GLOSSARY
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
501(c)(3): Section of the Internal Revenue Code that designates an organization as charitable and tax-exempt. Organizations qualifying under this section include religious, educational, charitable, amateur athletic, scientific or literary groups, organizations testing for public safety or organizations involved in prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Most organizations seeking foundation or corporate contributions secure a Section 501(c)(3) classification from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Note: the tax code sets forth a list of sections 501(c)(4-26) to identify other nonprofit organizations whose function is ont solely charitable (e.g. professional or veterans organizations, chambers of commerce, fraternal societies, etc.)
509(a): Section of the tax code that defines public charities (as opposed to private foundations). A 501(c)(3) organization must also have a 509(a) designation to further define the agency as a public charity.
990: The federal information tax return form required of all nonprofit organizations with gross receipts exceeding $25,000.
990-PF: The federal information tax return form used for all private foundations filing under tax-exempt status.
990-T: The federal tax form that must be filed by any nonprofits (including private foundations) that have gross unrelated trade or business income of $1,000 or more (see Unrelated Business Income Tax below).
Affinity Group: A separate and independent coalition of grantmaking institutions, or individuals associated with such institutions, that shares information or provides professional development and networking opportunities to individual grantmakers with a shared interest in a particular subject or funding area.
AGI (Adjusted Gross Income): Inlcudes income from salary and wages, investments and capital gains.
Annual Report: A voluntary report published by a foundation or corporation describing its grant activities. Annual reports range from simple, typed documents listing the year's grants to elaborately detailed publications. A growing number of foundations and corporations use an annual report as an effective means of informing the community about their contributions, activities, policies and guidelines.
Articles of Incorporation: A document filed with the secretary of state or other appropriate state office by persons establishing a corporation. This is the first legal step in forming a nonprofit corporation.
Asset-Based Community Development: Different from "needs-based" assessment, ABCD aims to identify existing community strengths an build upon them.
Assets: Cash, stocks, bonds, real estate or other holdings of a foundation. Generally, assets are invested and the income is used to make grants.
Beneficiary: In philanthropic terms, the donee or grantee receiving funds from a foundation or corporate giving program is the beneficiary, although society benefits as well.
Bequest: A sum of money made available upon the donor's death.
"Bricks and Mortar": An informal term indicating grants for building or construction projects.
Bylaws: Rules governing the operation of a nonprofit corporation. Bylaws often provide the methods for selecting directors, creating committees and conducting meetings.
Capital Campaign: An organized drive to collect and accumulate substantial funds to finance major needs of an organization such as a building or major repair project. Also referred to as a "capital development campaign."
Capital Support: Funds provided for endowment purposes, buildings, construction or equipment.
Case Statement: Used instead of a proposal when conducting capital campaign, the case statement "makes a case" in a clear and compelling way, for a program or project. It states the project's mission and goals and shows how the program will meet those goals.
Challenge Grant: A grant made on the condition that the other funding must be secured, either on a matching basis or via some other formula, usually within a specified period of time, with the objective of stimulating giving from additional sources.
Charity: In its traditional legal meaning, the word "charity" encompasses religion, education, assistance to the government, promotion of health, relief of poverty or distress and other purposes that benefit the community. Nonprofit organizations that are organized and operated to further one of these purposes generally will be recognized as exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and will be eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable gifts.
Committed Funds: A portion of a donor's budget that has already been pledged for future allocation.
Community Foundation: A tax-exempt, nonprofit, autonomous, publicly-supported, philanthropic institution composed primarily of permanent funds established by many separate donors for the long-term, diverse, charitable benefit of the residents of a defined geographic area. Typically, a community foundation serves an area no larger than a state. Community foundations provide an array of services to donors who wish to establish endowed funds without incurring the administrative and legal costs of starting independent foundations.
Community Fund: An organized community program that makes annual appeals to the general public for funds that are usually not retained in an endowment, but are instead used for the ongoing operational support of local agencies.
Company-Sponsored Foundation: Another term for "corporate foundation",
Cooperating Collection: A member of the Foundation Center's network of libraries, community foundations and other nonprofit agencies. This network provides a core collection of Foundation Center publications, as well as other supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers.
Cooperative Venture: A joint effort of two or more grantmakers. Cooperative venture partners may share funding responsibilities or contribute information and technical resources.
Contributions Committee: A corporate group organized to make grant decisions, usually with the guidance of a corporate foundation or contributions administrator. Typical responsibilities include setting and interpreting policy, approving an annual budget and reviewing grant requests.
Corporate Contributions: A general term referring to charitable contributions by a corporation. Usually this term is used to describe cash contributions only, but may also include other items, such as the value of loaned executives, products and services.
Corporate Foundation: A private foundation that derives its grantmaking funds primarily from the contributions of a profit-making business. The company sponsored foundation often maintains close ties with the donor company, but it is a legally separate organization, sometimes with its own endowment, and is subject to the same rules and regulations as other private foundations.
Corporate Giving Program: A grantmaking program established and administered within a profit-making company. Gifts or grants go directly to charitable organizations from the corporation. Corporate giving programs do not have a separate endowment; their expense is planned as part of the company's annual budgeting process and usually is funded with pre-tax income.
Declining Grant: A multi-year grant that becomes smaller each-year, in the expectation that the recipient organization will increase its fundraising from other sources.
Demonstration Grant: A grant made to establish an innovative project or program that, if successful, will serve as a model and may be duplicated by others.
Designated Funds: A type of restricted fund in which the fund beneficiaries are specified by the donor.
Discretionary Funds: Grant funds distributed at the discretion of one or more trustees, which usually do not require prior approval by the full board of directors. The governing board can delegate discretionary authority to staff.
Disqualified Person (private foundation): Substantial contributors to a private foundation, foundation managers, certain public officials, family members of disqualified persons and corporations and partnerships in which disqualified persons hold significant interests. The law bars most financial transactions between disqualified persons and foundations. (See also, 'self-dealing.')
Disqualified Person (public charity): As applied to public charities, the term includes (1) organization managers, (2) any other person who, within the past five years, was in a position to exercise substantial influence over the affairs of the organization, (3) family members of the above, and (4) businesses they control. Paying excessive benefits to a disqualified person will result in the imposition of penalty excise taxes on that person, and, under some circumstances, on the charity's board of directors.
Distribution Committee: The committee responsible for making grant decisions. For community foundations, the distribution committee is intended to be broadly representative of the community served by the foundation.
Donee: A person or organization that receives donated monies.
Donor: A person or organization that gives money.
Donor-Advised Fund: A fund held by a community foundation, public charity or other entity where the donor or a committee appointed by the donor recommends eligible charitable recipients from the fund.
Donor Circle: A term sometimes used interchangably with "giving circle." Donor circles, however, often refer to a group of donors giving to a single organization, such as a university.
Donor Designated Fund: A fund held by a community foundation where the donor has specified that the fund's income or assets be used for the benefit of one or more specific public charities. These funds are sometimes established by a transfer of assets by a public charity to a fund designated for its own benefit, in which case they may be known as grantee endowments. The community foundation's governing body must have the power to redirect resources in the fund if it determines that the donor's restriction is unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community or area served.
Employee Matching Grant: A contribution to a charitable organization by an employee that is matched by a similar contribution from his or her employer.
Endowment: The principal amount of gifts and bequests that are accepted subject to a requirement that the principal be maintained intact and invested to create a source of income for a foundation. Donors may require that the principal remain intact in perpetuity, or for a defined period of time or until sufficient assets have accumulated to achieve a designated purpose.
e-philanthropy: This term describes the variety of methods of giving using the Internet. Many sites have been developed that accept donations in addition to providing information regarding nonprofit groups. Many e-commerce sites (e.g. charity malls) incorporate fundraising efforts by donating a percentage of their proceeds to charity. Such sites can serve as a clearinghouse for large numbers of organizations and for information that would otherwise be difficult to access.
Excise Tax: The annual tax of 1 or 2 percent of net investment income that must be paid to the IRS by private foundations.
Expenditure Responsibility: When a private foundation makes a grant to an organization that is not classified by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and as a public charity according to Section 509(a), it is required by law to ensure that the funds are spent for charitable purposes and not for private gain or political activities. Such grants require a pre-grant inquiry and a detailed written agreement. Special reports on the status of the grant must be filed with the IRS, and the grantees must be listed on the foundation's IRS form 990-PF.
Family Foundation: Not a legal term, and therefore has no precise definition. Yet approximately two-thirds of the estimated 44,000 private foundations in the U.S. are believed to be family managed. The Council on Foundations defines a family foundation as a foundation whose funds are derived from members of a single family. At least one family member must continue to serve as an officer or board member of the foundation, and as the donor, they or their relatives play a significant role in governing and/or managing the foundation throughout its life. Most family foundations are run by family members who serve as trustees or directors on a voluntary basis, receiving no compensation. In many cases, second- and third- generation descendants of the original donors manage the foundation. Family foundations tend to concentrate their giving locally.
Feasibility Study: A method of determining whether a project or program is both possible to do and likely to have its desired effect. A feasibility study involves gathering, analyzing and evaluating information on a small scale.
Federated Fund: Another term for 'federated giving program.'
Federated Giving Program: A centralized fundraising effort usually administered by a nonprofit "umbrella" organization that distributes the contributed funds to several nonprofit agencies. For example, United Way and community chests or funds, the United Negro College Fund and joint arts councils. (See also 'community fund.')
Flow-Through Funds: Contributions to a foundation that are used primarily for direct grantmaking, rather than for endowing the foundation permanently. Most corporate foundations depend on these funds each year rather than on income produced from endowment funds.
Foundation: A foundation is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization that has its own funds or endowments. Foundations are managed by their own trustees or directors and are usually founded to benefit educational, charitable, social, religious or other activities serving the common good.
Funding Cycle: A chronological pattern of proposal review, decision-making and applicant notification. Some donor organizations make grants at set intervals (quarterly, semiannually, etc.), while others operate on an annual cycle.
General Operating Support: A grant made to further the general purpose or work of an organization, rather than for a specific project; also called an 'unrestricted' grant.
General Purpose Foundation: An independent private foundation that awards grants in many different fields of interest, as opposed to a special purpose foundation.
Giving Circle: Also called philanthropic social clubs, these autonomous groups come together to give as a group, meeting regularly, sharing information, and making joint giving decisions.
Grant: An award of funds to an organization or individual to undertake charitable activities.
Grantee: Also referred to as a 'grantseeker,' the individual or organization that receives a grant.
Grantmaker: Also referred to as 'grantor,' the individual or organization that makes a grant.
Grantee Financial Report: A report detailing how grant funds were used by an organization. Many grantmakers require this kind of report from grantees. A financial report generally includes a listing of all expenditures from grant funds as well as an overall organizational financial report covering revenue and expenses, assets and liabilities.
Grassroots Fundraising: Efforts to raise money from individuals or groups from the local community on a broad basis. Usually an organization's own constituents -- people who live in the neighborhood served or clients of the agency's services -- are the source of these funds. Grassroots fundraising activities include membership drives, raffles, auctions, benefits and a range of other activities.
Guidelines: A statement of a foundation's goals, priorities, criteria and procedures for applying for a grant.
In-Kind Contribution: A donation of goods or services rather than cash or appreciated property.
Independent Foundation: A private foundation usually founded by one individual, often by bequest. Independent foundations are occasionally termed 'non-operating' because they do not run their own programs. Sometimes individuals or groups of people, such as family members, form a foundation while the donors are still living. Many large independent foundations, such as the Ford Foundation, are no longer governed by members of the original donor's family, but are run by boards made up of community, business and academic leaders. Private foundations make grants to other tax-exempt organizations to carry out their charitable purposes.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS): The federal agency responsible for regulating foundations and their activities. (Online at www.irs.gov)
Joint Funding: A grant project supported by more than one donor, each of whom may provide monies for a specific component of the overall project or who may contribute to a common pool of funds.
Letter of Inquiry: Also referred to as a letter of intent, this is a brief letter outlining an organization's activities and a request for funding sent to a prospective donor to determine if there is sufficient interest to warrant submitting a full proposal. This saves the time of the prospective donor and the time and resources of the prospective applicant.
Leverage: A method of grantmaking practiced by some foundations. Leverage occurs when a small amount of money is given with the express purpose of attracting funding from other sources or of providing the organization with the tools it needs to raise other kinds of funds. Sometimes known as a "multiplier effect."
Limited-Purpose Foundation: A type of foundation that restricts its giving to one or very few areas of interest, such as higher-education or medical care.
Matching Gifts Program: A grant or contributions program that will match employees' or directors' gifts made to qualifying educational, arts and cultural, health or other organizations. Specific guidelines are established by each employer or foundation. (Some foundations also use this program for thier staff and trustees.)
Matching Grant: Another term for a "matching gifts program."
Operating Foundation: An endowed, private foundation that uses the bulk of its income to provide chartiable services or to run charitable programs of their own (such as a school or camp). Operating foundations make few, if any, grants to outside organizations. To qualify as an operating foundation, specific rules, in addition to the applicable rules for private foundations, must be followed.
Operating Support Grant: A grant to cover the regular personnel, administrative and miscellaneous expenses of an existing program or project.
Payout Requirement: The minimum amount that a private foundation is required to expend for charitable purposes (includes grants and necessary and reasonable administrative expenses). In general, a private foundation must pay out annually approximately five percent of the average market value of its assets.
Phlianthropy: The origin of the word is Greek and means "love for mankind." Today, philanthropy includes the concept of voluntary giving by an individual or group to promote the common good. Philanthropy also commonly refers to grants of money given by foundations and corporate giving programs to nonprofit organizations. Philanthropy may refer to the contribution of an individual or group to other organizations that in turn work for the causes of poverty and social problems, improving the quality of life for all persons. Philanthropic giving supports a variety of activities, including research, health, education, arts and culture, as well as alleviating poverty.
Pledge: A promise to make future contributions to an organization. For example, some donors make multi-year pledges promising to grant a specific amount of money each year.
Post-Grant Evaluation: A review of the results of a grant, designed to determine whether or not the grant achieved the desired objective.
Preliminary Proposal: Sometimes referred to as a concept paper, a brief draft of a grant proposal used to learn if there is sufficient interest to warrant submitting a proposal.
Pre-tax Net Income: A corporation's annual net income before it has paid taxes. The IRS currently allows corporations to deduct charitable contributions up to as much as ten percent of their pre-tax net income.
Private Foundation: A non-governmental, nonprofit organization with funds (usually from a single source, such as an individual, family or corporation) and programs manages by its own trustees or directors, established to maintain or aid social, educational, religious or other charitable activities serving the common welfare, primarily through grantmaking. U.S. private foundations are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.
Program Officer: A staff member of a foundation who reviews grant proposals and processes applications for the board of trustees. Only a small percentage of foundations have program officers.
Program-Related Investment: A loan or other investment made by a private foundation to a profit-making or nonprofit organization for a project related to the foundation's stated purpose and interests. Program-related investments are an exception to the general rule barring jeopardy investments. Often, program-related investments are made from a revolving fund; the foundation generally expects to receive its money back with limited or below-market interest, which will then provide additional funds for loans to other organizations. A program-related investment may involve loan guarantees, purchases of stock or other kinds of financial support.
Proposal: A written application, often accompanied by supporting documents, submitted to a foundation or corporate giving program in requesting a grant. Most foundations and corporations do not use printed application forms, but instead require original proposals; others prefer preliminary letters of inquiry prior to a formal proposal. Consult a grantor's published guidelines for specific details.
Public Charity: A nonprofit organization that is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code and that receives its financial support from a broad segment of the general public. Religious, educational and medical institutions are deemed to be public charities. Other organizations exempt under Section 501(c)(3) must pass a public support test to be considered public charities, or must be formed to benefit an organization that is a public charity (see "supporting organization"). Charitable organizations that are not public charities are private foundations and are subject to more stringent regulatory and reporting requirements.
Public Foundation: A nonprofit organization that receives at least one-third of its annual income from the general public (including government agencies and foundations). Public foundations may make grants or engage in charitable activities. Public foundations, along with community foundations, are recognized as public charities by the IRS. Although they may provide direct charitable services to the public as other nonprofits do, their primary focus is on grantmaking.
Public Support Test: There are two public support tests, both of which are designed to ensure that a charitable organization is responsive to the general public rather than a limited number of persons. One test, sometimes referred to as a 509(a)(1) or 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) for the sections of the IRS code where it is found, is for charities like community foundations that mainly rely on gifts, grants and contributions. To be automatically classed as a public charity under this test, organizations must show that they normally receive at least one-third of their support from the general public (including government agencies and foundations). However, an organization that fails the automatic test may still qualify as a public charity if its public support equals at least 10 percent of all support and it also has a variety of other characteristics, such as a broad-based board, that make it sufficiently "public." The second test, sometimes referred to as the section 509(a)(2) test, applies to charities, such as symphony orchestras or theatre groups, that get a substantial part of their income from the sale of services that further their mission, such as the sale of tickets to performances. These charities must pass a one-third/one-third test. That is, they must demonstrate that their sales and contributions normally add up to at least one-third of their support, but their income from investments and unrelated business activities does not exceed one-third of support.
Qualifying Distributions: Expenditures of a private foundation made to satisfy its annual payout requirement. These can include grants, reasonable administrative expenses, set asides, loans, program-related investments and amounts paid to acquire assets used directly in carrying out tax-exempt purposes.
Restricted Funds: Income or assets that are restricted in their use, in the types of organizations that may receive grants from these funds, or in the procedures used to make grants from such funds.
RFP (Request for Proposals): When grantmakers create new program areas or initiatives, an RFP is occasionally used to solicit applications from nonprofit organizations working within the project specifications.
Seed Money: A grant or contribution used to start a new project or organization.
Self-Dealing: A private foundation is generally prohibited from from entering into any financial transaction with disqualified persons (see "disqualified person"). The few exceptions to this rule include paying reasonable compensation to a disqualified person for services that are necessary to fulfilling the foundation's charitable purpose. Violations result in an initial penalty tax equal to five percent of the amount involved, payable by the self dealer.
Set-Asides: Funds set aside by a foundation for a specific purpose or project that are counted as qualifying distributions toward the foundation's annual payout requirement. Amounts for the project must be paid within five years of the first set-aside.
Site Visit: Visiting a donee organization at its office location or area of operation and/or meeting with its staff or directors, or with recipients of its services.
Social Enterprise: A nonprofit venture that combines the passion of a social mission with the discipline, innovation and determination commonly associated with for-profit businesses. This includes, but is not limited to, new revenue generating ventures, for-profit subsidies and other alternatives to traditional funding sources.
Social Entrepreneurs: Individuals who engage in social enterprise and draw upon the best thinking in both the business and nonprofit worlds in order to advance their social agenda.
Social Venture Fund: Charitable funds whose donors invest their expertise as well as their money, providing support and requiring accountability of nonprofit organizations just as venture capitalists do in business enterprises.
Socially Responsible Investing: Also referred to as "ethical investing," this is the practice of aligning a foundation's investment policies with its mission. This may include making program-related investments and refraining from investing in corporations with products or policies inconsistent with the foundation's values.
Special Purpose Foundation: A private foundation that focuses its grantmaking activities in one or a few areas of interest, as opposed to a general purpose foundation.
Supporting Organization: A supporting organization is a charity that is not required to meet the public support test because it supports a public charity. To be a supporting organization, a charity must meet one of three complex legal tests that assure, at a minimum, that the organization being supported has some influence over the actions of the supporting organization. Although a supporting organization may be formed to benefit any type of public charity, the use of this form is particularly common in connection with community foundations. Supporting organizations are distinguishable from donor-advised funds because they are distinct legal entities.
Tax-Exempt Organizations: Organizations that do not have to pay state and/or federal income taxes. Organizations other than churches seeking recognition of their tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code must apply to the IRS. These organizations may also be exempt from sales and local property taxes.
Technical Assistance: Operational or management assistance given to a nonprofit organization. It can include fundraising assistance, budgeting and financial planning, program planning, legal advice, marketing and other aids to management. Assistance may be offered directly by a foundation or corporate staff member or in the form of a grant to pay for the services of an outside consultant.
Tipping: The situation that occurs when a gift or grant is made that is large enough to significantly alter the grantee's funding base and cause it to fail the public support test. Such a gift or grant results in "tipping" or conversion from public charity to private foundation status.
Trust: A legal device used to set aside money or property of one person for the benefit of one or more persons or organizations.
Trustee: The person(s) or institution(s) responsible for the administration of a trust.
Unrestricted Funds: Normally found at community foundations, an unrestricted fund is one that is not specifically designated to particular uses by the donor, or for which restrictions have expired or been removed.
Venture Philanthropy: The philanthropic application of venture capital principles and practices. Venture philanthropy assists nonprofit organizations in the planning, launch and management of new programs or social purpose enterprises. In addition to grants, venture philanthropists provide networking, management advice and an array of other supports to organizations within a given portfolio of charitable investments. (See also "social venture fund.")
Virtual Foundation: Refers to the transition from grantmaking through mail and face-to-face meetings to grantmaking by e-mail and internet transfers. Such a foundation may exist only on the internet and be capable of transferring money from philanthropists to organizations globally.
