Funds & Giving Options

Every individual, family and corporate donor has unique interests, assets and circumstances. That’s why our custom fund vehicles, from scholarships to donor advised funds, allow for flexibility and a host of solutions for your giving. We also accept a wide range of asset types, including ones that many commercial brokerage firms are unable to accommodate.

Fund Types
Donor Advised Fund

A donor advised fund is a flexible giving vehicle that offers immediate tax benefits and allows donors to support the charities of their choice on their own schedule through grant recommendations.

Private Foundation Alternative Fund

A private foundation alternative fund enables donors to facilitate their family’s charitable giving activities without all the administrative and management burdens of a traditional private family foundation.

  • Private Foundation Alternative Fact Sheet Download Download
Unrestricted Fund

Unrestricted funds allow donors to ensure their gifts go to support the most pressing community needs and the most effective solutions, however they may change over time. The Future of L.A. Fund is a special unrestricted fund that provides a simple and efficient giving mechanism for donors who want to focus their gifts on high-priority needs within Los Angeles County as identified by CCF’s expert advisors.

Field of Interest Fund

A field of interest fund allows donors to make an impact on their area of interest without committing to any specific organization by authorizing CCF’s experts to issue appropriate grants on their behalf. For example, if you wish to support children’s health, CCF staff will identify the most effective organizations working in the field to receive your funds. If the issue area changes, as when orphanages were replaced by the foster care system, our staff will work to seek out new organizations whose work fulfills your original charitable intent.

Restricted Fund

A restricted fund empowers donors to support specific organizations of their choosing through regular grant making without having to manually execute recommendations for every grant occurrence.

Scholarship Fund

A scholarship fund lets donors choose a fund option, establish criteria and determine their own degree of involvement while supporting students of any age, background or education level.

  • Committee Advised Scholarship Fund Fact Sheet Download Download
  • Discretionary Scholarship Fund Fact Sheet Download Download
  • Restricted Scholarship Fund Fact Sheet Download Download
Charitable Asset Management Partnership (ChAMP)

Charitable Asset Management Partnership (ChAMP) is a customized investment option for donors who prefer to have their own trusted financial advisor manage the majority of their charitable assets. It provides comparable benefits to a private foundation or scholarship fund along with a full range of supporting services. The minimum initial gift is $500,000.

Asset Types
Cash

Cash gifts allow donors to claim a current tax deduction of up to 60 percent of adjusted gross income and carry forward contributions exceeding that limit for up to five subsequent tax years.

Cryptocurrency

Email donorrelations@calfund.org for more information.

Real Estate

A gift of commercial or residential real estate owned for more than a year entitles the owner to a tax deduction for the property’s full fair market value while allowing the owner to avoid capital gains tax.

Publicly Traded Securities & Mutual Fund Shares

Gifts of publicly traded securities and mutual fund shares qualify donors for an immediate charitable deduction of the full fair market value and an exemption from capital gains tax on the appreciation.

  • Instructions for Contributions of Public Security Certificates, Stocks and Bonds Download Download
  • Instructions for Electronic Transfer of Stocks and Bonds Download Download
Closely Held Stock

Closely held stock creates liquidity for charitable giving with illiquid assets while avoiding capital gains taxes, minimizing or eliminating estate taxes, and maximizing the tax deductibility of the donation.

Retirement Plan Assets

Charitable contributions of various forms of retirement plan assets assist donors in reducing or eliminating income and estate taxes while simultaneously providing for the causes they support.

Partnership Interests

Donations of partial interests from an investment or business partnership permit donors to retain partial ownership of their business interests while also pursuing their charitable passions.

Bequests

Bequests enable donors to support the community while retaining complete control over assets during their lifetime through a living trust or will while earning a full charitable deduction on estate taxes.

Other Complex Assets

We specialize in simplifying the process of converting complex assets into charitable contributions. From commercial real estate to partnership interests, we accept a broad range of asset gifts that many commercial brokerage firms do not have the ability or the experience to accommodate.

Explore Funds

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Search or select a category to browse our diverse fund portfolio.
Search or select a category to browse our diverse fund portfolio.

Digital Equity Initiative

Los Angeles’ low-income communities and communities of color have seen systemic underinvestment in the basic infrastructure that drives the internet, leaving those communities with slower, less reliable, and more expensive internet. CCF’s Digital Equity Initiative is focused on system-change solutions to the digital divide.

Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative (NSI)

The Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative (NSI) is an LA-based fund that invests in nonprofit resiliency during moments of organizational transformation. The NSI is supported by 20 different foundations and fiscally sponsored by the California Community Foundation.

Fellowship for Visual Artists

Support the Fellowship for Visual Artist (FVA) Program 2022-23 FVA Fellows Behind the beauty, emotion, or social commentary of any work of art is an artist. Since 1988, the California Community Foundation (CCF) has proudly supported the Fellowship for Visual Artists and provided more than $3 million in unrestricted funding to over 300 local artists. We invite you to support the FVA program and the unique ecosystem of talented artists in Los Angeles. Why Invest in Artists? With your support, you can provide stability and security to artists so they are able to pursue their art as a full-time career. Whether it allows an artist to pay for materials or working space, an investment in an FVA fellow is an investment in the rich arts culture of Los Angeles. Our artists must thrive if Los Angeles wants to remain one of the world’s great creative cities. How Can I Support? Donors interested in supporting the FVA program can contribute in the following ways: Sponsor a Fellow Provide funding criteria to CCF to sponsor an FVA fellow at $40,000. This is a unique opportunity to sponsor a fellow and support a specific art discipline, artist identity or community. Become a Sustaining Member of the FVA Program Provide general support at any amount to continue to strengthen the operations of the fellowship. With your support, you can provide stability and security to fellows so they can pursue their art full-time and access professional development opportunities. Leave an Arts Legacy Join CCF’s Arts Legacy Circle through a planned gift from your estate and enjoy acknowledgments on an ongoing basis in all FVA materials. Support the art disciplines, organizations, and programming you are most passionate about long into the future. “The FVA has been life-changing for me, it not only funded my new ambitious project, but introduced me to an incredible group of LA artists, helped me think about how my paid work and my art practice might grow together, and most importantly offered me a sense of belonging to a community that values and nurtures the arts.” Asher Hartman, 2022-23 FVA Fellow At CCF, we believe Los Angeles is stronger and more vibrant when artists can pursue their passions. To learn more about how you can support the Fellowship for Visual Artists, please contact Erin Limlingan at elimlingan@calfund.org or 213-452-6285.

CA Jobs First

The Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) was created to promote a sustainable and equitable recovery from the economic distress of COVID-19 by supporting new plans and strategies to diversify local economies and develop sustainable industries that create high-quality, broadly accessible jobs for all Californians.

Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation

The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation was established at the California Community Foundation in 1994, named after Walt Disney’s housekeeper for 30 years. It provides support to projects or programs in Los Angeles County that focus on quality arts-based education enrichment activities for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

APABA Scholarship Fund

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County is a member organization comprised of attorneys, judges, legal professionals, and law students throughout Los Angeles County. It is a voice for issues of concern to the Asian Pacific American community.

Anna Cox Health Freedom Fund

Anna Cox passed away peacefully in April of this year. She was a passionate wife, mother, grandmother, friend, colleague and mentor. She led with creativity and wholehearted empathy in all her endeavors.

The Ruby & Hart Foundation

June 12th, 2023 marks the fourth anniversary since a drunk driver took our precious Ruby and Hart from us. Since those horrific, earliest days we’ve been searching for the best way to honor their legacies of joy, empathy, and kindness through some form of lasting philanthropy.

Robert K. Wrede Memorial Fund

Robert K. Wrede, Esq. (Bob to friends and Rob to family) was passionate about music, the ocean and veterans. He reveled in telling stories about attending the Metropolitan Opera as a boy and knew the libretto of every major work.

Torrid Foundation

The Torrid Foundation was established to raise funds through donations and with these funds, partner with nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping women and changing lives, just like us.