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Grow the

Impact

Give Your Way

Put your dollars to work right in your neighborhood. All gifts are tax-deductible–and there are ways to give strategically, in ways that’ll help meet your financial goals. Read our 2023-2024 Community Impact Statement.

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types of funds

WCF is your partner in managing assets and reaching your financial/charitable goals. The WCF currently has 6 fund choices for a donor to consider.

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Launch a Project

Have a specific charitable idea or initiative that would benefit Woodbury? You do not have to become your own non-profit. WCF has the structure in place to work with partner funds. Learn how WCF can help.

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Make the

Greatest Impact

Read the 2023-2024 Community Impact Statement

The Woodbury Community Foundation works with donors — individuals, families, businesses, and organizations — to create and sustain charitable funds that will make the greatest impact in our community.

Not only can a one-time or recurring gift to Woodbury Community Foundation make an impact where it’s most needed, our donors also support specific funds and projects.​

​Whether you want to give from an IRA or donor-advised fund–or want to talk about legacy giving options–we’ll help you give in the most strategic way for your situation and goals.​​

​Join us in creating change! 

Make a Donation Online
Highlights from our most recent Community Impact Statement for FY 2023-2024. Click Here to read the entire document or to request a copy our 990, contact wcf@woodburyfoundation.org. 

Give Your Way

Every gift to The Woodbury Community Foundation (WCF) brings about good here in our community. But with a little knowledge, your next gift could also align with your financial goals and needs. Here are some options to consider:

Give Online

Simple and easiest way to give. One-time or recurring. Click Here to Link to our Online Portal via Paypal. You can pay by Creditcard or Paypal.

Send a Check

You can write a check to Woodbury Community Foundation and mailto: 724 Bielenberg Drive Suite #129 Woodbury MN 55125​. Please designate where your gift should go in the memo (i.e. General Fund, Community Grants, Woodbury Thrives Fund)

More Ways

to Support WCF

Employer Matching Gifts

Maximize the impact of your donation to the Woodbury Community Foundation by requesting a matching gift from your employer. Companies like 3M and Ecolab often match charitable contributions, doubling the support for our community initiatives. Most of these programs match contributions dollar for dollar, and some also provide a match for your volunteer hours. Turn your $100 donation into a $200 donation, or your 20 hours of volunteer time into a $100 donation with the help of your employer.

Here are links to some Matching Gift Programs:
3M
Ecolab

Gift Appreciated Stock or Securities

Do you have appreciated stock, cryptocurrency, or other securities in your portfolio? Give all or a portion directly to WCF! You’ll avoid paying tax on the appreciation, and the foundation will be able to utilize the full value of those shares immediately. Just contact your broker and indicate that you’d like to transfer stock to The Woodbury Community Foundation: Tax ID  72-1592506.

Real Estate

Do you own rental property, hunting land, or a recreational home? If you don’t want to keep it long-term, you could pay significant capital gain taxes when you sell, particularly if you’ve owned it for a long time and the value has increased. Consider gifting the property–or part of it–outright to the WCF instead.

Make WCF a Beneficiary

You can easily make WCF a beneficiary on a retirement fund, life insurance policy, or other account. Set it up in minutes, without an attorney.

Give a Legacy Gift

Including the foundation in your estate plan is a great way to ensure your legacy makes a positive impact on Woodbury long after you’re gone. Let us know if you’re remembering WCF in your estate plan, or reach out about exploring your options. 

Make a Gift from your IRA

If you’re over 70 ½, you can make a distribution from your IRA directly to a nonprofit through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) or “IRA Rollover.” IRA funds are pre-tax, so depending on your income bracket, you could have 30+% more impact than if you were to write a check or give cash. And at age 73, Americans are required to begin taking a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from their IRA. Contact your retirement fund custodian to initiate a QCD and lower your taxable income for the year. There’s a maximum gift of $100,000 per year per person, and it can go to one or several nonprofits.

Give from your Donor Advised Fund

A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is like a “charitable checkbook” that can be set up in minutes and has benefits for just about anyone. Funds put into a DAF are immediately tax-deductible, up to 60% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Then those funds grow with interest until you decide where and when to give them to your favorite causes. It can be tax-advantageous to fund a DAF with appreciated assets–like stocks or real estate–to avoid capital gains tax and get you an immediate charitable tax deduction. Then your fund will grow tax-free until you decide where and when to grant from it to your favorite charities. Set one up through WCF today or recommend a grant to WCF from your existing DAF!

Click to read more
View Fund Options with WCF
Launch

A Project

Agency and/or Endowment Partner Fund

Nonprofit organizations may establish an endowment partner fund that will provide efficient and effective stewardship of an organization’s endowment. 

Examples: the Woodbury Lions Club is not a 501C(3), so they didn’t have the ability to accept tax-deductible gifts. The Lion’s created a 50-Year fund, to do fundraising for long-term success of the group and its impact in the community.

Inez Oehlke Endowment Fund – funded by Inez to fund historical preservation in the area long-term and works closely with Woodbury Heritage Society on projects.  Funds stay in the community and directed to her passion area. the WCF Board directs granting based on a fund agreement.

The Bash for Brains is Fiscal Sponsorship. They are not their own nonprofit; but are actively fundraising and need day-to-day funds for expenses. WCF  provides support functions in accounting, legal and fundraising.

Discretionary Fund

A discretionary fund supports WCF’s overall charitable mission of improving life in Woodbury through philanthropy. We make grants from discretionary funds to meet greatest current needs, including education, health, and human and cultural services.

Donor-Designated Funds

If you have a specific charitable organization in mind, you may name the group to receive distributions from the fund. If that group ceases to exist, or the purpose it serves becomes obsolete, the WCF board has the responsibility and authority to reapply the distributions to a similar charitable organization.

Field of Interest Funds

If you have a deeply held field of interest — such as disadvantaged children, the elderly, or the performing arts — we can help you direct grants to those causes.  

For example the Anti-Racism Fund is actively fundraising from initiatives that promote Racial Equity in Woodbury, such as the Woodbury Racial Equity Collaborative and One Woodbury.

Donor

FAQs

A community foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit composed primarily of permanent funds established by many separate donors for the long-term benefit of the residents of a defined geographic area (Woodbury). The WCF is governed by a volunteer board of directors.

Creating a fund at WCF makes it easy and satisfying to fulfill your philanthropic wishes. Additional benefits include tax advantages, a professionally managed portfolio, and access to the support and expertise of our professional staff.  Click here for more information on why you should choose the Woodbury Community Foundation:  WCF - Legacy - Why a Community Foundation

The WCF will perform due diligence on each organization, and our work with other donors and organizations often allows us to identify a need within the community that fits with your philanthropic goals. Also, you may, with our donor-advised funds, give directly to an organization when you make your own grant recommendations.  For more information on leaving a legacy, click here:  WCF - Legacy - Leaving a Legacy

We offer advised, designated, discretionary, field of interest and endowment partner funds.

You can enter into an agreement with OCF to create a step-up fund with an initial gift of $5,000 (or less), and gradually build assets toward a permanent fund.  Permanent funds (including advised funds) start with an initial gift of at least $10,000.

We accept gifts of cash, real estate, securities and personal property. Bequests by will of cash or property, and life insurance or retirement plan assets that name WCF as the beneficiary, are other possible contributions.

If your children are of legal age, you can engage them as advisors on your advised fund. You can also name them as successors on the fund.

Not really, but we recommend individual grants of at least $1,000, but $250 is the suggested minimum.

Yes. Simply let us know when you submit your grant recommendations that you would like to remain anonymous.

You may recommend qualified nonprofit public charities, schools and government programs.  This type of information can be found by consulting the most up to date information from the IRS.
The WCF does not make grants to individuals, only to qualifying nonprofit public charities.

Yes. We can work with you to identify worthy nonprofit organizations that meet your charitable goals.

Yes this is possible. Contact us to learn more.
Role of the

Woodbury Community Foundation

For donors, the Foundation serves as a pathway that connects their personal passions to their philanthropy by creating vital connections between those organizations serving the community and those who want to help build it. The Foundation was created to serve the entire community and helps donors make informed choices about where their gifts can make the most impact by identifying individual or family goals for their charitable interests and making sure that they can be met by making reasonable choices.
Develop A Fund Agreement
What are the type of funds at

Woodbury Community Foundation?

The Woodbury Community Foundation (WCF) plays a very important role in engaging donors, connecting resources, and helping build community in ways that individuals and individual organizations cannot begin to imagine. For the Foundation to fulfill its mission, it helps facilitate charitable giving by identifying community needs, building relationships with mission-aligned organizations and prospective donors, and creating funds that support the work of organizations that are in our community or serve the residents of Woodbury in meaningful and impactful ways.

Support WCF’s overall charitable mission of improving life in Woodbury through philanthropy.  We make grants from this discretionary fund to meet the greatest current community needs, including education, health, and human and cultural services.

Make a Donation Online

With an WCF donor advised fund, you can actively participate in donating to charitable organizations throughout the community or charitable organizations of your choosing. You can also name successor advisors, such as your children, to carry on your family’s legacy of donating and giving. If you did not name successor advisors, such as their children, the WCF Board has the responsibility and authority to reapply the distribution to a similar charitable organization.

More on Donor Advised Funds

If you have a specific charitable organization in mind, you may name the organization to receive distributions from the fund. If that group ceases to exist, or the purpose it serves becomes obsolete, the WCF will work with you to reapply the distributions to another charitable organization. If you did not name successor advisors, such as their children, the WCF Board has the responsibility and authority to reapply the distribution to a similar charitable organization.

More on Donor Designated Funds
A Field of Interest Fund (FIF) enables donors to create a philanthropic fund for a specific purpose related to their passions, such as human services, arts, mental health, or food insecurity.
More on Field of Interest Funds

If you have a deeply held field of interest, such as disadvantaged children, or the performing art, etc., the WCF can help you direct grants to those causes. The Foundation has a statement of values-based community support that prohibits donations to organizations whose practices run counter to the community’s best interests (e.g., hate groups…).

More on Fiscal Agency Funds

A community volunteer collaboration may establish a partnership fund that will provide efficient and effective stewardship of an organization’s fund raising for a program or project designated to serve the needs of the Woodbury Community.

More on Fiscal Sponsorship Funds

Allows interested donors the opportunity to create a philanthropic fund from which they may make recommendations to the Foundation Board of Directors on distributions made from the fund to their choice of a qualified educational organization(s).

More on Scholarship Funds 
Frequently Asked

Questions

Why should I create a Fund at the WCF instead of donating directly to an organization?

WCF will perform due diligence on each organization, and our work with other donors and organizations often allows us to identify a need within the community that fits with your philanthropic goals. Also, with our Donor Advised Fund and Donor Designated Fund, you may give directly to a nonprofit organization when you make your grant or donation recommendation. There may be tax advantages to you of making a larger donation to the Foundation that you distribute to your favorite causes over time.

Why should I establish a Fund at the WCF?

Creating a fund at WCF makes it easy and satisfying to fulfill your philanthropic wishes. Additional benefits include potential tax advantages, a professionally managed portfolio, and access to the support and expertise of our professional staff. If you are considering creating your own Private Foundation, you are encouraged to review the Comparison between a Private Foundation and Community Foundation, which is on the WCF website, before you make your decision.
The WCF’s work with other donors and organizations often allows us to identify a need within the community that may fit with your philanthropic goals.
Initial and subsequent contributions to any of the Funds will be accepted and may be made by check, credit card, appreciated stock or publicly traded securities as well other forms of real property, subject to WCF’s Gift Acceptance Policy. Contributions made to the Funds are generally tax deductible at the time a contribution is made regardless of when distributions from the Funds are made. However, it is suggested that all donors consult with their professional advisor regardless of their individual situation, prior to establishing a fund donation.
There is no fee associated with donations to the Woodbury Discretionary Fund. For the other Funds, as shown in the above Reference Guide, fees are kept to a minimum in order to maximize the impact in the community created by distributions from funds held by the WCF. The Fund is also charged any applicable investment management fees (which are subtracted out of investment returns reported by the WCF to the donor). Current investment management fees are available by contacting the WCF office.
On Donor Advised, Donor Designated, Field of Interest and Scholarship Funds, when the Fund Agreement between the WCF and you is being developed, any children may be added to the Agreement as your success advisor(s) to your Fund and they can fulfill this role as long as they are of legal age and choose to serve as the successor advisor. Of course, you can privately involve them at any age to be part of any proposed donation from the Fund.
After the close of each calendar quarter, you will be emailed a statement showing the balance at the end of the previous calendar quarter, the total amount of donations you made to the account, the total amount of grants/donations/distributions you requested be taken from the account, account gains or losses, investment management fees charged to the account, and the balance at the end of the current quarter. You can also access your fund through the Foundation’s donor portal at any time to view the fund status and request donations from the fund. At the end of the calendar year, you will receive two statements, one for the quarter and one which summarizes the investment information for the calendar year.
If the Fund you have selected is non-endowed, you can make a grant or donation at any time as long the amount does not exceed the Fund balance. If the Fund is endowed, you cannot make any grants or donations until the balance exceeds the threshold amount, which is shown in the Reference Guide above plus the amount of the distribution, donations, or grant. The grant can only be made from fund earnings.

Complete a Grant Distribution Request  on the donor portal and submit it to the WCF for its review and approval.  Once the WCF does its due diligence to determine that the designated donation or grant recipient is still registered as a non-profit, the donation will be processed.  It may take up to 15 business days before the donation/grant is sent out.
All grant, donation or distribution recommendations must be made for charitable purposes as defined by the IRS. This may include schools, government programs, and any nonprofit public charity (an approved 501(c)3 organization), including US based organizations that conduct their work outside the United States. The WCF will verify all organizations for proper documentation of their charitable, nonprofit status prior to providing final approval of any recommendation. In general, IRS regulations required that all distributions grants or donations be made to a qualified public charity or government unit and not to any individual.
Yes, there are. In addition to that shown above, for example, the WCF does not make grants or donations to entities which are organized or operated for the benefit of a private interest, or net earnings that may benefit any private shareholder or individual, or will be used to attempt to influence legislation, or which participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates. The Foundation also has a statement of values-based community support that prohibits donations to organizations whose practices run counter to the community’s best interests (e.g. hate groups…).
Can I establish an endowment

within every WCF Fund?

The quick answer is no, but to fully answer the question, we need to examine the fundamentals of the difference between an endowed and non-endowed funds.

An Endowed Fund: These funds are permanently restricted and only the income from initial and subsequent contributions may be distributed to charitable organizations or for charitable purposes. These Funds also have a threshold of $10,000 or higher before any distribution is allowed. This allows the Fund to continue supporting charitable causes in perpetuity.

A Non-Endowed Fund: These funds typically allow for the distribution of both principal and interest to eligible charities. Typically, these funds use either annual payout or flexible payouts.

  REFERENCE GUIDE: available funds and their fund attributes

Open a

Donor Advised Fund

Explore the Flexibility and Impact of Donor-Advised Funds​

A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is like a “charitable checkbook” that can be set up in minutes and has benefits for just about anyone. Funds put into a DAF are immediately tax-deductible, up to 60% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Then those funds grow with interest until you decide where and when to give them to your favorite causes. It can be tax-advantageous to fund a DAF with appreciated assets–like stocks or real estate–to avoid capital gains tax and get you an immediate charitable tax deduction. Then your fund will grow tax-free until you decide where and when to grant from it to your favorite charities. Set one up through WCF today or recommend a grant to WCF from your existing DAF!

To inquire about how the Foundation can set up a DAF, please feel free to give us a call at 651-505-7024 or send us an email at wcf@woodburyfoundation.org

Complete the Donor Fund Agreement Questionnaire
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