Our Commitment

When you establish your fund with Fermanagh Trust, we make the following commitment to you:

 

Direct access to thousands of local charities and worthwhile causes 

Working with the Fermanagh Trust gives you access to hundreds of local charities and people in need. Using our knowledge and expertise will help you identify worthwhile local causes, saving you considerable time, energy and money in your search.

 

Regular information in the style you choose 

To keep you up-to-date on the projects you are supporting, you can choose to receive regular updates in a variety of different formats to suit your needs, even visiting your projects so you can see first-hand the boost your support has given local communities. This will give you complete confidence that your money is being spent in the most effective way possible.

 

You set the terms of your fund

Right at the start of our relationship, you set out the guidelines for how your fund is to be run, and the type of people or groups to whom your grants are to be allocated, giving you complete control and security in knowing your money is only ever going to be given to the very people you want to help.  

 

Increase your funds value by as much as 40% from the taxman

All funds, and if you choose to leave a legacy, can be made in the most tax efficient way available to you. We will be pleased to advise you on the most financially effective way for you to make a donation, leaving you to concentrate on the difference you want your donation to make and how you want your gift to be used.

 

You stay in the driving seat if you want to 

You can have as much, or as little, involvement in the decision making process as you wish. You can either take advantage of our professional expertise, receiving a comprehensive assessment of the charitable options available to you, or you can simply leave us to make the decision on your behalf, safe in the knowledge that you have set the guidelines. Either way, you stay in control.

 

Avoiding red tape and solicitors bills, the easy way! 

By setting up your charitable trust through the Fermanagh Trust, you will save yourself thousands of pounds in legal fees and 'red tape' over doing it yourself, meaning you can be helping people or projects within just a few days.  We take over all the legal responsibilities and liabilities for running your fund and complying with charity law - all you have to do is read and sign the paper work, saving you the task of completing lengthy annual returns from the Charity Commission or having to prepare your own accounts.

 

Making sure your money benefits from expert investment advice 

Your fund is wisely and prudently invested through an expert Investment Manager. Its performance, is continuously monitored by our board of Trustees.

The lowest management fees, guaranteed.

To make sure the maximum amount of your money is spent on good causes, you will only pay a 1% charge for administration on endowment funds and low rates for other types of fund management.  All this is done without your support being diverted into costly charity management and administration costs.

 

A steady hand at the helm 

Your fund and the Fermanagh Trust are managed with the highest level of integrity and standards of governance, our Trustees meet regularly to discuss and monitor any activity so that any decisions are only made in your best interests… so that your endowment fund will continue to help good causes for many generations to come.

 

Professional service 

The staff at the Fermanagh Trust are dedicated to managing your fund in a thorough and professional manner, you can rely on us to honour your wishes and ensure that grants from your fund are only made to groups and individuals that meet your criteria.

Once you have set up your fund, you can be assured that every grant given from your fund will be addressing a real need, because we will ensure that we thoroughly assess each application received.

 

Your Guarantee From Us

When you establish a fund with the Fermanagh Trust, we guarantee that every time a grant is approved from your fund, each applicant has been through our strict 7-stage selection process, making sure that every single applicant is eligible for your help:

 

Applicant assessment -

each person or group wishing to apply is asked to submit an application providing us with the information we need to make informed decisions. 

 

The financials -

for groups, we always investigate whether they’re solvent, are sitting on large amounts of their own money, or have any deficits that are not being adequately addressed. This is vital to ensure your money is used correctly by an organisation with the skills to financially manage the project. For individuals, we make sure that their ideas are costed out appropriately and they are genuinely in need of financial assistance.

 

A cast-iron constitution -

to ensure that the group is well governed and run effectively, we insist that they have a set of rules outlining their responsibilities and area of work. We check that they are democratic, and legal, working to help good causes rather than themselves.

 

Policies to protect -

we ensure that comprehensive equal opportunities and child protection policies are in place, so you are assured that we have children and vulnerable people’s best interests and welfare at heart.  Hopefully, this helps them to avoid incidents, but should one occur the applicants are trained and equipped to deal effectively with the situation.

 

Safeguards -

in order to safeguard your interests, a set number of compulsory checks are carried out to ascertain that an applicant is genuine and in real need of your support, ensuring your Fund is only used for what it is intended.

 

Interviewed -

once all of the above stages have been satisfied, the applicants are contacted where we will review their application and explore their ideas in more depth.

 

Applicants eligibility -

it is only after this detailed process that we put applications forward to your Fund, allowing informed decisions to be made.  

 

By making sure we go through this process every time we can absolutely guarantee every person put forward to you is entirely eligible for your support.  In addition, by sticking to this procedure with every application we can ensure that your money is unlikely to be misused, taking away any distress or embarrassment this might cause you.  Choosing to support the applicant, together we can be absolutely certain your money is being used in accordance with your wishes whilst enabling the implementation of genuinely good ideas that will make a real and effective change to the lives of local people.

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