Charitable Mutual Funds for the Rest of Us

I happened upon a press release from echoDonations.org today. What a cool organization! They have developed a way for everyday people to give an interest-bearing donation to their favorite charity and earn a return on their gift. It's called a Charitable Mutual Fund and they've been in use for years, but only for those who can make very large donations. Using the power of the internet, echoDonations enables people to participate with only a $25 donation (or more).

Here's how it works: You make a donation to your favorite charity through echoDonations. They invest the money in the charitable mutual fund. There are two choices on what to do with the interest earned: Give & Get Back™ or Give & Grow™.

* Give & Get Back™ - With this option, the interest is split between you (or your beneficiary) and your charity. Each of you gets a yearly check for the interest, and when you die, your charity gets your original donation. Use this option to get Lifetime Cash Rewards™.

* Give & Grow™ - With this option, the charity gets half the interest in a yearly check. The other half is reinvested in the charitable mutual fund. When you die, the charity gets the original donation plus all the compound interest it has earned.

--> Use their gift calculator to determine what your gift will mean to you and to your favorite nonprofit. echoDonations is a nonprofit so your contributions are tax deductible, but the amount you can deduct is based on your age at the time of donation.

echoDonations.org is a wonderful to make a meaningful donation to an organization you care about. And it is particularly nice that both you and your charity can benefit from the interest. What a great way to get your money back. Enjoy!

"Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed." - Mohandas K. Gandhi