Undesignated Funds
Berks County Community Foundation provides funding for special needs in the community through a permanent endowment made up of Undesignated Funds. Undesignated funds offer the broadest giving option, allowing grants to be made wherever our professional staff determines our community's needs are the greatest. Donors who chose to give to undesignated funds give to the future needs of the county, no matter what those needs may be.

Field of Interest Funds
Field of Interest Funds focus on areas of special concern for the donor. Grants from these funds are made to meet community needs within that special area of concern, such as the arts, the environment, children's issues or education.

Donor Advised Funds
Through Donor Advised Funds, the donor recommends organizations to which grants should be made. The Community Foundation considers that advice when making grant determinations from the fund. Donors may also designate an advising successor. At the end of the advisement period, the fund will become either a Field of Interest or an Undesignated Fund. To learn more about Donor Advised Funds, click here.

Scholarship Funds
Scholarship and award funds for Berks County students often carry the name of the donor, school district, or field of education that the scholarship or award serves. In most cases, an application and selection committee from the donorís family, designated school, or field of interest is assigned to coordinate the scholarship or award process.

Designated Funds
Designated Funds allow donors to name specific public benefit organizations as recipients of the distributions generated by the fund. Donors to small agencies find designated funds an efficient way to ensure that the dollars are professionally managed. Designated funds let donors support specific organizations while the Community Foundation makes sure the grants remain relevant over time and responsive to changing circumstances.

Memorial Funds
Memorial Funds are charitable accounts set up through the Community Foundation to accept donations in memory of someone who has died. Those donations are then used to benefit a charity or cause the person cared about. Memorial Funds are particularly beneficial to families when a loved one dies unexpectedly. The family can set up the fund while making funeral arrangements and decide later how gifts can be used to best honor their loved one and celebrate the way he or she lived.

Pass-through Funds
Although the Community Foundation was established to develop and manage permanent endowments, donors may choose to use the Community Foundation as a conduit for pass-through gifts. This mechanism allows a donor to make an anonymous gift when the distribution is dependant upon certain achievements (such as a challenge grant).
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To determine the method, or mix of methods, that make the most sense for structuring a gift through Berks County Community Foundation, this information should be reviewed with a competent financial, tax or estate planner.