For Non-Profits

The new Colleague Program provides local nonprofit organizations with outright and planned giving resources for gifts they might not otherwise be able to obtain, and offers a special co-operative advertising program to increase awareness of your services.

The mission of the Community West Foundation is to advance the health and well being of our community. The Community West Foundation plays a vital role in health and wellness solutions raising, managing and distributing funds for a wide range of programs throughout the western Greater Cleveland community, and for Fairview Hospital and Lutheran Hospital.

The Colleague Program is a program of sharing – sharing gift planning knowledge and expertise. Our belief is that if we help a charitable organization in our community complete a gift, a charity that may not have a gift planning officer on staff, we have also helped ourselves.

Outright gifts occur during the donor’s lifetime, and may include gifts such as real estate, stocks and bonds, mutual funds and life insurance. Planned gifts are gifts that will pay out after a donor’s lifetime. They may or may not include a provision for a lifetime income stream to the donor, as in the case of a charitable remainder trust; or they may be as simple as a bequest left in a Will.

Some planned gifts, such as charitable remainder trusts and gift annuities, require an annual tax return to be filed. Setting up a planned gift usually incurs fees and expenses, such as attorney fees for document review and preparation. This can be a hardship to a smaller charitable organization. The Community West Foundation can help.

What we will do:

• Meet with you and your donor to help design a gift to fit their needs.
• Run sample gift illustrations to provide you with an accurate picture of the financial and philanthropic impact of the gift.
• Handle the administrative work surrounding the gift.
• Effectively handle the transfer of appreciated securities, real estate, etc.
• Work with you in drafting documents, provide you with sample trust agreements and draft bequest language that meets the specific needs of your organization and your donor.

Because of the complexity of planned gifts from annuities to charitable remainder unitrusts to donations of real estate, the fee schedule for assistance with gift planning and administration will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

What you will do:

• Establish a gift planning program, which has been approved by your Board, to accept outright and planned gifts.
• Create a gift acceptance policy and procedures manual for accepting gifts for your organization.

Colleague Program Media Release Form
Click here for Colleague Media Release Form in Adobe pdf format