Frequently
Asked Questions Regarding:
The Saint
Victor Parish Foundation
WHAT IS THE ST. VICTOR PARISH FOUNDATION?
The St. Victor Parish Foundation is a nonprofit charitable corporation,
incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio. It is recognized and
qualified by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a private charitable
foundation, exempt from federal income taxation under the Internal Revenue
Code. The Foundation is organized and intended to be perpetual.
WHEN AND HOW DID IT COME TO BE?
The Foundation had its beginnings in the desire of forward
looking Parish members to have an organization to receive, invest and,
eventually to distribute charitable contributions on behalf of St. Victor
Parish for long range purposes, above and beyond ordinary and routine operating
costs and expenses of the Church. In implementing this desire, Articles of
Incorporation were filed on behalf of the Foundation with the Ohio Secretary of
State. The Foundation received its charter as an Ohio Non-Profit Corporation on
December 28, 2000. Application for Recognition of Exemption as a charitable
corporation was then filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The Application
was approved and IRS issued a Favorable Determination Letter on August 9, 2001.
WHAT
IS THE PURPOSE FOR HAVING THE ST. VICTOR PARISH FOUNDATION?
The Application for IRS Tax Exemption sets forth the purposes and
activities of the Foundation as follows:
“…To promote and support from its
accumulated funds and assets the religious and educational activities of St.
Victor Roman Catholic Church, including, but not limited to acquisition,
replacement, maintenance and repair of capital property and improvements,
purchase of educational and church supplies and materials, financial
sponsorship of religious, educational and athletic activities and programs.”
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUNDATION AND THE
CLEVELAND DIOCESE AND ST. VICTOR CHURCH?
The Foundation is an independent entity, separate and
distinct from the Diocese. Except to the extent that it will operate in a
supportive role of the Parish, it is likewise independent of St. Victor Church.
HOW WILL THE FOUNDATION BE ADMINISTERED?
The Foundation is legally a charitable trust. The Articles
of Incorporation and Code of Regulations filed with the State and Federal
governments provide that the affairs of the Foundation shall be controlled by a
Board of Trustees, the members of which shall serve without compensation. Currently, the Board is composed of nine (9)
individual Trustees. Each Trustee was recruited for his or her respective field
of expertise and demonstrated service ethic. Father Bartnikowski, as Pastor of
St. Victor Church, or his successor, is one of the nine Trustees. The Trustees
serve for indefinite terms of office, subject to resignation or removal.
FROM WHAT SOURCES WILL THE FOUNDATION RECEIVE
CONTRIBUTIONS?
The Application for Recognition of Exemption filed with
and approved by IRS states that it is the purpose and activity of the
Foundation:
“To solicit, receive, hold,
exchange, invest and reinvest donations, contributions, gifts, devises and
bequests of real and personal property, tangible and intangible.”
It is contemplated that contributions to the Foundation will be
made primarily by or on behalf of individual St. Victor Parishioners, but may
also be made by business entities or trusts created for charitable purposes.
More about that later.
WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH THE CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED?
The guidelines of the Foundation provide that
contributions, which it receives, will be invested and reinvested in order to
produce income. No distributions shall be made until the total of the invested principal,
called the “corpus” of the trust, becomes a sufficient amount to generate
income for distribution without disturbing or spending any part of the corpus.
In this way the principal or corpus will continue to grow through reinvestment
so as to increase its distribution potential.
How the principal
or total of the funds received by the Foundation will be invested and
reinvested will be determined by the direction and approval of a majority of
the Board of Trustees, following sound and prudent investment principles.
WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH THE INCOME GENERATED BY CONTRIBUTIONS
RECEIVED?
As the total of
contributions received by the Foundation reaches a level sufficient to generate
significant expendable income, income will be distributed pursuant to the
long-term purposes for which the Foundation was created, or for those purposes
specifically directed by donors. Keep in mind that it is a basic characteristic
of the Foundation that the principal or corpus of the trust (the total of the contributions
received) go untouched and that distributions be made only from income
generated or produced by the principal or corpus.
IN
MAKING A CONTRIBUTION TO THE FOUNDATION, CAN I SPECIFY THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT
WILL BE SPENT?
Yes. Examples of this are contributions made in memory of
a deceased person in lieu of flowers or a contribution to a high school or
college scholarship fund in the name and memory of a special person.
WHAT
ARE THE WAYS THAT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOUNDATION CAN BE MADE?
may be made. These vary from the traditional way simply making a
gift of money outright to doing so through a number of more sophisticated
annuity and trust arrangements. A number of these giving arrangements provide
ways of having the benefit of assets paid to family members during lifetime,
with transfer to the charity upon termination of the trust.
BESIDES BENEFITS TO THE PROGRAMS, WHICH THE FOUNDATION
WILL SUPPORT, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FOUNDATION?
In addition to the
personal satisfaction of making a contribution of a benefit to a deserving
cause, a contribution to the Foundation can provide significant tax benefits to
the donor. In its determination of the tax exemption of the Foundation, the
Internal Revenue Service states:
“Donors may deduct contributions
to you (the Foundation) as provided in section 170 of the Code. Bequests,
legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts to you or for your use are deductible
for federal estate and gift tax purposes if they meet the applicable provisions
of Code sections 2055, 2106, and 2522.”
HOW CAN I OBTAIN INFORMATION AND ADVICE ABOUT MAKING TAX
DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOUNDATION?
In order to
implement the donor’s intention and to maximize the tax benefits in making a
gift, it is strongly recommended that the donor seek and follow the advice of a
qualified accountant, attorney or financial planner knowledgeable in estate and
tax planning.
WILL
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOUNDATION BE RECOGNIZED IN ANY WAY?
It is contemplated that
the Foundation will make periodic reports to the Parish of contributions and
the Foundation’s activities. Ultimately, some form of permanent and
meaningful form of recognition of contributors is planned.
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