Donor Advised Funds Work for Asheville Family

Why the Olivers chose CFWNC

People work with CFWNC for a variety of reasons, but what they all have in common is a desire to give back. Jim Oliver and his daughters Esther and Emily have been working with the Foundation since 2008. The family opted to create donor advised funds to accomplish their charitable goals, create a legacy and eventually involve a younger generation.

“I was considering starting a foundation and talked it over with my advisor who suggested that I take a look at The Community Foundation,” said Jim. “Our family now has three donor advised funds that we use to facilitate our giving and the process is much simpler for us than running a foundation.

Jim, who studied design at Georgia Tech and Stanford, founded AVL Technologies in 1994. Today, AVL Technologies, Inc. is a privately held US company, based in Asheville, specializing in the design, development and production of mobile satellite antenna/positioner systems.

Advantages of a donor advised fund

“One of the advantages of using a donor advised fund is that it keeps you out of the end-of-the- year crunch,” said Jim. “You can make donations to your fund when you need to and allocate the funds on your own schedule.” There are other benefits to giving through a donor advised fund. “I often tend to give anonymously,” he continued, “and working with the Foundation enables me to do that while being fully informed about the grants we make and the organizations we choose to fund.”

Jim works with his daughters Esther and Emily to support causes important to their family and in tribute to their mother. “Working with the Foundation has helped us learn about opportunities and organizations that we wouldn’t have known about, and if we want to know more, they provide details or schedule site visits for us,” said Esther. “I know that the information we get from the Foundation is vetted and trustworthy.”