The Foundation offers a variety of funds for individuals and businesses. Your expert in choosing the fund for you is our donor services division, which can be reached at 225.387.6126 or by emailing Ms. Stewart Jones at sjones@braf.org. To cover costs, the Foundation charges a competitive fee.

If you are ready to become a donor, we are ready to help. A first step is talking with our donor services department. They will provide all the details and create a custom philanthropy package for you.

You can open a charitable account for a minimum of $10,000 in either a spend-down fund or an endowed fund. All the money in a spend-down fund is available to make grants, while investment earnings from an endowed fund can be granted to nonprofits.

The Foundation offers several types of funds.

Donor Advised Funds and Corporate Advised Funds are the most popular, comprising more than 40% of all the funds. They allow the donor to recommend grants to specific organizations. As with all funds, the Foundation handles all the paperwork. The Foundation invests the money in a fund so that your gift will endure.

By establishing a Designated Beneficiary Fund, donors automatically give to a nonprofit of their choice. Donors put money in the fund and designate in legal documents a nonprofit that will receive earnings from the endowment. Donors can change the designated beneficiary of the fund during their life or in their wills.

Field of Interest funds are managed by the Foundation and its board or by a committee set up by donors. Each fund is dedicated to an area, such as education, health care or community service. An example: Baton Rouge jazz lovers created the River City Jazz Coalition Fund, which provides money for an annual jazz series at the Manship Theatre.

A Scholarship Fund provides grants for tuition and other college expenses. The Foundation can assist you in crafting a selection process that finds worthy students for your scholarships.

Unrestricted Funds permit the Foundation to pay for emerging opportunities in the community. Fund donors place no restrictions on how their donations are used and decisions are made by the board. The flexibility of these funds has been the underpinning of some of the Foundations largest projects, including the Shaw Center for the Arts.

Through investments and donor contributions, funds grow over time, letting our donors have a long-lasting impact on the community.