Giving Through AAACF
Giving through AAACF is easy. We're here to be your partner in strategic philanthropy and in making a impact on your community.
We have deep expertise and resources for accepting even the most complicated gifts. This allows you to give your most tax-efficient asset, maximizing the tax benefits of your generosity. We will to work with you and your professional advisor to figure out the most appropriate giving and estate plan options.
AAACF manages hundreds of charitable funds on behalf of donors and our community. Interested in creating your own fund? Explore different levels of engagement through our options below, and contact us for a conversation.
These funds support AAACF’s work with community partners and nonprofits in identifying local needs, priorities, and opportunities for innovative solutions. We believe "unrestricted" funds like these maximize community impact by providing the ultimate flexibility for an organization to achieve its mission, while still maintaining broad accountability. The lower threshold for establishing a permanent named fund allows for broader representation of donors who are investing in our community’s vibrancy.
Donors to these funds designate a specific cause (e.g., early childhood) or a broad area of impact (e.g., arts & culture) they wish to support. AAACF then has the flexibility to award grants to local organizations and programs making a difference in that area.
The minimum for a Nonaligned Field of Impact is $250,000. This level of commitment is necessary so the newly established area will have sufficient funds for making impactful grants each year. Currently aligned areas are: arts, equity, environment, human services, seniors, and youth.
The minimum for a Advised Field of Impact is $1,000,000
An attractive alternative to private foundations or a commercial gift fund, an AAACF donor advised fund provides donors with the flexibility to recommend grants to their favorite nonprofits, locally and beyond.
A secure online giving portal allows donors to direct their charitable giving from one place. Donors can also leverage AAACF’s in-depth local knowledge for identifying grant opportunities to maximize impact.
Donors can support a favorite nonprofit or community organization by creating a designated endowment for that agency, thus providing a permanent income stream.
To help increase college access and graduation rates for students in Washtenaw County with the greatest need, the Community Scholarship Program (CSP) awards four-year scholarships to students representing any of three criteria: youth from low-income families, youth of color, and first-generation college students. New funds are all established within the CSP.
These gifts help support AAACF operations and community leadership efforts.
We have hundreds of funds already established ranging from supporting the mission of a specific local nonprofit to helping broad areas of impact to funding the foundation directly for flexibility in addressing the greatest needs identified for our community at any given time.
We have many options for how ever you want to give. Whether you prefer giving online with credit card or e-check, giving with stocks or mutual funds, leaving a legacy from your will or estate, or giving a more traditional cash or check gift, we can accommodate you.
Have a different way you want to give? Talk to one of our Philanthropy experts!
Make a Lasting Impact
Giving unrestricted support does not mean that there is no accountability! Unrestricted support maintains broad accountability while providing the ultimate flexibility for an organization to achieve its mission—with AAACF, this is expressed through grantmaking that is broad, diverse and constantly adapting to an evolving community. We term our unrestricted funds as Community Impact Funds for this reason. Our competitive grantmaking comprises dozens of such named permanent funds that are collectively pooled for greater impact and distributed as a percentage annually to nonprofit grantees determined by a committee of community volunteers.