Triangle Community Foundation Posts Growth in 2012-2013

One indicator of a healthy community is the amount of charitable giving and funds coming into the community.  By that measure, Durham is doing quite well.

Triangle Community Foundation, a nonprofit fund management company that distributes funds to nonprofits in the community, posted growth in new funds, total gifts, grants and scholarships, and endowment and assets over the past year.

“We’re happy to see so many of our donors and community partners continuing to engage in and support important causes in our community, and we are honored to play a role in this work,” says Lori O’Keefe, president of the Foundation.

New funds expand

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 46 new funds were created at the Foundation, up from 33 the previous year, and they ranged in size from $10,000, the minimum allowed, to an estate gift totaling $2.5 million. New funds totaled $6.5 million, up from $6 million a year earlier, and total gifts, including new funds, totaled $16.8 million up from $16.3 million a year earlier.

“The market has a lot to do with it,” says Jessica Banks Gilmour Aylor, director of development and community partnerships at the Foundation. “Any time we have donors with appreciated assets is the time they will give to charitable organizations.”

Endowment assets grow

As of June 30, endowment assets at the Foundation consisted of over 300 funds totaling $94 million, or nearly 60 percent of all assets, up from $86 million in total endowment assets a year earlier. Overall assets -- including fixed-income and equity investments, as well as pass-through funds that are not invested -- grew to $160 million in the year ended June 30 from $145 million a year earlier.

Scholarships increase

For the 2012-13 school year, the Foundation awarded scholarships totaling $654,000 from 49 different scholarship funds to 145 students, with the largest totaling $60,000 over three years and the average award totaling $4,500.

For the 2013-14 school year, the Foundation already has awarded scholarships totaling $628,000 from 51 different scholarship funds to 115 students, and expects the total to be roughly $670,000. The largest scholarship so far totals $60,000 over three years, and the average award so far totals $5,500.

Grants and gifts grow

The Foundation made $13.8 million in grants in the fiscal year ended June 30, up from $13.2 million a year earlier. Of the total grants, $11.6 million came from donor advised funds, up from $10.7 million a year earlier. Roughly 70 percent of grants from donor advised funds in the most recent fiscal year stayed in the Triangle.

Gifts to the Foundation in the most recent fiscal year totaled $16.9 million, up from $16.3 million a year earlier. Of the total gifts, $12.7 million were given to donor advised funds, up from $8.5 million a year earlier.

Family philanthropy

During the year, the foundation launched a series of five education sessions to talk to fundholders about family philanthropy. The sessions focused on topics such as how to involve family members in the family’s philanthropy, how to get the family’s next generation involved in philanthropy, how to think about creating a family’s philanthropic legacy, and the range of charitable giving options through estate planning. The Foundation plans to offer more education sessions this year, probably two this fall and two next spring.

Donor education

The Foundation sponsored or co-sponsored four sessions for the Triangle Donors Forum. The sessions focused on the impact of funding cuts on nonprofits; capacity-building for nonprofits; homelessness; and collaboration in the sector. The Foundation plans to sponsor four more sessions this year, some of which likely will be tied to new community programs in development.

Triangle Community Foundation is a nonprofit that manages over $160 million in funds established by families, businesses, individuals, and organizations. From these funds, it makes grants to nonprofit organizations and administers a variety of programs for the community’s benefit. The Foundation manages over 790 funds, ranging in size from $10,000 to $7 million, mainly for the benefit of Wake, Durham, Orange and Chatham counties. During the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the Foundation granted more than $13 million to nonprofits, schools and community efforts.

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