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Foundation CEO Marian Kaanon with Doris Daniel, Ruhi Sheikh and Amanda Hughes.
MODESTO — When Modesto businessman Carl Boyett was looking for a way to organize his fundraising efforts, he turned to the Stanislaus Community Foundation.
“It’s a very interesting concept,” Boyett said. “It’s just an easier way to handle [charitable efforts].”
As CEO of Boyett Petroleum, he created a corporate-advised donor fund with the Stanislaus Community Foundation (SCF). The fund streamlines the philanthropic efforts of his company’s sponsored golf tournament, which allows him to underwrite the event so all the proceeds benefit the fund.
In 2015, that fund is expected to reach $1 million, 10 percent of which will be donated to charitable efforts for disadvantaged youth, Boyett said. The rest of the money will stay in the fund and SCF’s team of investment advisers will grow it through investments to increase donation potential for the following year.
”They have an investment committee that invests the money and tries to maximize the return on it so I can give them the money and know it is going to make money,” Boyett said.
The Stanislaus Community Foundation was organized in 2002 as an independent, 501(c)3 public charity. Over the past 12 years it has granted more than $10 million to nonprofits and scholarship recipients in Stanislaus County. It now has more than 100 charitable funds and totals more than $18 million in assets.
The foundation’s CEO Marian Kaanon said SCF’s purpose is to keep money in Stanislaus County and to transform the community.
“Every day we’re investing in our region,” Kaanon said.
The foundation is in the top 5 percent among community foundations in the United States that house less than $25 million in investments, according to Kaanon. While 700 community foundations exist around the country, SCF is the only one that operates in this area.
SCF handles corporate philanthropic efforts so business owners can focus on running their business, but Kaanon said clients can be as involved in the management of their accounts as they wish. The foundation alleviates donor fatigue by personalizing donation strategies for clients and advising investments. Donors are welcome to change their fund’s direction at any time.
Donor-advised funds, such as the one Boyett set up, are the broadest funds – and the fastest growing.
“[They are] broadly focused and rely on the donor’s goals. Donors do not have to specify a charity or a field of interest,” Kaanon explained.
Boyett said he likes the model because instead of simply giving an annual monetary gift to an organization of his choosing, he is able to grow his investments and essentially save money for his supported groups, donating large chunks to fund specific projects and scholarships.
Boyett operates two additional funds through SCF. One helps the community parks and recreation district to build and improve parks, including Modesto’s first dog park. The other is a general family fund that benefits the arts.
Under a donor-advised fund, a donor — a business, family or individual — puts cash into a fund. That investment is then managed by SCF and money is available to be granted to charities at the fund owner’s discretion. Those types of funds are often used as alternatives to private foundations.
Businesses benefit from investing through SCF because they are working with a nonprofit and donating to other nonprofits, which allows them to take a tax deduction while growing their assets through an investment portfolio.
What Kaanon calls “organized approach to giving” makes business owners more efficient and savvy while benefitting from the foundation’s expertise, she said.
SCF operates many types of funds: unrestricted funds, field of interest funds, scholarship funds, designated funds and agency funds. Of those funds, approximately 30 percent are donor-advised funds and of that 30 percent, 10 percent are created by companies.
SCF focuses its own charitable efforts on raising third-grade reading levels because studies show that children who can’t read by the third grade have increased risk for teen pregnancy and incarceration rates.
According to Kaanon, 60 percent of third grade students in Stanislaus County do not read at grade level. SCF aims to change that statistic through charitable contributions to local libraries, the County Office of Education and the Headstart program.
SCF also supports the First Five initiative, which educates parents, teachers and caregivers on health and nutrition, early literacy and language development, quality child care and smoking cessation.
SCF is located at 1029 16th St. in downtown Modesto. You can learn more about the foundation at the Stanislaus Community Foundation website.
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