Donor Information
Donor Services
Experienced Foundation staff work with people and families to make giving easy and effective, identifying specific charitable organizations doing work in their area of interest. To help make effective charitable choices, the Foundation offers the following services:
- Matching people and families’ charitable interests to community needs;
- Expert grant making assistance locally and nationally through a network of community foundations;
- Educational programs on charitable giving;
- Network of donors to share interests and leverage support for organizations and causes;
- Assistance in developing a philanthropic focus; and
- Efficient and highly cost-effective administrative services.
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How to contribute 
Thoughtful community members created the La Crosse Community Foundation more than 75 years ago and the Foundation invites all members of the community to continue that tradition. Gifts of all sizes are gratefully accepted throughout the year and in whatever form works best for donors:
- Deferred gifts through wills and charitable remainder trusts are treasured gifts.
- Gifts of cash can go to work immediately for operations or specific programs.
- Gifts of appreciated stock and real property - these gifts provide a triple benefit, in that they provide donors a charitable deduction and eliminate capital gains taxes on the appreciation helping to further the Foundation's mission.
- Matching gifts - many employers offer matching gifts program, enabling you to double or triple the amount of your gift.
- Memorials and gifts honoring loved ones are a wonderful way to remember special people. Memorials and gifts may be designated for an existing fund or can be used to establish a new fund in that loved one’s name.
Online Giving
For your convenience, you can make secure online contributions through the Network for Good link.
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 Charitable Giving Tools
The La Crosse Community Foundation welsomes a variety of gifts —from cash and appreciated securities to bequests and charitable remainder trusts—that can provide life-income and estate planning advantages.
Click on the fund to review the forms and donor documents for each type of fund.
Because of unrestricted funds, the Foundation can respond to the community’s most pressing challenges in creative, flexible ways. Unrestricted funds are some of the Foundation’s most important, flexible resources to address the ever-changing needs of our dynamic community.
Donor advised funds provide the advantages of a private foundation and an endowment as well as access to the professional grant making staff of the Foundation. You can receive professional guidance about nonprofit organizations and community projects that support the causes that are important to you. These funds provide an opportunity to establish a named fund and remain engaged in the grant making process.
A growing number of people with significant charitable assets who desire to have a more formal gifting structure are establishing supporting organizations. As with a donor advised fund, a supporting organization is an effective alternative to a private foundation.
These funds enable individuals and groups to pool their charitable gifts into a common fund that addresses an issue of importance. Earnings from these funds are distributed in accordance with each fund’s specific purpose. Scholarships that support students at a particular school or in a particular major are an example of a Field of Interest Fund.
At the time a designated fund is established, the donor designates a specific charitable organization(s) as the perpetual recipient(s) of the earnings from the fund. The Foundation ensures that the designated recipients receive support as long as they remain in existence and continue to fulfill their intended charitable purpose.
For more information about how to enhance charitable giving through one or a combination of these funds, please contact the Foundation.
La Crosse Community Foundation
(608) 782-3223
Email – lacrosscommfound@centurytel.net
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Building a Fund
- Acorn Society: Payments through regular contributions can build a fund on an installment plan. Once a named fund is established, life insurance policies are another way to build a more significant fund. Donors can build a named fund over a number of years.
- Bequests: Establish a fund through your will. It’s simple, reduces estate taxes and can even be advised by your heirs so your charitable intent is preserved in perpetuity. Many donors, after providing for their loved ones, leave the remainder of their estates to the Foundation.
- Charitable remainder trusts, lead trusts, pooled income funds and gift annuities: All methods allow donors to turn over assets to the Foundation but retain income from them. These are excellent ways to improve income from low-yield, high-value assets and gain significant tax advantages as well.
- Insurance: Name the La Crosse Community Foundation as owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy to be used to establish a future charitable fund. The donor earns an immediate tax deduction and any additional premium payments are deductible, as well.
- Designating the Foundation as beneficiary of your IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan: When sizable retirement plans become part of an estate, heavy taxes can take 60-65 percent or more of their assets. Designating the La Crosse Community Foundation as a beneficiary of retirement plan assets is a tax-effective way of making a charitable bequest. In some cases, donors may find it pays to designate a charitable remainder unitrust as plan beneficiary. The trust can provide an annual payout to designated heirs for up to 20 years and establish a fund within the La Crosse Community Foundation upon its termination.
Click here to learn more about area nonprofit agencies.
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