Types of Funds

The Columbus Foundation offers a range of charitable fund types that can be used for individuals, families, and businesses.  We can help you choose the one best suited for you. You can set up your fund with cash, appreciated property, real estate or other assets. 

Charitable fund types the Foundation has to offer:

  • Donor Advised Funds centers around the causes and organizations—in central Ohio and beyond—that you care about. You realize tax savings now, and on your own schedule make giving decisions to the organizations you choose and let The Columbus Foundation handle the administrative details. Donor Advised Funds are especially useful for donors who want to take a charitable deduction one year and make distributions over several years.

  • Scholarship Funds supports any level of education and can be awarded to students based on the criteria you establish: a particular school, major, specific need, academic achievement, or graduating from a specific high school or geographic area. We offer ScholarLink, an online searchable database for students searching for scholarships.

  • Designated Funds focuses on specific nonprofit organizations or institutions you name as grant recipients when you establish your fund. These charities will benefit from your fund during your lifetime and beyond.

  • Field of Interest Funds are devoted to a specific cause that you name. It can be a particular issue or geographic area.

  • Organization Endowment Funds allows a nonprofit to establish an endowment fund and help create sustainability for their organizations.  The Columbus Foundation offers access to our charitable gift annuity programs to those who have organization endowment funds where the remaining portion of the gift annuity can benefit your organization. Nonprofits can also receive income distributions on a semiannual or annual basis from their endowment fund.

  • Unrestricted Funds addresses the evolving needs of greater central Ohio during your lifetime and beyond. Grants from unrestricted funds are awarded on a competitive basis through applications from local nonprofit that are researched and evaluated by The Columbus Foundation’s grants management team.

  • Administrative Funds help The Columbus Foundation support its programs and services, which permits the Foundation to charge minimal fees to the funds entrusted to it for charitable purposes. The Columbus Foundation's operating budget is less than one percent of its assets.

  • Supporting Foundations are separate foundations that offer a perfect opportunity for individuals, families, and companies interested in contributing larger amounts to promote family involvment, provide a distinct identity, and flexible investment objectives.

    Find out more about the types of gifts we accept and the different ways we accept them through our Gift Acceptance Policy.

To learn more, contact a member of our Donor Services team at 614/251-4000 or by e-mail. Or, if you are interested in becoming a donor, please complete this brief Become a Donor form and a Donor Services officer will respond within the next business day.