Inland Northwest Community Foundation, the Spokane-based nonprofit that manages assets for charitable organizations and donors in 20 counties throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho, says it has seen recent growth in some types of funds it manages, as well as more variation in the types of assets donors are using to set up such funds.

The foundation, which gave out 573 scholarships, grants, and awards worth about $2.5 million last year, recently announced the addition of its 300th fund—the Leadership Spokane Foundation Fund. INWCF now manages a total of more than $61 million in assets, says PJ Watters, the organization's director of gift planning. That's risen quickly from 284 funds worth $54.4 million at the close of its fiscal year 2010, which ended last June 30.

Of the 300 funds, Watters says about a third benefit specified charities, and the foundation has seen a large number of newly formed funds established over the last several years set up by nonprofits on their own behalf.

INWCF President and CEO Mark Hurtubise says the management of these nonprofits' investments, called agency funds, is the foundation's fastest growth area.

"It reduces cost for (the nonprofit), and they have a philanthropic partner on how they can add to their endowment," he says.

He adds that INWCF recently started a new program to assist nonprofits on how they can market their own endowment locally and keep the endowment growing. Through that program, the foundation offers annual workshops that teach nonprofits how to recruit donors to an agency fund and how to refer donors to the foundation who are interested in setting up their own funds to benefit a specific organization or philanthropy.

The foundation also has an interactive feature on its website, called "You Pick for Charity," that allows the public to play a simulated apple-picking game that's a monthly grant competition between two local charitable organizations. The charity that has the most apples at the end of the month receives a $250 grant, and the second-place charity receives $100 from INWCF, Watters says.

"That program is great for building awareness and gaining publicity of their endowment," she says.

Some of the foundation's largest agency funds that have been set up by Inland Northwest nonprofits are the Spokane Humane Society Fund and the Women Helping Women Endowment Fund, Watters says, adding that both funds so far have reached $1 million in assets. Other more recently formed agency funds include the Spokane Lilac Festival Fund and the Inland Northwest Land Trust Fund, she says.

In addition to the increase in nonprofits establishing funds with the foundation, more private foundations also are asking INWCF to manage their assets.

"If the original founders are aging and they are looking at transferring their assets to a community foundation, we hold and trust their mission instead of them liquidating their assets," Hurtubise says. "They are moving them over here so they can still serve as advisers, but we will hold and carry out the original intent of the fund."

Watters says private foundations that transfer their assets to the foundation also benefit from tax deductions because INWCF is a nonprofit entity.

As the assets the organization manages are growing, the diversity in asset type given to the foundation is expanding as well. In a shift from what the foundation experienced about five years ago, more donors here are giving what the organization calls complex assets, such as real estate and life-insurance policies, as opposed to cash donations or appreciated stock transfers.

"Five years ago, we had appreciated assets—equities, stocks and bonds—that were being transferred, and then we had a time where there were some legislative changes where people could use retirement funds and roll them over into a charitable fund," Watters says.

She cites an example of a couple who were retired college professors and donated a rental property they owned to INWCF, which put the property into a charitable remainder trust and now owns and manages that property for the donor.

Through that type of trust, which also can be made through a transfer of cash, stock, or other assets, donors receive income for the rest of their lifetime or after a defined number of years. After that, income derived from the asset will benefit the donor's named charity, she says.

One major benefit of that type of donation, Watters and Hurtubise say, is that it's tax deductible for the donor.

"It's a creative way to move an asset so you aren't taxed on it," Hurtubise says. "You get a tax deduction because we are a charitable organization, and they get a lifetime income from that, and then when they pass away, the charities named in the fund agreement will get a grant in the donor's name."

The foundation also has seen an increase in the number of funds set up by families that want to establish a charitable endowment to be passed down from generation to generation. In doing so, Hurtubise says INWCF will work with parents or grandparents who are setting up such a fund to name their children or grandchildren as future advisers, so when they are adults they are able to direct when and where they want to grant the family's fund.

"It's a way to pass on their charitable values to their children and grandchildren, so we are seeing growth in that area," he says.

As part of INWCF's strategic plan, Hurtubise says it hopes to continue seeing new funds created to benefit local groups and organizations so as to have a greater positive impact on the communities it serves across the Inland Northwest.

"Fundraising is done competitively, but as a community foundation we are apolitical and we can enter into a dialogue with different constituents and work to that common community goal," he says.

He adds that INWCF also is seeking to continue collaborations with community leaders, donors, and the area's philanthropic organizations to reach its goal of creating a healthier community. The organization currently is planning an annual gathering of those groups to discuss how they can all work together to serve the community better, he says.

"If we are all working collaboratively at all those levels for community goals instead of individual goals, that is what has to happen with the economy the way it is today," he says.

The Inland Northwest Community Foundation was founded here in 1974 and since then has awarded $38 million in grants and scholarships.

INWCF has 170 volunteers that serve in a leadership role on a board, committee, or as an ambassador to the organization. All of its volunteers live and work in the 20 counties it serves and their role is to help to carry out the intent of the funds' donors, Hurtubise says.

"They have a vested interest to make sure (grants) are distributed in an equitable and fair manner," he says. "It's a community foundation overseen by community members, so they have a self interest in making sure the assets are protected and grow."