Designation by substantial contributors. Donors to a private foundation that pools all contributions received in a common fund are also eligible for the 50 percent contribution deduction limit and may deduct the full value of appreciated property (see Private pass-through foundation), if the foundation meets certain requirements. The foundation must be described as a supporting organization of a public charity (as defined in section 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) except for the fact that any donor (or donor’s spouse) who is a substantial contributor has the right to designate annually the public charities that are to receive the income from the donor’s contribution to the fund and to direct (by deed or by will) the payment to public charities of the corpus in the common fund from the donor’s contribution. Distribution requirements. To qualify, the private foundation must be required by its governing instrument to distribute, and it must actually distribute (including administrative expenses): All of the adjusted net income of the common fund to one or more public charities by the 15th day of the 3rd month after the close of the tax year in which the income is realized by the fund, and All the corpus from any donor’s contribution to the fund to one or more public charities not later than one year after the donor’s death or after the death of the donor’s surviving spouse if the surviving spouse has the right to designate the recipients of the corpus. Failure to designate. A private foundation will not fail to qualify if a substantial contributor or spouse fails to exercise the right to designate the recipients of income or corpus of the fund, as long as the income and corpus from the contribution are distributed as required. Return to Life cycle of a private foundation
