The purpose of the following information about establishing a Named Donor Advised Fund with the Women’s Sports Foundation is to give you an overview of how to give back to girls’ sports programming and provide much needed assistance to extend girls’ athletic and/or academic endeavors. Creating a Named Donor Advised Fund will not only give you the satisfaction of giving back to girls and women but will also allow you a tax break. As well, if you have intentions to be philanthropic and do not have the time to manage the intricacies and demands of administering a 501(c) 3 Foundation, a Named Donor Advised Fund can accomplish your goals. The Women's Sports Foundation staff is available to help you better understand the benefits of the fund as well as to guide you through the process.
A Donor Advised Fund is a restricted fund (either permanent or temporarily restricted) for an individual who is usually its primary contributor, the interest or annual donation amount of which is used to award grants or support Women's Sports Foundation programming for the purpose(s) designated by the donor and in alignment with the Foundation's mission. For example, you might wish to contribute to a certain age group (e.g., girls 9-11) or competitive level (e.g., high school sports) or for a specific purpose (e.g., so more girls can play softball or for new girls programs) or in a specific state (e.g., TX, IL or GA).
Donor Advised Funds can be established for internship stipends, academic scholarships, activity program costs, educational programs, and other projects that are compatible with the Women's Sports Foundation’s mission. Some specific examples are:
o : A Hall of Fame golfer and former Women's Sports Foundation President, Carol Mann established this fund to provide girls an opportunity to gain experience in golf.
o : A nationally recognized fitness leader, Kathy Smith established the fund for the purpose of getting more young girls to play sports. She designates the royalties from selected fitness products as donations to the endowment.
o : A bequest from Ms. Harris’ estate established an endowed fund for graduate students in Physical Education, Sport Management, Sport Psychology or Sport Sociology to receive academic scholarship support.
Determine the purpose of the fund. Ideally, an existing program of the Women's Sports Foundation can be supported and enhanced with the Donor Advised Fund and an Individuals name associated with the program or grant initiative.
Determine the name of the fund.
Define the financial steps you need to reach the minimum permanently restricted level of $50,000. You may choose to make a one lump sum contribution or a specific amount over a period of no more than three years or you may wish to establish the fund with an insurance policy or codicil of your will. We can help with this by putting your financial consultant in touch with one of our investment experts.
The Women's Sports Foundation works with your team to announce the fund. The Foundation is then responsible for designing, printing and distributing applications and funds or reporting on the programmatic efforts of the fund.
Depending on the way in which the fund is established and the designation of the fund’s proceeds, there are opportunities on line to jointly promote the work of the fund. As well, Women's Sports Foundation staff will work with the Individual to promote the program designation or grantee of the fund.
The donor does not have control of the Women's Sports Foundation or any of its endowed funds. The Women's Sports Foundation Board of Trustees is an elected body and all of the Foundation’s endowed funds are invested by an Investment Manager selected and overseen by the Finance Committee of the Women's Sports Foundation. Over the last three years, the Foundation’s investments have outperformed the S&P 500 by 2 points. Donor Advised Fund donors receive an annual report of all investment activity each year. The Women's Sports Foundation selects all recipients for grants awarded, but such recipients are selected based on criteria established by the donor and the donor has the option of serving on the selection committee.
This would be treated as a standard donation to the Foundation’s endowment and insure that the Foundation’s work continues on in perpetuity. The current endowment is $4 million and the funds are only used by the Foundation as approved by the Board of Trustees. The Foundation’s goal is to have an endowment of $10 million by the year 2010.
For further information on the establishment of Donor Advised Funds with the Women’s Sports Foundation, please contact Tuti Scott, Chief External Relations Officer, at 516.542.4700 ext 113 or TScott@WomensSportsFoundation.org.