An unrestricted endowment allows you to address a broad range of local needs – including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time your gift is made. The Lincoln Community Foundation evaluates all aspects of community well-being: arts and culture, economic development, education, environment, health and human services, neighborhood revitalization, and more. The flexibility of your unrestricted gift enables the Lincoln Community Foundation's board and staff to respond to the community's greatest opportunities and needs, today and tomorrow.

Because you set no restrictions on the use of your gift, you enable our experienced staff and board to do what they do best – assess community needs and respond by awarding grants to the nonprofit organizations that undertake our community's most critical work. Unrestricted endowments help support long-term solutions and allow the Foundation to respond quickly to emergencies and otherwise meet changing social, cultural, educational, or environmental needs in our local community.

Grants are made in the name of the fund you establish, creating your personal legacy of giving. You may give your gift immediately or through your will or other estate planning strategy. Because it is endowed, your gift becomes a permanent community funding resource.

Example Story
A lasting legacy.
Mary and Jim have seen needs in their community change over time, and have always tried to help satisfy these ever-changing needs. After meeting with their professional advisor and discussing their charitable giving goals, they considered leaving the community with a gift through their wills. They found that an unrestricted endowment at the Lincoln Community Foundation would be a perfect fit to satisfy these goals. After both Mary and Jim pass away, part of their estate will be used to establish the Mary and Jim Doe Unrestricted Fund at the Lincoln Community Foundation. One year, a grant from their gift might help fund an arts project. The next year, a grant may go to a special educational initiative. Another year, the grant from their gift may help meet a pressing human service need. Since Mary and Joe's gift is an endowment, it will continue to grow, decade upon decade, providing a perpetual steam of grants in their names to meet ever-changing community needs.

There is so much more we'd like you to know. For more information and ideas on ways to integrate charitable giving with a financial plan, ask your financial advisor or contact the Lincoln Community Foundation at (402) 474-2345 or lcf@lcf.org. We will be happy to work with you and/or your advisor to determine the most effective ways to accomplish your charitable goals.

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_{2003 Council on Foundations and Community Foundations of America}