Contact: Dale Dombrowski
The Mississippi State University Foundation has announced its newly created donor-advised fund giving program, according to Dennis Prescott, vice president for external affairs.
The program offers the benefits of a private philanthropic foundation without the associated start-up, administrative and maintenance costs.
"While this is new for Mississippi State, it's been around for some time, mostly in community foundations," said Prescott. "Probably the best-known donor-advised fund is the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund."
Through the program, a donor creates a personal advisory committee--usually made up of family members--authorized to make recommendations to the distribution committee of the donor-advised fund program. During the donor's lifetime, he/she is allowed to make distribution recommendations to the program's disbursement committee. Following the donor's death, the advisory committee may continue to make recommendations regarding charitable distributions from the fund.
A minimum initial gift of $10,000 is required to participate. Additional contributions must be at least $1,000 and the minimum disbursement is $1,000 per not-for-profit entity.
Prescott said many MSU contributors should find the new service attractive because it enables them to "park" their money before deciding what to do with it. By way of example, he said an individual planning charitable donations prior to the end of a calendar year can contribute to their donor-advised fund and enjoy a current-year tax deduction, yet defer to a future date the decision of which charity or charities will receive the gift.
"Even though a donor may recommend a distribution to any qualified charitable organization, we feel that, since most of our gifts will come from alumni, the majority of the recommendations will be directed to MSU programs. However, it is available to non-alumni as well," Prescott said.
Membership to the personal advisory committee may extend to the donor's grandchildren, as long as they were born while the original donor is living, he added.
The donor-advised fund will terminate only when the enrolled amount falls below $5,000 and no recommendations are received from the donor advisory committee for a three-year period. Should this occur, the remaining fund assets revert to the MSU Foundation.
For more information, call (toll-free) 1-877-MSSTATE [1-877-667-8383] or (662) 325-3410.