News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

OCF offers vehicle for year-round giving

This is the time of year when those fortunate enough to have some discretionary funds to "give back" are thinking about where those funds might do the most good. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) offers a number of services that might appeal to such an aspiring donor.

With either direct contributions or donor-directed funds, the concept of paying some of your good fortune forward is more realistic than you might think. OCF's stated mission is "...to improve life in Oregon and promote effective philanthropy." Its 2012 report goes on to say, "OCF works with individuals, families, businesses, and organizations to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about."

From its humble beginnings in 1973 with a $63,000 contribution by Willamette Industries founder William Swindells, Sr., this philanthropic organization has quietly grown to $1.3 billion in assets.

In Central Oregon alone OCF funded nearly $3 million in scholarships from the more than 130 Central Oregon funds. These Central Oregon funds total more than $43 million in endowments. Statewide, OCF distributes more than $60 million in grants and scholarships from more than 1,700 endowment funds to more than 2,100 non-profits.

Many in Sisters Country are aware of some of the good works that the Oregon Community Foundation is involved with, but few profess to know much about the organization itself.

Sisters resident Fran Willis, donor relations officer, is one of three OCF employees based in the Bend office. Together with Regional Director Julie Gregory and Regional Administrator Cheryl Puddy, they are responsible for the activities of OCF in 16 counties in Central Oregon.

Many if not most of the OCF donors request anonymity. One such Sisters donor described to The Nugget how Willis invited him to a number of small receptions in the area where local charitable organizations gave presentations. From those presentations he picked several non-profits to support.

This donor expressed his appreciation for the exposure to local groups, and for the thorough vetting done by the OCF staff so he could have confidence that his donations were being put to good and effective use. He appreciated how Willis sat down with him to really understand his passions and his wishes.

Willis said, "I have the honor of working with families to help them hold the conversations about what their priorities are in giving. Philanthropy is a family commitment. It becomes part of the fabric of the family. It becomes generational."

The intricacies of the various funds that are administered by OCF are compounded by the many requirements placed on a 501(c)(3) organization. In the simplest terms, the Oregon Community Foundation provides a vehicle that helps match a person or family that wants to give back with a qualified non-profit recipient that fits the givers' needs and desires.

OCF staff and volunteers are continuously doing due-diligence work on potential recipients' needs, qualifications, and practices. At the same time, OCF staff and volunteers are interviewing and developing an understanding of the needs, wants and wishes of potential donors.

All of this work is vetted by some 1,600 volunteers, many with highly placed responsibilities in the investment, banking and financial advising community. The volunteers and donors are supported by a paid staff of roughly 70, housed in six offices around the state.

Establishing a fund can have significant advantages over a single directed gift.

One prime example used in OCF's Advised Fund Handbook details how a single gift of $100,000 grew over 20 years to a current value of over $160,000 in 2011, while at the same time distributing more than$140,000 in grants to the groups and causes dear to the person making the gift.

OCF invests their funds, earning an average of 10 percent over the years.

Oregon continues to rank in the top 20 states in charitable giving according to an annual study recently release by OCF. Despite lower-than-national-average incomes and a higher-than-average unemployment rate, Oregonians give more than the national average.

 

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