The Wayne County Community Foundation is a charitable community organization which was established in 1978 to accept contributions, create and administer funds, and make grants for the benefit of the people of the greater Wayne County area. The Foundation is a collection of many separate funds varying in size from a few thousand dollars to more than a million dollars. As of June 2008, there were more than 275 funds. Each fund is separate with its own agreement, its own donors, and its own philanthropic purposes. The Wayne County Community Foundation is a "public foundation" under the Tax Reform Act of 1969 and, as such, enjoys many tax advantages not granted to private foundations.
The Foundation, through its investment managers, invests the principal of each fund for the continued production of distributable income. It distributes that income, and under certain circumstances a portion of the principal itself, in accordance with the provisions of the instrument creating each fund. Grants are paid to a wide variety of organizations in the areas of arts, culture, and humanities; capital campaigns; civic and community; conservation and environment; education; health and wellness; human services; religion; and scholarships.
Responsibility for policy and direction is vested in a volunteer Board of Trustees. These Trustees are selected for their knowledge of local charities, their involvement in the community, and their expertise in the various aspects of the Foundation.
To encourage individuals who have prospered in Wayne County to leave part of their estates for the good of the community in which they lived.
To assist community nonprofit organizations in the creation and management of endowments to meet future financial needs.
To assure responsible management and expenditure of funds devoted to charitable purposes.
The National Standards Seal by our name indicates official confirmation from the Council on Foundations that we have met the most rigorous standards in philanthropy. It affirms our commitment to financial security, transparency and accountability. It says our grantmaking includes an open, competitive process designed to address the changing needs of our community. The National Standards Seal also confirms our history of honoring donors' wishes--to support the arts, cultivate gardens, save endangered species, cure illness, expand literacy, feed children--and support countless other important causes.
The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program was established in 2000 in cooperation with the Council on Foundations. National Standards guide community foundations in establishing legal, ethical and effective operational practices that serve as blueprints for internal development and benchmarks for external assessment. The 43 National Standards require Wayne County Community Foundation to document its policies in donor services, investment management, grantmaking and administration. To receive confirmation of National Standards compliance, Wayne County Community Foundation submitted its organizational and financial policies and procedures to a rigorous peer review.
For further information, please contact:
Wayne County Community Foundation
517 North Market Street
Wooster, OH 44691
(330) 262-3877
FAX: (330) 262-8057
