Established in 2005, the Benson Area Community Foundation has two funds which are used to fund the work of the Foundation. Those funds are: 1) Operating Fund; and 2) Endowment Fund. A brief explanation of each fund follows.

Operating Fund – Like all organizations, there are costs of doing business. Our Operating Fund contains money used for office-type expenses such as stationery, postage, business envelopes, production of Foundation-related brochures and the like. This fund normally has less than $500.00.

Endowment Fund – From its inception in 2005, the Foundation Board of Directors selected creation of the Endowment Fund to be its principal fund. The Endowment Fund principal remains intact and only the annual return on investment  is available for distribution. The vision of the Board of Directors when creating the fund was to use available resources to fund community-based projects which would address unmet needs in the Foundation’s catchment area in the following domains: a) arts and humanities; b) parks and recreation; c) education; and d) quality of life. The goal of the fund is to assist organizations who meet the Foundation’s eligibility guidelines and who apply for funding, to implement projects which will address unmet community needs in one of the four domain areas. Funding is typically made at no more than 50% of any total project cost. The Foundation has been making grant awards on a twice-a-year schedule, in April and in October. Public service announcements are issued through local media sources making each grant-making cycle known to the community. When requested, the collective requested amounts exceed the amount of resources available from the Endowment Fund for any given grant-making cycle, the Board of Directors make priority-based decisions accordingly. In some grant cycles, not all requests for funding are able to be satisfied.