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The Gift of a Lifetime – Your Enduring Legacy
You have been fortunate. You have enjoyed a share of success and managed your assets prudently. And you feel strongly that those resources, built carefully over a lifetime through rigorous enterprise and thoughtful investment should be used for some worthy purpose.
After the needs of your family are met, you give annually to support those organizations and causes you believe in. But now you are in a financial position that enables you to do something more. You would like the satisfaction of making a lasting impact upon the Hudson community with the knowledge that what you are now able to do with a position of your accumulated resources is clear recognition of your achievements – not merely of a year but of a lifetime.
You now have a simple, smart and meaningful way to create an enduring legacy that will benefit the community for generations to come. HCF is:
- A means of leaving an indelible mark on Hudson by supporting its most creative thinking as it addresses the challenges ahead.
- A way to know that your life is helping to make the world a better place.
- A way to ensure that you, or someone you love, will be remembered.
Hudson Community Foundation – Enriching Hudson Forever
The extraordinary instrument Cleveland attorney and banker Frederick H. Goff created was The Cleveland Foundation, the first “Community Foundation.” Hudson Community Foundation is one of over 700 community foundation around the country modeled after The Cleveland Foundation. Arguably by design, Hudson Community Foundation is the most flexible community foundation in the country.
The concept is simple. HCF provides a way for the gifts and bequests of many Hudson individuals, families and businesses to be managed and administered – as a sort of family of funds – for the ongoing benefit of the community. A volunteer Board of Directors, comprised of civic and community leaders, oversees the assets and charitable distributions of its donors to support the widest range of needs in the community.
Hudson Community Foundation exists to preserve and enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Hudson, Ohio now and for generations to come.
Organized as a 501(c)(3) public charity, HCF is dedicated to serving the philanthropic needs of Hudson. We provide our citizens with simple, smart and meaningful ways to manage their charitable assets for the ongoing benefit of the community. At some point in time, virtually anyone who lives, visits or works in Hudson will be touched in some way by Hudson Community Foundation.
HCF identifies important needs in the community which may be targets of that philanthropy including:
- Youth Education and Recreation
- Arts and Culture
- Hudson Social Services
- Historical and Environmental Preservation
The Satisfaction of a Well-Made Plan
However you approach setting up your fund at HCF, you will enjoy knowing that a portion of the accumulated assets of a lifetime may forever benefit this community of Hudson, and will do so in your name or the name of a loved one.
You will know that administrative and investment management costs have been minimized so that the gift you have so generously entrusted will have maximum impact over time.
But, perhaps most importantly, you will have the special satisfaction of knowing you have done your part to make the world a little better. Or, simple put, that your life’s efforts have made a difference.
Hudson Community Foundation – My Community Foundation
Enriching Hudson Forever
Hudson Community Foundation (HCF) is an independent public charity whose mission is to enrich Hudson now and for generations to come. HCF accomplishes this by enabling simple, smart and meaningful family philanthropy as a way for individuals, families and businesses to manage their charitable activities.
HCF promotes the needs of Hudson with a philanthropic focus on:
- Youth Education and Recreation
- Arts and Culture
- Hudson Social Services
- Historical and Environmental Preservation
Because HCF is a public charity, contributions qualify for the maximum tax benefits.
Key Facts
1) Hudson Community Foundation was established in 2000 as an independent community foundation that would reflect the unique character and personality of Hudson residents.
2.) Hudson Community Foundation is led by an all-volunteer group of individuals including a 20 member Board of Directors, the Chairman, and the President/CEO.
3) During the ten years since HCF’s founding, individuals, families and businesses have contributed over $7 million to create individual named funds and to support causes they care about. Over this time, over $3 million in grants were made, including $700,000 in grant distributions to charitable organizations in the Hudson community.
Comparing Funds
HCF offers four types of funds to assist you in designing a charitable giving plan that is exactly suited to your needs and interests..
Unrestricted Fund
An unrestricted fund is your broadest option. With an unrestricted fund in your name, you can reach out to all of the charitable organizations serving the Hudson Community with a focus on:
- Youth Education and Recreation
- Arts and Culture
- Hudson Social Services
- Historical and Environmental Preservation
HCF grants funds to those charities and causes that best meet the community’s most pressing needs as those needs change over time. By making a gift or bequest to create an unrestricted fund, you can create a living legacy in your name that will grow and change as the community does.
The unrestricted fund is best suited if:
- you want to have the broadest impact on the community over time.
- your motivation is to “give back to the community” rather than to support a particular charitable organization or cause.
- You have broad charitable interests or are considering creating a private foundation for broad charitable purposes.
- You recognize that community agencies and community needs change over time and you want your philanthropy to remain relevant and flexible to respond to those changes as they evolve.
Field of Interest Fund
Field of interest funds allow you to address a cause of particular importance to you without being locked into naming specific charities. HCF identifies important needs in the community which may be targets of your philanthropy including:
- Youth Education and Recreation
- Arts and Culture
- Hudson Social Services
- Historical and Environmental Preservation
In addition you can specify your own field of interest. You name the purpose of the fund; HCF’s Board identifies the charitable projects that can most effectively accomplish your goals at any given time.
The field of interest fund is most appropriate if:
- You have an abiding interest in a particular charitable cause rather than specific organizations.
- You recognize that charitable organizations may change their mission and effectiveness over time, or they may loose their charitable status.
- You want knowledgeable and professional help in carrying on your philanthropic interests after your death.
- You are considering creating a private foundation to support a particular charitable cause.
Donor Advised Fund
The Donor Advised Fund is HCF’s most flexible fund. Under the donor-advised fund option, you create a fund in your name without naming any specific charitable institutions. Instead, you retain the right to advise HCF on all your charitable affairs, including where the assets will be custodied, who will manage the investments, who will receive grants from your fund, and finally who will take over as your successor when you die. Because HCF is public charity, you enjoy the best tax benefits available. You can take your time to recommend what charitable organizations or causes you want to support. Since HCF handles all the administrative matters, you are free to do what you enjoy most – support your favorite charities. Through your Donor Advised Fund, you now have a simple, smart and meaningful way to practice family philanthropy.
The Donor Advised Funds should be considered if:
- You want maximum flexibility to give to varying charities or to change beneficiaries over time.
- You want your spouse, children, and grandchildren to be involved in your family’s legacy over successive generations.
- You currently make cash gifts to numerous charities but would benefit by giving appreciated property instead.
- Your income fluctuates but you want to maintain a steady level of charitable giving.
- You are considering a private foundation.
Designated Fund
In the Designated Fund, you name a particular charity or charities to benefit from the fund. Each year, HCF distributes grants to those charities according to your specifications and HCF’s spending policy. You have the assurance of knowing that, if the organization you selected ceases to exist or the purpose of the grant cannot be met, HCF’s Board will preserve your original intent by redirecting the fund toward the closest similar use.
The designated fund is ideal if:
- You want to make a substantial gift to a charity that does not have a professional investment management capability.
- You want to make a substantial gift to a new, small, or struggling organization.
- You wish to support a particular charity but want third-party oversight to ensure that the gift is used as you intend it to be used.
- You want to support several named charities through one substantial gift.
Are you a candidate for family philanthropy?
Questions | Need help? call us at 330-655-3580
