Local Giving, Lasting Legacy sign

Giving to the OAF

Create a lasting legacy by giving back to the greater Oconomowoc community.
The Oconomowoc Area Foundation offers numerous ways to fulfill your family’s philanthropic goals.


Unrestricted Gifts / General Endowment

Making a Bigger Impact Together

You can support the Oconomowoc Area Foundation’s mission and increase its benefits to this community with an unrestricted gift to its General Endowment. Your contribution to the General Endowment adds to a pool of assets that generates funding for projects impacting the greater Oconomowoc area.

Levels of Giving

Lifetime Humanitarian $500,000+
Humanitarian $250,000 – $499,000
Benefactor $100,000 – $249,000
Donor $10,001 – $99,999

We also welcome you to become a part of the OAF Signature Club whose members donate a minimum of $10,000 to our Unrestricted Fund sometime during a their lifetime.

Please mail your checks to:

The OAF
PO Box 185
Oconomowoc, WI 53066

Contact Rebecca Seymour via email or by calling 262.751.9142 for further information.


Donor Designated Funds

Help that Never Ends

Donor designated funds provide lasting support for purposes you designate. By balancing your fund’s yearly grants with its long-term growth, we ensure it helps Oconomowoc in the ways you specify for generations to come.

How it is established:

A gift agreement specifies your fund’s name, the purpose it will permanently support and the Foundation investment pool it will use.

Minimum gift:

$25,000. You may add to your fund at any time.

Advisors:

When you start your fund, you designate your fund’s “advisors,” the individuals authorized to recommend grants on your behalf.

Grants you may recommend from your fund:

You can designate the fund you establish in three ways.

  1. If you designate it to serve the Oconomowoc Area Foundation, it will provide yearly support to address community needs.
  2. You may also designate a local agency or group of agencies to receive annual grants from your fund
  3. Finally, you may choose a cause you care about, such as scholarships, athletic programs, cultural resources or programs for children with disabilities. The Foundation will make grants from your fund to address these needs every year. Grants from your fund should primarily support local projects. You may designate colleges, medical research programs or other charitable causes outside the area as partial beneficiaries of your fund it you like.

Fees:

Your fund benefits from the economics of scale offered by our affiliation with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Our low fees vary according to fund size and the investment pool you choose.

Check with Foundation representatives for complete current information.


Donor Advised Funds

Philanthropy Your Way

A Donor-Advised Fund uses a simple philanthropic formula: Establish a fund with a gift. Earn immediate tax savings. Recommend gifts from the fund whenever you wish. We do the homework, the legwork and the paperwork. You get the enjoyment of giving-without the headaches.

How it is established:

A simple gift agreement specifies your fund’s name, the names of those who may recommend grants from it and the Foundation investment pool it will use.

Minimum gift:

$25,000. You may add to your fund at any time.

Who may recommend grants:

You designate your fund’s “advisors” (those authorized to recommend grants from it) when you start the fund.

Grants you may recommend from your fund:

You decide what grants to recommend. Your fund should primarily support local projects. Federal laws require that your fund support recognizable charitable groups and that you receive nothing of value in return. We’ll ensure that your grant recommendations comply with applicable laws and requirements.

Fees:

Your fund benefits from the economies of scale offered by our affiliation with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Our low fees vary according to fund size and investment pool you choose. Check with the Foundation representatives for complete current information.

Permanent purpose:

Your donor-advised fund includes a statement of how its grants should be used after all of its advisors have passed away. You may leave it up to the Foundation to choose grant recipients or you may specify the ways in which you want your fund to help (such as scholarships, recreation programs, etc.) or designate specific local agencies to receive grants from it.

Other services you’ll receive:

We’ll make grants promptly and notify you when they have been sent. We’ll provide regular fund statements showing investment activity, income, grants and fees. We’ll update you periodically on charitable issues and news in the community. If you want, we’ll notify you of opportunities to join with other fund donors on significant community projects. If you ask, we’ll track down information on charitable causes for you, answer questions about charitable giving and provide expert charitable planning suggestions. And we will ensure that the charitable purposes you specify for you fund are carried out forever.


Legacy Gifts

A Planned Gift

A planned gift through your life insurance, as a beneficiary of your qualified retirement plan, or a bequest can be used to establish a fund with the OAF. For more information on tax advantageous ways to support your most cherished causes and your community, please contact the OAF.

Here are some examples of Legacy type funding in our area that are continuing the tradition of giving from one generation to the next.

Charitable Funds

Grants from the charitable funds listed below will be made in the name of the fund now and for generations to come.

  • Richard R. and Karen Bertrand Charitable Fund
  • The Bickler Family Foundation Fund
  • The Breckenfelder Family Charitable Fund
  • The Dave Bruno Family Fund
  • Marjorie A. Day Fund
  • Sally J. Day Fund
  • Richard and Mary Henszey Family Fund
  • George Andrew Markham Memorial Fund
  • William Mielke Family Foundation Fund
  • Christmas Spirit Foundation – John and Margaret Murphy
  • Hilton L. and Jean A Neal Charitable Fund
  • The Oconomowoc Area Community Fund
  • The Oconomowoc Area Foundation Fund
  • The Oconomowoc Public Education Foundation Fund
  • The Oconomowoc Rotary Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund
  • The Oconomowoc Woman’s Club Charitable Fund
  • The Hilbert Scherffius Fund
  • Craig and Mary Schiefelbein Foundation Fund
  • Schumann Family Fund
  • Shult Family Foundation Fund
  • John and Susan Snyder Family Fund
  • Maureen Stapleton Fund
  • Chris and Kathy Thorsen Family Foundation Fund
  • Waukesha State Bank Charitable Fund
  • Nate Zastrow Family Foundation

Legacy Funds

The following have made arrangements to make a donation directly to the foundation or start a fund with the OAF to support the causes they care about most.

  • J. Burchardt Family Charitable Fund
  • Five O’s Burchardt Charitable Fund
  • John and Judy Cooley Fund
  • Alice Y. Kozlowski Fund

Acorn Funds

  • Bruce C. and Joan K. Brown Family Foundation
  • Terry and Lisa Holahan Family Fund
  • Sivak Family Foundation
  • Jon Spheeris Family Fund

The Signature Club

By becoming a member of the OAF Signature Club, your commitment to giving today can impact the lives of many for years to come right here in our community. We offer two variations of participation:

  • The Signature Club – Sometime during your lifetime, you are committing to donate a minimum of $10,000 to the OAF Signature Club General Endowment Fund.
  • The Signature Business Club – Available to businesses who will give a minimum of $10,000 to the OAF Signature Club General Endowment Fund within eight years.

All options in our Signature Club are flexible and allow you to give when and how you choose. Contact the OAF to take the first step with helping our community in perpetuity.


Memorials and Honorariums

A Lasting Tribute

A Memorial or Honorarium is a lasting tribute to honor someone special in your life while supporting the mission of the Oconomowoc Area Foundation. When a Memorial gift is received by the OAF, a letter is sent to the donor to acknowledge the gift. Any persons the donor indicates will also receive an acknowledgment card. This may include the family of the deceased.

An Honorarium is a special way to acknowledge the important people living in your life, and are often given on special occasions, such as a friend’s or relative’s birthday, graduation, or anniversary. They are also appropriate gifts for holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. Finally, Honorariums are often given to show appreciation for someone’s kindness or to recognize their impact on your life.

You may also send your donation via postal mail. If you choose to mail your contribution, please be sure to include a note indicating the name of the person you are honoring or memorializing, as well as the name and address of anyone who should receive an acknowledgment of your generous donation. Send your contribution and note to the following address:

Oconomowoc Area Foundation
PO Box 185
Oconomowoc, WI 53066

If you would like additional information, you can also email Rebecca Seymour, Foundation Coordinator, or phone her at 262.751.9142.


Give Your Time

Area non-profits work tirelessly to impact the Oconomowoc area in a multitude of ways. While we hope that you are able to donate financially to the OAF, we also encourage you to donate your time to our area’s many great causes.  Please click the button below for a list of non-profits who would welcome your assistance.

Unrestricted Gifts / General Endowment

Unrestricted Gifts / General Endowment

Adds to a pool of assets that generates funding for projects impacting the greater Oconomowoc area.

Donor Designated

Donor Designated

Provides lasting support for purposes you designate.

Donor Advised

Donor Advised

Uses a simple philanthropic formula to make giving easy.

Legacy Fund

Legacy Fund

A planned gift through your retirement plan.

The Signature Club

The Signature Club

Available to individuals and businesses to make a commitment to giving throughout their lifetime.

Memorial & Honorariums

Memorial & Honorariums

A lasting tribute to honor someone special in your life.