When you create a charitable fund through the Henderson Community Foundation, you have the opportunity to benefit the community forever with a permanent endowment. Your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift—and future earnings from your gift—is a permanent source of community capital, helping do good work today and in the future.

One gift, many generations. Consider how an endowment gift can grow. If you make a $100,000 gift this year, 15 years from now, the fund you establish may have a balance of $158,000 and may have distributed more than your initial gift amount in grants. In 25 years, your initial gift amount may have been given away twice. And by year 50, your fund may have a balance of $455,000 and may have made cumulative grants of $627,000—a philanthropic rate of return of nearly 1,000 percent in grants and growth. This example assumes a 5 percent annual payout and an 8.5 percent rate of return.

Legacy and stability. Donors who endow their gifts can make a difference in their community during their lifetime and, at the same time, provide a gift that lasts forever. Grants will continue to be made in the name of the fund you establish so that your charitable wishes are preserved, even if an organization receiving grants ceases to exist in the future.

Nonprofit leaders may also look to the Foundation to hold their organizations’ endowments because they know that having a constant source of funding helps them respond to emergency needs as well as plan for the future and sustain the good work they do.

Expert help. When donors or nonprofit organizations work through the Foundation to achieve their charitable goals, they benefit from the expertise of experienced local professionals, community leadership, and investment management.