Start A Fund

The Oakville Community Foundation is Oakville’s largest community of philanthropists with 400 Funds and room to grow! At The Foundation, we understand Oakville as well as the variety of reasons that creating a Fund may be beneficial for you and for our community.

Here, we believe that anyone can be a philanthropist which is why you can work towards any of the Fund Types below with zero dollars down. Getting involved is easier than you think.

Contact us at giving@theocf.org to learn more.

Types of Funds

Starting at $20,000, this Fund can be built up over time and functions much like a private foundation without the extra costs. Your initial gift is Endowed and goes into our pooled investments alongside other Fundholders, where it will grow over time. Your available dollars to spend will replenish each year, which you can direct to any registered charity within Canada.

Learn about some of the reasons charitable people choose to start a Donor Advised Fund.

Starting at $2,500, a Community Fund can be built up over time and is a great way to pool your charitable dollars with other Fundholders and support the causes you care about. Community Fund dollars support The Foundation’s GIVEOakville campaign, going towards any number of local charities through top-up funding.

With this type of Fund, you can save a portion of your gift in an Endowed Fund, while flowing the rest into immediate grants. This is a great way to support current and future local needs and lets you both grant and save. Grant & Grow Funds can be built up over time.

Bequest Funds can be created today and funded later, through your estate, ensuring the causes you care about will be supported beyond your lifetime. Once indicating your gift to The Foundation in your Will, you can change the charities you wish to support through your Fund without having to update your Will.

Memorial Funds with the Oakville Community Foundation can be ready to receive donations within one day of a request and funds can be aligned to causes at a later date. Learn more here.

Benefits of a Community Foundation

Community Foundations offer a number of benefits that simply aren’t available when creating a private foundation or working with alternative fund providers. For example:

  • There are no start-up costs associated when creating a Fund with The Foundation.
  • While some alternative fund providers seek to limit the number of grants you make, you can make as many grants as you have available dollars using our intuitive Fundholder Portal.
  • Create your Fund with an initial gift of as little, or as much, as you’d like and work towards the Fund Type of your choice.
  • All administration of your Fund is done by The Foundation, including accounting, auditing, tax receipting and more.
  • The Foundation team maintains close relationships with local charities and provides research into the growing needs of our community. 
  • You join a community when you work with the Oakville Community Foundation, which comes with event invitations to meet and mingle with the local philanthropic community, an exclusive Fundholder-specific eNewsletter and much more.

Frequently Asked Questions

To assist you, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions as it pertains to starting a Fund with the Oakville Community Foundation. If you don’t see your question answered below, send us an email to giving@theocf.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

The Foundation accepts a variety of donation types including credit cards, cheques, transfers of stocks and securities, bequests and more. Click here to learn more about the Ways to Give.

Yes, any dollars contributed to your Fund are eligible for a tax receipt, issued by The Foundation.

Creating a Fund is only the first step! After, you can choose a unique name for your Fund and, if interested, take advantage of our logo creation services. You can also choose to make your Fund public, with its own webpage and unique URL, so friends and family can also make donations to your Fund.