Types of Funds

The Genesis Fund, the Foundation’s unrestricted pool, is a communal source for research, development and special projects funding, providing support to a wide variety of communal projects. Genesis Fund grants seed innovation as its corpus endures to sustain community. Gifts to the Genesis Fund provide a unique and valuable resource for the Richmond Jewish community. No other fund has the flexibility or freedom to provide such invaluable aid. The committee based grant-making process serves as an incubator of new ideas, initiatives and special projects to benefit Jewish community.

A Field of Interest Fund may be one used for particular populations, such as our children or the elderly, or it may focus on issues, such as those that are Israel related, support for the arts, Holocaust, Jewish education, community relations, special needs or another general area or purpose. Such funds give Richmond Jewish Foundation the discretion to name the particular beneficiary charity that will receive a grant from such a fund in a given year. A Field of Interest Fund allows you or your family to create a permanent resource earmarked with a specific philanthropic mission for a challenge or opportunity that is especially close to your heart. When you support a class of charitable beneficiaries, or purposes, you allow for some uncertainty about the future while recognizing that Richmond Jewish Foundation will always be here to determine where the dollars are needed most. Establishing a Field of Interest Fund can offer a meaningful legacy specific enough to suit your heartfelt priorities and general enough to accommodate a future certain to be marked by change. The Foundation determines the specific recipient organizations or programs in the field of interest specified by the donor. Donations to an existing Field of Interest Fund serve as an appropriate way to honor a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, an engagement, a special joy, a tender loss or another occasion.

Donors of the Richmond Jewish Foundation may choose to provide support to the collective needs of the community, or they may develop a Special Purpose Fund for a particular organization, program, service, or cause. Donations to Special Purpose Funds are a meaningful way to honor a birthday or other life event or to memorialize the death of a friend or relative.

Annual giving to the Campaign, administered by the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, contributes to a secure, vibrant and growing community. Funds at Richmond Jewish Foundation to endow the Annual Campaign commitments are known as Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowments (PACE) and Lion of Judah Endowments (LOJE). Such funds will maintain for Jewish causes in Richmond, Israel and around the world. This is one way to give through the Foundation to provide for our community. For a woman to be recognized as a LOJE – Lion of Judah Endowment – a commitment to an Annual Campaign Continuity Fund of at least $125,000 is required. LOJE donors can wear the Or L’Atid (light of the future) flame on their Lion of Judah pin.

A gift of life insurance, designating the Foundation as an irrevocable beneficiary or the owner and beneficiary of a new or existing policy, is an excellent method, especially for younger donors, for providing a substantial future endowment contribution. The cash surrender value of the policy and all premiums paid from the date of the gift are tax deductible.

Ezra Charitable Gift Annuities enable the donor to make a meaningful gift, receive a fixed income stream for life and derive significant income tax benefits. Ezra the Scribe was known for his commitment to rebuilding the Temple. An Ezra Charitable Gift Annuity can enable you to help build our Jewish community. As an Ezra donor, you can balance your individual financial needs with your charitable interests. The payment may continue after the donor’s death to a surviving spouse. In addition to the charitable income tax deduction realized in the year the gift is made, and the cash savings from the tax deduction, a portion of the annuity payment is generally tax-free, since a portion of the income constitutes a return of principal. An Ezra Annuity not only benefits the annuitants (which could be the donors themselves) while they are living, but also allows the donors to leave a legacy. Upon the death of the annuitants, the remaining amount of the annuity is gifted to the Foundation and it may establish a permanent fund to benefit an affiliated Jewish charity of the donor’s choice.

Through Charitable Remainder Trusts, Richmond Jewish Foundation helps philanthropic Jews balance their personal financial needs with their obligation to Tzedakah (charity or justice). These trusts generate income to meet immediate needs or those of loved ones, while creating a lasting endowment ready to respond to future needs and issues confronting the Jewish community. To establish a Charitable Remainder Trust, a donor sets aside cash, securities, real estate or other valuable property in a fund administered by the Foundation. The donor decides who will receive income from the funds, how that income will be distributed, and over what period of time. After all benefits are paid to one or more family members, or other person or persons selected by the donor, the remaining funds are utilized for charitable purposes according to the donor’s stated desire. Many choose for at least a portion of the funds to become part of the Foundation’s permanent unrestricted fund (the Genesis Fund). Charitable Remainder Trusts trusteed by Richmond Jewish Foundation provide the benefits of income back to the donor or others for life or a term of years, significant current and future tax savings and a remainder that can create a permanent endowment for your favorite charity or charities.

One of the most satisfying aspects of philanthropy is the ability of the donor to participate in the grant-making process. Donor Advised Funds represent a unique opportunity to do just that and can be established with a minimum gift of $5,000. Under our Donor Advised Fund program, donors or their designees make recommendations for grants to qualified charities. These funds support social service programs, education, the arts and many other sectarian and non-sectarian causes. Most importantly, they are a substantial source of support for our affiliating agencies, synagogues, special program grants throughout our community, the Foundation’s own Genesis Fund, additions to the Foundation’s Special Purpose Funds as well as for gifts to the Federation’s Annual Campaign.DOWNLOAD DAF RECOMMENDATION FORM

You can create a permanent legacy by deciding to leave a bequest to the Richmond Jewish Foundation of a specific amount of cash, a percentage of your estate or the remainder of your estate, in your will or living trust. You may make a gift as large or as small as you’d like. You may choose to make a gift of cash, securities, or other property–and your estate will receive a tax deduction in the amount of your charitable bequest. If you have already drafted your will, your attorney can help you arrange a charitable bequest with a simple amendment, or codicil. You can use the following language to create a charitable bequest in your will:UNRESTRICTED BEQUESTS:  Provide income for the Jewish community each year in perpetuity by making a general bequest:

I bequeath $_______ (or _____% of my residuary estate) to Richmond Jewish Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, for its general purposes.

FIELD OF INTEREST BEQUESTS: Create an endowment to make yearly contributions in perpetuity for a Field of Interest Fund:

I bequeath $_______ (or _____% of my residuary estate) to the Richmond Jewish Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, to be used to endow the following field of interest: __________ (such as charitable needs in Israel, Jewish education, seniors, children, community relations, tolerance, women’s philanthropy, athletics, capital projects, etc.)

SPECIAL PURPOSES: Support a specific agency or cause of interest to you every year, in perpetuity, with a designated bequest to establish an endowment fund:

I give $________ (or ______% of my residuary estate) to the Richmond Jewish Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, to be added to and administered as part of an endowment fund to support the following agency or cause of interest___________ .