Program areas at Community Foundation of the Verdugos
Donor restricted passthough fund and endowment fund grants: provided awards to qualified charitable institutions in accordance with the wishes and advice of donors. Grants are made from passthrough funds and endowment funds. Each "advisement" must meet guidelines outlined by the Foundation, which includes that the recipient charitable institution be in good standing, and that the grant is going toward a charitable purpose or need. the Foundation must also assure that the grant is not intended to cover the costs of event tickets in which a benefit may be received by the donors, advisors, or any related parties. Further, these grants cannot provide the donors, advisors, or any related parties with any benefit that could be defined as a grant, loan, compensation, or similar payments. Further the Foundation must also ensure that the grant does not represent the payment of any legally binding pledge or other financial obligation of the donors, advisors, or any related parties. Each fund is tracked individually using fund accounting best practices. Therefore, the two staff members spend considerable time managing and recording transactions and activities from different funds each month.
Unrestricted and board designated grants: providing awards to charitable organizations (upon their submission of an application to one competitive grantmaking cycle annually). There are two staff members employed to assist with the Foundation's annual operations. Grants are made for the physical, social, mental, and educational well-being of residents residing in burbank, glendale and the foothill communities of la canada, la crescenta, montrose, and verdugo city including communities surrounding this area. Grants are made to area nonprofits for programs and services ranging from healthcare needs and social services, to the arts, education, civic needs, and environmental and animal welfare services. Because of the complexity of tracking expenses spent in the issuance of grants (and in the requesting of follow-up reports from nonprofits receiving grants) and in tracking expenses spent in the cultivation of donors wishing to implement a donor advised fund, tracking specific activities to each grant or donor relation would be impractical. the Foundation does not do annual campaigns or galas or other fundraising activities that many nonprofits take part in but, rather, relies more on building one-on -one relationships with donors and prospective donors through planned giving and bequest efforts.
Scholarships (grants): amounts are paid directly to educational institutions upon receipt of proof of enrollment of recipient students. Amounts are never paid directly to an individual. the scholarship program runs all year long with all two staff involved in some or all aspects of the activities. the scholarship program is a larger part of the Foundation's work and no fundraising activities take place as the purpose is to issue scholarships/grants from funds that are restricted. There are costs associated with this overall program that are incorporated into the operational budget for the Foundation.