Your Community Foundation is there to help connect your desire to give with needs that are important to you. Below are some of the most common questions we receive. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at . Our staff is happy to help you achieve your charitable giving goals.
What does “Greater Jackson” mean?
We define Greater Jackson as the tri-county area of Hinds, Madison, and Rankin Counties and including our capital city. However, at your request, grants from your fund can be distributed to a charity outside this service area. Our donor-advised funds support important work nationally and internationally.

How much money is required to start a fund?
The minimum gift to establish a named fund is $25,000, but donations of any size can be made to existing funds.

Which types of assets will the Community Foundation accept?
We recognize that each individual, family, or organization has unique financial circumstances. We want to work with you to receive the greatest return on your community investment. We accept outright gifts of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets. Many donors establish funds in their wills or add to existing funds through testamentary bequests. Charitable funds can be established or funded through or insurance policies, gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, or charitable lead trusts. Our staff can help you navigate these planned giving options.

Can I be involved in how funds are distributed?
Our goal is to create plans that honor the wishes of our donors. When you establish a fund, you can choose from a number of options. If you want to be involved in how your funds are awarded, a donor-advised fund, designated fund, or field of interest fund may be right for you. A donor-advised fund allows you to remain continually involved in the use of your gift. You submit your suggestions for approval and we then distribute the grant monies. A designated fund directs your gift to a specific charity or purpose. You identify the recipient(s) you want to benefit through your gift and we make the annual distribution. A field of interest fund targets your gift to address needs in an area of community life of personal interest to you, such as the arts, at-risk youth, or education. Our Board then awards grants to community agencies serving the area you select.

How will I know which organizations are doing good work?
Our professional grant-making and programming staff has intimate knowledge of our community’s nonprofit sector and can help you select the charities doing work that is important to you. Or, if you establish an unrestricted fund, your gift can be used to meet the community’s ever-changing needs, both present and future. We evaluate our communities' needs – the arts, culture, education, economic development, environment, health, neighborhood revitalization, and more. By making an unrestricted gift, you allow our program staff flexibility in evaluating and responding to the community’s most pressing needs.

Additionally, if you’d like to see a list of specific needs of our grantees and grant applicants with which you might be able to assist  << Click Here >>

Who gives to the Community Foundation?
The Community Foundation's work is supported by our Members who make donations which help cover our operating expenses.


What is an endowment?
The definition of “endow” is “to provide an income”. Donors who intend to establish permanent giving funds often use endowments. When a donor opens an endowed fund with us, the initial money, or principal, is deposited and invested by professional money managers using guidelines established by the Board of the Foundation. Each year, the beneficiary of the fund may receive up to 5% of the fund.

Through prudent investing overseen by our Board, the annual contribution from an endowed fund to the grantee is expected to through the years.

That is the power of an endowment.
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