SUPPORTING YOUR CHARITIES

You have the privilege of recommending grants to sectarian and nonsectarian organizations subject to review of each organization’s tax-exempt charitable status and approval by our Board of Trustees. You may recommend as many grants as you wish at no extra charge, although the amount of each grant must not be less than the minimum established for your fund type (i.e., $36 for Children’s Giving Funds; $100 for wedding and memorial funds; $180 for all other funds). Both income and principal are available for grant distribution.

GRANTMAKING GUIDELINES

The following guidelines are designed to streamline the administration of your grant recommendations and ensure compliance with the laws governing donor-advised funds.

LANGUAGE OF RECOMMENDATION. You may recommend grants from your fund by accessing our web site (www.jewishcommunalfund.org) or by sending us your grant recommendation in writing. All grant recommendations must include the following language:

I recommend the following grants ….

By signing this form, I hereby certify that neither I nor anyone else will receive any personal benefit from the recommended charitable organization. This includes, for example, payment for dinners, events, and memberships that have a non-deductible portion; tuition; and goods at a charitable auction. In addition, this grant recommendation is not in payment of an enforceable pledge and is not made for lobbying purposes or to support a political campaign. I understand and acknowledge that I cannot claim a charitable deduction for grants made by JCF.

Additional certifications may be required, particularly with respect to grants to "supporting organizations," as described below. We have pre-printed forms that you may use and are pleased to provide them upon request. Alternatively, you may download grant recommendations from our website or type this language on your own letterhead.

Grant recommendations that do not include this language will be declined and you will be asked to resubmit the grant recommendation using this language.

ELIGIBLE CHARITABLE ORGNIZATIONS. Each organization recommended by you is reviewed by our staff for its tax-exempt status and official mailing address. All grants issued by the Jewish Communal Fund must be made to organizations that qualify as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are classified as public charities or private operating foundations. We do not make grants to individuals, private non-operating foundations, "controlled" type 1 or type II supporting organizations, type III supporting organizations that are not functionally integrated, or overseas organizations, although grants may be made to qualified U.S. public charities that support overseas charitable activities such as "American Friends of" organizations.

New provisions in the laws governing charitable institutions impose restrictions and penalties pertaining to grants from donor-advised funds and private foundations to certain types of organizations falling under section 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, commonly known as supporting organizations. As a result of this new law, grant recommendations to all supporting organizations will require additional review and certification, thus increasing the time required to process such recommendations. Longer processing times may also be required for grants to governmental and religious organizations.

CHARITABLE PURPOSE. The Jewish Communal Fund can make grants only for charitable purposes and may not be earmarked for the benefit of any particular individuals or families. In the case of a scholarship, grants can be made to a general scholarship fund of a public charity where the recipient is selected by the grantee through a fair competitive process. If a donor requests that a grant be used by the grantee for a particular purpose, the Jewish Communal Fund assumes no responsibility for enforcing compliance by the grantee with the specified purpose.

The Jewish Communal Fund cannot issue grants that personally benefit a donor or related party. This includes requests to pay for dinners, events, and memberships that have a non-deductible portion; tuition; and goods at a charitable auction. If you wish to accept tickets to a charitable event or membership privileges associated with a charitable donation, you may not use your donor-advised fund. If you recommend a grant with the intention of providing such a benefit, you may be subject to penalty excise taxes. However, you may use your fund if you decline any tickets or tangible benefits associated with your charitable donation.

Additionally, grants cannot be made for lobbying purposes or to support political campaigns.

REGARDING PLEDGES. The Jewish Communal Fund cannot fulfill enforceable pledges of financial support on behalf of its donors. If a charitable organization seeks a pledge from you, you may advise the charity that you intend to recommend a grant from your donor-advised fund or you may use one of our pre-printed "This Is Not A Pledge" cards. We also ask that you kindly refrain from sending pledge cards, reservation forms, journal ads, or similar correspondence to us, as we are unable to forward these to grantee institutions on your behalf.

IMPACT ON THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. The Jewish Communal Fund is deeply committed to supporting causes that promote the welfare and security of the Jewish community here and abroad. Consequently, as part of the grant review process, the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Communal Fund retains the right to deny any grant request where the purposes and activities of the beneficiary institution are deemed to be adverse to the interests of the Jewish community.

OTHER DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS. The mission and policy of the Jewish Communal Fund is to facilitate the distribution of philanthropic dollars to charitable organizations for charitable purposes. In order for a grant to be made to another donor-advised fund, the grant recommendation must indicate a specific charitable program that is administered by the grantee institution; otherwise, it will not be honored.

MINIMUM PAYOUT. In keeping with its mission, the Jewish Communal Fund is committed to the support of voluntary organizations - sectarian and nonsectarian - that respond to needs in all sectors of society. As such, it is our goal to have grants from the Jewish Communal Fund, in the aggregate, exceed 5% of the annual net assets averaged over a fiscal five-year period. Historically, the Jewish Communal Fund has distributed approximately 25% of its net assets to charities each year. We encourage our donors to utilize their funds as an active and integral part of their charitable gift planning on an ongoing basis. If no grants are made from a fund during a 12-month period, we will send a reminder to the persons on the fund who are authorized to recommend grants. Annual reminders will be sent for three consecutive years in which there is no grant activity. At the end of the third year, the Jewish Communal Fund will contact all persons authorized to recommend grants and provide them with grant recommendation opportunities. If no grant recommendation is made within 60 days, the Board of Trustees may grant 20% of that fund's net assets to the JCF Special Gifts Fund. The JCF Special Gifts Fund is an endowment of the Jewish Communal Fund that provides funding for select projects in the Jewish community. Distributions from the JCF Special Gifts Fund are made at the discretion of the Board of Trustees.

TERMINATION OF PRIVILEGES OF RECOMMENDATION. The Trustees may terminate any privileges with respect to a donor-advised fund upon 90 days prior written notice to a donor. If, in the judgment of the Board of Trustees, it is in the best interests of the Jewish Communal Fund to terminate such privileges immediately, the Board reserves the right to do so.

PROCESSING YOUR GRANT RECOMMENDATIONS

REVIEW PROCESS. Grant recommendations are processed by staff members who verify that all of the above guidelines have been met. Grant checks are mailed to qualified grantee organizations typically within 3 business days. Grant processing time may take longer in the event additional review is required to determine a charity's legal status or clarification is needed with respect to your grant recommendation. In either case, a member of our staff will notify you generally within 5 business days of receipt of your grant recommendation and keep you apprised of continuing efforts to obtain the necessary information to approve the grant. All qualified grant recommendations are submitted to the Charitable Distribution Committee of the Jewish Communal Fund for approval.

HOW GRANTS ARE PAID. All grants are made from the JCF TempFund. If there are insufficient funds in the TempFund to cover grants and other expenses, we will liquidate your investment alternatives, restore the required minimum balance in the TempFund, and notify you of the transaction. Sales of the assets in the investment alternatives are made on a proportional basis, unless the Investment Committee authorizes such sales to be made in a different order.

GRANT LETTER. When a check is sent, it is accompanied by a letter giving recognition to the donor-advised fund from which the grant was made, and advising the beneficiary institution of the name and address of the individual to be thanked for the recommendation. The check itself bears the name of the Jewish Communal Fund, as well as the name of the donor-advised fund. If you prefer a grant to be sent anonymously, please alert us in your grant recommendation and we will refrain from mentioning your name, address and fund name in our correspondence to the beneficiary institution.

Grant statements detailing the grants made from your fund are mailed bi-weekly. For immediate tracking information, please log into our secure website, where you will see when the grant recommendation was received, when the check was printed, and whether the charity deposited the check.

Please remember that grants made from your donor-advised fund do not entitle you to an additional charitable deduction. Your charitable gift deduction was available at the time you contributed assets to your fund.