When Bobby and Gina Miller wanted to establish a charitable legacy, they wanted a fund that would keep giving back to the community—not just beyond their lifetimes, but forever. They turned to the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation. For the two life-long Eastern Panhandle residents who own and operate Miller Electric, the Community Foundation was a perfect fit.
The Community Foundation is a tax-exempt public charity that allows people to establish permanent endowment funds within one large foundation. Founded in 1995, the Community Foundation does not distribute the donations, but invests the donations and distributes the investment income in the form of scholarships and grants. The foundation serves Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire and Hardy counties.
The Community Foundation distributed more than $165,000 in grants and scholarships in 2006. Since its creation, it has grown to have a permanent endowment of $5.8 million. In the past eleven years, the Community Foundation has distributed more than $650,000 in grants and scholarships.
With the help of the Community Foundation, the Millers have recently started their own fund. The fund will make grants to organizations serving children and offering hospice care. This fund will also offer scholarships to local students attending college or vocational-technical institutes. “Bobby learned his trade in vocational-technical school and I attended Shepherd College, so both types of education are important to us,” explains Gina.
The power of investing with a community foundation is illustrated by Amy Owen, the foundation’s executive director. She says that one of the first funds was started with a $500,000 donation. It has distributed more than $125,000 in income and is now worth $640,000. To Owen, the example shows the difference between a community foundation and charities such as the United Way. The United Way is more like the community’s check book, raising and distributing money annually, while a community foundation is more like a savings account, distributing interest from long-term funds in perpetuity.
Donors who establish funds within the Community Foundation enjoy tax benefits. Donations are collectively invested and managed. The foundation prides itself in holding down administrative and investment fees. Lower fees means more fund can be distributed to the community. 
A donor does not need hundreds of thousands of dollars to start a fund. Funds require a minimum $5,000 endowment gift. However, a fund can be started with an initial donation of $500. The donor then has five years to build the fund to $5,000. This is called a “seed fund.” In addition, several donors can join together to start an endowment fund intended to support a cause or organization in the community. For example, supporters of the Shepherdstown Day Care have recently set up a fund to support the day care.
Donors also can make charitable donations to the Community Foundation without establishing their own named fund. Donations can be targeted to a specific fund, a specific area of charitable interest, such as the arts or recreation, or can be made to the Community Foundation’s general endowment for the community. For instance, Community Foundation receives many small donations to its Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund, which was established in 2000. The fund pools those donations and distributes scholarships to graduating seniors from Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan counties each year.
“The vast majority of our donations come from people donating $250 or less. With the help of the Foundation, anyone can be a philanthropist,” says Owen. “The Community Foundation has received donations ranging from ten dollars to one million dollars.”
Gina Miller encourages her friends to make donations to the Community Foundation. “We’ve told friends, ‘Please don’t give us Christmas gifts. Instead, make a donation to our fund in the Community Foundation.’”

For information, call 264-0353 or visit www.ewvcf.org.