Cappetta Family Fund

Sharon Cappetta has seen incredible generosity in her long career of fund development in philanthropy, yet nothing prepared her for the extraordinary response of The Community Foundation’s donors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Call after call came from donors asking, ‘How can I help?’

Working with donors – “people who believe that through charitable giving they can make the world a better place” – has always been the best part of her job, says Sharon, The Community Foundation’s Director of Development. During the pandemic, the concern donors displayed about the sheer breadth of the need in the community and their desire to assist “really buoyed me.”

And it got her thinking. “The responses inspired me, especially from our donor advisors, and I thought ‘I can do that too, over time,’” Sharon recalls.

In 2020, she established the Cappetta Family Fund as a donor advised fund – a build-a-fund using proceeds from the sale of stock – because, she says, “you can do most anything charitable with a donor advised fund.”

She looks forward to having conversations with her adult children, Kiley and David, about their vision for the fund and the nonprofits each will support during their lifetime.

They were both very young when she started working at the Foundation 17 years ago. They saw community giving firsthand as they grew up, helping in ways they could, stuffing invitations, volunteering at local shelters and attending Foundation events.

“They know about the work we do, and they’re informed about the nonprofit sector,” Sharon says. “The fund figures into my estate planning, and my children are successor advisors for the fund. It will be fun to have a family tool that can be part of their philanthropy.”

Eventually, when there are no more advisors, the fund will become a preference fund for gender equity and the advancement of women and girls – a subject of great importance to Sharon.