Your client has two great options for supporting their favorite charity—a Donor Advised Fund or a Designated Fund.

A Donor Advised Fund gives individuals, families or businesses the opportunity to participate in grantmaking by recommending nonprofits and programs to receive grants. It is a simple, personal and highly effective way to give.

A Designated Fund provides funding for a specific nonprofit organization or purpose.

In both instances, MAF handles all of the administration, record keeping, and financial statements for the funds.
What sets us apart from commercial funds is our expertise in local issues and nonprofits. MAF's fees are highly competitive with commercial gift funds, but even more importantly, we provide personalized options for your client, helping them leave a lasting impact on the causes they care about.
Opening a fund at MAF is considerably less expensive than starting a private foundation. There are also no setup fees, plus we handle all administrative details, including filing annual tax returns, performing due diligence on grants and all details associated with processing and tracking grants.
There is no minimum for establishing a fund with MAF.
MAF has the ability to accept a range of assets including:
  • Assets of other Trusts or of a Private Foundation
  • Cash Gifts
  • Grain and other Cash Crops
  • Farmland
  • Life Insurance
  • Mutual Funds
  • Real Estate
  • Stocks and Securities

If you have questions about the assets we accept, please contact us.
Our role is to help donors create funds that carry out their charitable goals, be that in the Greater Mankato area or elsewhere. Community Foundation donors have the ability to recommend grants to organizations around the world.
Yes, your client can name a successor or successors to the fund. If they do not name a successor, or after the successor’s death, MAF will continue to use the funds in accordance with your client’s wishes.
Yes. We created the Investment Partners Program (IPP) specifically to enable donors to maintain existing relationships with their trusted advisor while benefiting from our community knowledge and philanthropic expertise.

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When Ryan McKeown meets with clients at Wealth Enhancement in Mankato, he asks the questions that most other financial advisors ask about current cash flow, expected income and goals for retirement. But then he pops another question as well: How much do they want to be able to give away, even in retirement? “If you want to be able to continue a certain level of charitable giving after you retire, you should be planning for that now,” McKeown says. “If you want to be able to fund your giving for another 20 years, then I might recommend a strategy like starting a donor-advised fund now.”

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