London Community Foundation

Featured Charity

SARI

Jeanne and Syd Greenberg saw a community need and responded. Today their dream, their leadership and their contribution to the London community, live on.

The impact of the charitable, volunteer based organization the Greenbergs founded and named in memory of their daughter, Sari, has been enormous. Thousands of children and adults with special needs have received the therapeutic, recreational and educational benefits of therapeutic riding.

In 2000, SARI became the 14th registered charity to establish an endowment fund at London Community Foundation.

“SARI received two gifts from families who cared enough to leave a legacy to SARI,” says Jeanne Greenberg, SARI’s founder. “These gifts in turn produced the foundation of the endowment fund with London Community Foundation. What a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment!”

Each year, SARI receives the interest earned on their endowed fund as an unrestricted grant. They can use this grant for anything from operations to most pressing needs to programs. Learn more about the programs at SARI including how to make a gift directly to the Centre.

You can support SARI’s endowment fund at the London Community Foundation by making a donation online or through the mail using our donation form.

SARI will be notified of your gift and a tax receipt will be issued to you, the donor.

Since 2000, 12 other non-profit agencies have established agency endowment funds at the Community Foundation, bringing the total number of registered charity funds to 23.

“We have the benefit of economies of scale, which means a diverse investment portfolio and low investment fees that typically come with only very large funds,” says Andrew Chunilall, finance director at London Community Foundation. “The non-profit agency receives the benefits of the earnings on all gifts to its endowment, while not needing to manage the fund itself.”

This is generally a plus with donors. A community foundation is a local, community-minded public foundation with expertise in endowment building. Their mission and motive is to serve the community. A non-profit agency is more at risk of neglecting an endowment since they must – and rightly so - focus most of their energies on providing programs and services and meeting immediate funding needs.

Giving to the agency’s endowment fund is a great option for donors who want to support the long-term objectives of a particular charity.

Chunilall gives an example of an individual who was thinking of making a large bequest to the charity she had supported for many years. At the time, the charity was going through some changes in management, including three executive directors in as many years.

“She believed in the mission of the charity, knew they had a strong board of directors, and understood that eventually it would find its way. She decided to make her gift to the charity’s endowed fund held by London Community Foundation so it would be protected from the agency’s upheaval and would avoid straining current staff resources. She felt confident knowing it would provide a source of income in perpetuity that was not dependent upon fundraising efforts or successful grant applications.”

Because the Community Foundation holds the endowment, the agency does not declare the capital sum of the endowment as an asset.

Do you work for a registered charity and have an interest in learning more? Contact us today.

Other agency endowment funds with London Community Foundation