1) What is an endowment fund ---? 

It is a permanent charity fund that uses only the interest (and capital gains) earned during the year to give out to the chosen charities or NGO's of the fund. The amount of annual gifts therefore depends on the annual return of the fund. There is also a minimum. According to Canadian law - a minimum of  3.5 % of your endowment fund must be given annually. If, your fund returns more than 3.5 %, it then becomes a decision that is made by the board of directors of the said fund. In our case, since we are part of a community fund (The Greater Quebec Community Fund), the decision is made by their board.   

2) Where does my money actually go ?   

Your donation is put in the ULTRAGIVING  FUND (either the endowment or in transit) which is managed by a Community fund based in Quebec city. It is the Greater Quebec Community Fund. The oldest of its kind in the province. This Community fund manages over 450 funds like ours and multi million dollar assets. Its mission is to help ULTRAGIVING Fund and others minimize their cost. And so, the community fund  manages the investment (through its investment committee) and also handles every issue of tax receipts and accounting work for us. They also, are the ones we give the instructions to when the time comes to give. They are the ones that issue the checks to the different organizations that we back.  For this service, ULTRAGIVING is being charged 2% per annum. After having done our homework, we can assure you ---it is very good value. Furthermore -as soon as we surpass $ 500 000 in the fund, we will have even lower fees. 

 Given that one of our main mission is to give to grassroots organizations that spend very little on administration fees, you can be assured that ALMOST 100% of your donation will be making a real impact. When you compare this to the average charity that spends up to 20/30 % right off the top, you see the real difference. 

3) What is the difference between the endowment fund and the "in transit" fund. 

                Ultragiving endowment fund: when giving to this fund --your donation becomes "eternal". It is invested in a fund for the long term, and it uses the annual results of the fund to give to organizations. If the investment (which is a balanced mutual fund) returns 10% for example --then the following year --the fund will give out around 10% to different organizations. It is the board of directors of the Community foundation which decides annually how much each foundation can give. Their decision is based on the actual returns of the year, previous years, and their expectations of returns for the coming years. 

                 ---Ultragiving "in transit" fund. :  when giving to this fund, the donation is held in a short term account (basically a bank account) until you/we give instructions on where to give this amount. Usually, instructions are given within a year. 

4) Can i give to both funds ?

Yes you can...BUT, in the first couple of years of the fund, in order to build a nice nest egg to ULTRAGIVE, by default, we will use 70% of the donation for the endowment fund and use 30% for the current year's projects. If someone wants to split it differently, we will certainly try to oblige.

5) Can i get my money back since it is an investment ?   

No, as soon as you make a donation, (either in the endowment fund or the in transit) and the government issues you a tax receipt, that money becomes 100% property of the FUND. 

6) Do i get a receipt every year when the fund gives again ? 

No --you get the original receipt and 100% of your donation is tax deductible in the year it is given, even if it is invested in the endowment fund, and that technically, it has not been given to a charity yet. 

7) Can i give to any charity or organization i want ? 

yes  and no !  When- you give to the endowment fund ---the board of directors will give choices yearly as to which organizations we can support. Members will get an actual vote but they will also be encouraged to suggest and find new organizations to support.   

For members that have accumulated a large sum, the ULTRAGIVING board of directors will allow 100%  full discretion as to where the members want to give. Both, on an annual basis and on a punctual basis through the "in transit" fund. 

Last, but not least, the recipient organization has to a be a registered Charity  recognized by the government of Canada. (CRA) 

8) Which charities does ULTRAGIVING support ?

You can go in the  charities we support section of the website to see the latest charities or NGO`s we are working with.

The charities will vary from year to year but the stable of charities that we will support will inevitably grow.
The chosen charities will be local, national AND international in their scope of activities.

9) Where and when do we vote for the charities ?

You can go in the  charities we support  section of the website in order to cast your vote(s). Money will be normally be attributed to the chosen charities once a year but also on a when needed basis for particular projects. 

10) What happens if i don't vote -or give instructions to donate to such and such a charity ? 

The board gets the unused votes. In extreme circumstances where the ULTRAGIVING BOARD should be unable to give instructions, the Community FUND will then have, not only the right but the obligation (minimum 3.5%) to give to charities of its choice. In the end, we are assured that our money is being used properly. 

11) Can i set up my own ``private foundation` within the Ultragiving Fund  in order to create a legacy ? 

Each donation  you make to the endowment fund accumulates under your name  and once you have reached a certain threshold (TBD), you will control your donations 100%  (beyond the choices offered by ULTRAGIVING) if you wish to do so. But no matter the level at which your donations have accumulated, you can always  involve your own "board"  or family in making decisions since YOU will be deciding where you want ULTRAGIVING to donate. 

Obviously, if you make a one time donation which reaches this threshold, you can start right away with your own fund (within the fund)....It just saves you a lot of fees and bureaucratic hassle by doing it with ULTRAGIVING. 

The other advantage of opening your fund within the ULTRAGIVING FUND, is that you will benefit from more information and most likely a much larger set of opportunities and synergies for giving. 

12) LONG TERM VS SHORT TERM PHILANTHROPY ? 

Most people and (donators)' s philanthropy is based on short term. i.e. what we give to charity organizations and NGO's during the year is spent during the year. While this is great and obviously needed, we also need to create a legacy and a permanent fund for our philanthropy. 

In the ULTRAGIVING FUND, we try to address both. A portion of every donation will go into the endowment fund for the future and the rest will go towards short term giving into what we call a "in transit fund". The initial percentages chosen by ULTRAGIVING have been set at  70% long term / 30% in the "in transit fund". This may change according to fund-raising events and other variables but by default, it is these percentages that will be used. 

The reasons we believe why it is important to contribute to both are varied and just make tremendous sense. 

A) When you donate in any  given year, the charity organization that receives it HAS TO spend at least 80% of it by the end of that year. How much money goes wasted because these organizations are rushed into spending that money is hard to know, but it is probably a lot more than we think. 

B) Often times, once a project or emergency situation is finished and the money is all spent, the organizations will either leave the projects all to themselves or do very little follow up. In either case, the chances of making a difference in the long run have greatly diminished. 

C) By developing a long term fund, grassroots NGO's will have access to and have the means to assure the sustainability of their projects and interventions. 

D) By developing a long term fund, we can also better prepare and plan our giving and make sure that projects that we back have a better chance of success and sustainability. 

E) By developing a long term fund, we are also teaching the next generation about ULTRAGIVING and its importance in the sustainable development that is so close to their hearts. 

13) How can i get even more involved with my giving. ? 

The ULTRAGIVING Fund will have several committees to set up and that will be an ongoing concern. Whether  in communication, research for charities, pre- and post analysis of charity programs, event and fund-raising, growth and partnership issues, the possibilities and the needs are endless so we encourage everyone to get in touch with one of our board members/founders to get more info. 


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