Why Don’t You Just Spend All The Money?

It's a fair question, and one I had myself before entering the community foundation world. When you hear that the Community Foundation holds more than $21 million in charitable assets, you might wonder: If that money is meant to help the community, why don't you just spend it?

The answer comes down to one of our most important responsibilities: we aren't only planning for White County today. We're planning for White County decades from now.

Many of the organizations doing incredible work in our community operate in a necessary cycle of money in, money out. They raise dollars today to provide meals, programs, services, education, shelter, and countless other resources people need right now.

A community foundation plays a different role. I often think of us as the community's savings account. While we absolutely put charitable dollars to work today, we also preserve and invest resources so they will be available for the needs of tomorrow.

We don't know exactly what White County will look like 50 years from now. We don't know what organizations will exist, what new challenges will emerge, or what opportunities our community will encounter. But we do know our community will still have needs. People will still need access to education. Families will still experience hardship. Communities will still need investment. And there will undoubtedly be challenges we can't even imagine today.

Because generations before us chose to invest in the future, we can plan for those needs rather than starting from zero every time.

Of course, saving for tomorrow doesn't mean holding onto every dollar today. Our endowed funds make annual charitable distributions based on 4.5% of the fund's three-year trailing average balance.

Why a three-year average? Markets move. Some years are very good, and some aren't. Using an average helps smooth those ups and downs, allowing us to make charitable dollars available consistently while protecting the long-term health of the fund.

For some perspective, our investments earned a 15.63% rate of return last year. We don't simply spend that entire return. By maintaining a disciplined distribution policy, one consistent with community foundation practices across the field, we give our investments an opportunity to replenish what is distributed and grow over time.

It's a balance. If we never spent the money, we wouldn't be fulfilling our charitable purpose today. But if we spent everything available during strong years, we could jeopardize our ability to serve the community tomorrow.

That's the incredible thing about an endowment. A donor establishing a fund today may be responding to something they care deeply about right now like education, food insecurity, mental wellness, youth, veterans, the arts, or simply the community they call home. But their generosity doesn't have to end with them.

Fifty years from now, those dollars can still be generating resources for charitable work. A hundred years from now, another generation can still benefit from a decision someone made today.

So, why don't we just spend all the money?

Because our responsibility isn't only to the White County of 2026. It's to the White County of 2076, too.

And while we can't know exactly what that community will need, we can make sure there are resources waiting when it does.