First-of-its-kind program extends the scope of private foundation philanthropy by providing immediate financial assistance to families in danger of foreclosure.
Foundation Source, the nation’s leading provider of support services for private foundations, today announced an innovative, new program for private foundations, designed to provide immediate financial assistance to homeowners under the threat of foreclosure. Through the Foundation Source Mortgage Assistance Program, private foundations can now make unsecured, no-interest loans to individuals and families who are struggling to pay their mortgages due to job loss, reduced income or other events related to the current economic downturn. The program taps into the generous spirit of the company’s nearly 900 private foundation clients who have expressed a strong desire to extend the scope of their family philanthropy to include both traditional charities as well as individuals and families in need.
The Mortgage Assistance Program, as conceived by Foundation Source, provides assistance as no-interest loans, known as program-related investments, not outright grants. As such, funds will be repaid to the foundation and will then be available for other charitable purposes. Foundation Source worked closely with legal counsel at Adler & Colvin (www.adlercolvin.com) to review and give final shape to the program. Adler & Colvin is a San Francisco law firm that represents nonprofit organizations and their donors and has substantial experience in representing private foundations that offer program related investments. Other details of the program include:
Mortgage Assistance Program loans count toward the foundation’s annual 5% minimum distribution requirement in the year the loan funds are advanced. In future years, the minimum distribution requirement will be increased by the amount of the loan(s) repaid.
Funds are paid directly to the financial institution holding the mortgage, either in a lump sum, in monthly payments (full or partial) or in a combination of the two.
Loans are repaid in monthly installments for up to five years.
Due to IRS rules governing self-dealing, foundation officers, directors, trustees and substantial contributors, and their respective family members, are not eligible to participate in the program.
“The Mortgage Assistance Program is yet another innovation from Foundation Source designed to allow our clients to directly assist individuals and families in need,” said Andrew C. Bangser, Foundation Source president. “This program joins other pioneering initiatives from Foundation Source that leverage a private foundation’s unique ability to grant philanthropic funds directly to individuals for hardship, emergency and medical purposes.”
Added Jeffrey D. Haskell, executive vice president, Tax & Legal Affairs, “While making grants directly to individuals in need can be an extremely rewarding form of philanthropy, it is avoided by most foundations due to complicated IRS regulations and requirements. Foundation Source has streamlined this process, so our clients can focus their foundation activities on assisting those who so desperately need help.”
Rob Wexler and David Levitt, principals with Adler & Colvin, noted, “Program-related investments are an invaluable tool that private foundations can employ to help out in tough economic times. Typically, program-related investment loans are made to organizations. This program is innovative because it enables foundations to make loans directly to benefit individuals in immediate need.”
About Foundation Source (www.foundationsource.com) Foundation Source is the nation’s leading provider of support services for private foundations. The company’s back-office, online and support services ease the burden, freeing foundations to focus more on mission, strategy and family priorities and less on back-office administration and compliance tasks. The result: better run foundations with greater social impact. Foundation Source was recently named Philanthropic Group of the Year by the editors of Private Asset Management.
Today, Foundation Source provides its full range of award-winning services to nearly 900 private foundations coast-to-coast representing over $3.2 billion in foundation assets. Foundation Source provides its services through partnerships with the nation’s leading private wealth management firms, trust and estate attorneys and CPAs. The company is headquartered in Fairfield, CT with regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle.