What is a community foundation?
A Community Foundation is an organisation that enables local people to shape the future of their communities by directing resources (money, time and talent) to support worthwhile local initiatives. Through this independent organisation people can come together to make their community a better place to live.
Our Local Community Foundation
Border Trust is the Community Foundation for the cities of Albury and Wodonga and the Alpine, Indigo, Towong, Greater Hume, Corowa and Tumbarumba Shires.
Border Trust offers a secure and direct way of improving the lives and opportunities of local people by providing funds and organisational support to significant community projects.
What does Border Trust Do?
In general terms Border Trust:
- Receives donations, gifts and bequests from individuals and businesses in the community (money in)
- Invests the funds to generate income (money managed)
- Provides grants for community projects (money out).
Where does the money come from?
Donations come from the generosity of individuals and businesses in this community. With tax deductibility and gift recipient status, Border Trust ensures that what you give is distributed locally and effectively.
Border Trust directs these gifts and donations to community projects selected from applications through the community grants program, monies are then distributed locally to local causes.
Bequests and 'named funds' are normally held in trust as capital, with the trustees investing these funds and distributing the interest regularly to community groups and initiatives.
Border Trusts focuses on today and also on the future. It is about building the kind of community we would be proud to leave to our children and their children.
Aims of the Foundation
- To promote leadership in the community
- To build the community's capacity to improve itself
- To support multiplier opportunities
- To promote social responsibility
- To encourage a giving culture
- To promote social justice
- To develop partnerships and build relationships
Legal Structure
Border Trust is a company limited by guarantee which is a charitable organisation. It is the Trustee of a charitable trust (known as the public fund). Donations to the public fund are tax deductible.
The foundation is fully transparent and accountable to the community through external audits, publication of an annual report and community consultations.
We invite you to be part of this new approach to supporting many worthwhile projects and people across our region by contributing to a positive future for our community.
"Give Where You Live"