Multi-millionaire Percy Ross gave away $30 million during his lifetime. His motto: “He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes.” Over the years, Percy funded all sorts of requests: a high school science project, repairs to a leaky roof, and even the replacement of a stolen artificial arm.

He also rallied support for projects like the Marquette Michigan YMCA and helped raised $3.5 million for its construction by asking the readers of his syndicated newspaper column to send $1 each. The YMCA received over $50,000 in $1 bills.

Many people want to fund charitable programs and projects they’re passionate about. There’s also a strong case for unrestricted giving, so let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of both to help you create your giving strategy.

Restricted Giving

Restricted gifts limit what charities can do with donations. If you list a specific program or funding area on the check memo line of your gift, the charity has a legal obligation to allocate funds to that program. The Cape Cod Foundation, for instance, actively builds resources for our field-of-interest funds, which support all areas of community life: animals and wildlife; arts and culture; environmental conservation, preservation and restoration; health and human services; housing; workforce and career development; and youth development. Your gift to one of these funds will certainly fuel critical initiatives and help us meet needs in those areas.

There may also be opportunities for you to partner closely with a charitable organization on a project that aligns with your charitable interests and their immediate or long-term goals. For example, you could help fund a research project or pilot a new program that falls outside the organization’s existing budget. Building a meaningful and honest relationship with a charity is a vital part of a successful restricted giving strategy.

Unrestricted Giving

While restricted gifts limit what charities can do with donations, by extension, they can also limit what a charity can accomplish. Unrestricted gifts allow organizations to determine where donations will do the most good. They offer:

Flexibility: Organizations can allocate resources where they are needed most, responding quickly to emerging challenges or opportunities.

Sustainability: They can cover operational costs to ensure the long-term viability of programs and services.

Innovation: They can experiment with new initiatives and scale successful ones without waiting for project-specific grants.

Support for the Unexpected: They can help cover emergencies like unexpected heating or cooling bills, urgent repairs, or unplanned expenses that ensure continuity of operations.

The benefits of unrestricted gifts hold true for The Cape Cod Foundation. They allow us to deploy resources wherever they’re needed and to be flexible in our response as the needs in the community change over time. They allow us to do things we may never have been able to do otherwise. The Cape Cod Foundation Strategic Emergency Response Fund is among them.

At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, we allocated $100,000 in unrestricted money to establish this fund. The initial funding provided immediate pandemic relief; the commitment allowed us to leverage other resources. Through government programs and the generosity of private foundations, corporate partners, and individual donors, we raised over $5.6 million for relief and rebuilding efforts. LEARN MORE

Over the years, we have also used unrestricted gifts to support cross-sector collaborations, develop our Nonprofit Capacity-Building Grant Program, seed-fund new community projects, and advanced several nonprofit leadership development initiatives. Chief among them: We helped bring The Institute for Nonprofit Practice’s (INP) Core Certificate Program to the Cape and Islands. To date, more than 130 local leaders have participated in this intensive, year-long program. LEARN MORE

We have also been able to leverage Unrestricted Funds to support unfunded or underfunded initiatives in partnership with our Field-Of-Interest and Donor-advised Funds, participate in local funders collaboratives to collectively support community projects, and bring innovative and unique programming to Cape Cod.