For more information go to www.nzcommunityfoundations.org.nzAn easyprocessIn March this year, Margot McCool and her husband John finallygot around to making provision in their will to leave part of theirestate to the Tauranga-based Acorn Foundation.“It has always been our intention to leave something to thecommunity, but like lots of people, wills have never been a toppriority for us,” admits Margot, who has worked as the AcornFoundation’s operations manager for the last six years.As it turned out, setting up the J & M McCool endowment fundwas just as easy as the Foundation’s publicity material claims: “Allwe needed to do was insert a three-line clause that we got fromAcorn’s website into our will.”The McCools chose to leave 10% of their estate to the AcornFoundation, with the remaining 90% going to their three children.“Basically it means that each of them gets 3.3% less of ourestate, which should not be an issue for them, but which mightmake a positive difference elsewhere,” says Margot. “I think it’sa lovely way of demonstrating to them that we care about ourcommunity.”And in a nice twist, the couple helped the Acorn Foundationreach an important milestone by establishing its 200th endowmentfund. However, they didn’t get much time to enjoy their specialstatus. “We’ve already been surpassed,” laughs Margot.No-stress optionFor Kevin O’Connor and his wife Julia, transferring responsibilityfor their private charitable trust to the Wellington-basedNikau Foundation in 2010 made a lot of sense.“Setting up an endowment fund with a community foundationmeans you can avoid all the duties of a trustee, such as investmentmanagement, auditing and accounts,” says Kevin. “Instead, theFoundation provides all those services at a very economical price.”Setting up the Kevin and Julia O’Connor Endowment Fundalso means the couple no longer have to worry about appointingtrustees to run their private charitable trust.The O’Connors have specified that, if possible, theirendowment fund will be used to support the Catholic church,sporting organisations and medical research in the Wellingtonregion. However, they are happy to leave the final grantmakingdecisions to the Nikau Foundation.“If the needs of the region change then our endowment fundcan be used to respond to those changing needs.”For Kevin, who is the former chair of the Nikau Foundationboard, getting involved in a community foundation is about morethan just convenience.“One thing I like about Nikau is that its objective is to growphilanthropy in the region, for the benefit of the region and its people.”No:63 <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2014</strong> 7