It’s our best-kept secret, partly because we almost never talk about it.
 
It funds international exchanges, special projects, and, of course, polio eradication. But like a lot of things in our lives, it takes a little education to get your arms around it.
 
First off- - there are three funds in OUR foundation, annual programs, the permanent fund, and the designated fund. So here’s a brief explanation of each:
 
 
The annual programs fund is the one most of us are aware of; we make gifts which are invested for three years and then the entire amount of the gift is made available for grants. Half of our gift goes to something called the world fund which is used by foundation trustees for their projects, but the other half is available for our district for its programs. Money not used in one year rolls over to the next.
 
The permanent fund is a typical endowment, usually for larger gifts. Every year the earnings are divided between the world fund and our district fund. It grows over time so those distributions usually grow every year.
 
Finally, there is the designated fund where donors want their gift used for a specific project, such as polio eradication.