Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 22, 1994 TAG: 9405230184
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: John Levin
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ronk, as the foundation's executive director, manages the investment and distribution of grants from 12 endowment funds. In addition to the recent growth in the foundation's current assets, six other funds, currently valued at $4 million, have been designated to flow to the foundation when their benefactors die.
The increased interest in foundations comes with the graying of America, Ronk said. "Trillions of dollars are about to change hands, in terms of generations," he said. And in many cases, the money will come from people who "are more interested in doing something for their communities" than simply leaving it to heirs. Stiff federal inheritance taxes versus the tax-free status of most charitable endowments also is a factor in the growth of foundations, he said.
In the Roanoke Valley, there may be some extra impetus from the recent deaths of several people who have long been large and primary givers to nonprofits.
"Part of our growth is from lots of folks who have not been the high-profile, name donors but from people who have accumulated $200,000 to $300,000 and who want to give something back to the community," Ronk said. Deaths of "the major four or five major givers may have created the sense that some things might not happen if others don't step forward."
Virginia communities already are rich in foundation endowments, according to a new directory that for the first time has cataloged them, based on their annual reports required to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service and the state attorney general's office..
Virginia Giving, published by Capital Consortium of Raleigh, N.C., lists 846 foundations with assets of $2.21 billion. In their 1992 fiscal years, the latest period for which reports are available, the foundations made grants totaling $131.5 million, most of which stayed within the state for charitable purposes.
In the Roanoke region, foundations with assets of $52.5 million awarded $3.5 million. That doesn't count some large contributions to valley groups from foundations elsewhere in Virginia. Norfolk Southern Corp.'s foundation, while based in Norfolk, gave $325,320 in 1992 to Roanoke Valley and New River Valley organizations.
Capital Consortium, begun in 1984 as a consultant to nonprofit organizations on conducting capital fund drives, published its first directory of North Carolina foundations in 1988. A second edition came out in 1991. The company spent 18 months compiling data on Virginia foundations, said John Bennett, the company's president.
"There's a tremendous amount of money going to foundations, because of significant tax advantages," he said. There has been recent growth in all categories of foundations, except small foundations, defined as those with assets of less than $200,000 and making grants of less than $25,000.
Because management fees generally consume 1 percent of a foundation's assets each year, donors with less than $200,000 to manage generally turn to community foundations, such as Ronk's organization.
But the irony of so much money spread over so many groups, Bennett said, is that nonprofit organizations that depend on foundations for about 6 percent of their revenues often only turn to the largest 10 or 15 foundations.
"That means there is money available that nobody knows to ask for," he said.
Major private foundations and charitable trusts in the region. These are the latest available figures based on tax returns for 1992 or the foundation's comparable recent fiscal year.
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