Dear Friends,
As the number of COVID cases decline and people become fully vaccinated, we’re all finding what normal looks like. At MCF, our team is returning to work in the office, and our offices will soon reopen to the public.
While our work environment has been anything but normal this year, the work we do remains consistent with what we’ve done for more than thirty years – Creating a culture of giving so Montana communities can flourish. We are working to inspire giving for the good of Montana forever.
One way we do that is by working with people who establish Donor Advised Funds. In recent months, Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) have come under a lot of fire from critics saying they are sitting on too much money and need additional time requirements for grantmaking. You may have read our guest editorial in a local paper earlier this month. In it, we highlight how grantmaking from these funds, specifically during the pandemic, tells a different story.
The Montana Community Foundation (MCF) currently has approximately $36 million in 150 permanently endowed Donor Advised Funds. Because these funds are endowed, Montana benefits from this generosity forever. Annually, MCF awards approximately $1.6 million to charities from DAFs. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, DAFs awarded $250,000 more than the previous year during the same period to help charities struggling through the pandemic.
This speaks to the effectiveness of DAFs as not only a charitable giving tool but also as a way to deliver financial support to our communities in a great time of need.
I am grateful for our DAF partners. Their generosity matters. It also ensures the work we do at MCF will give for the good of Montana forever.
Thank you for making Montana the great state that it is and for helping to cultivate a culture of giving so Montana communities can flourish.
Sincerely,
