About CFS And Giving: FAQs

CFS can help you find the best way to give effectively with ease and confidence. We have the expertise to create a personalised giving plan that aligns with your values and benefits the community. 

We offer various services to structure your giving, including advisory and administrative support for managing your donations and reporting results. With access to resources and research, we find charities that best match your interests. CFS ensures accountability by performing regular evaluation on charities.

At CFS, we help individuals, families, and corporations to establish their own named charitable funds without worrying about tax issues, complex regulations, or administrative burdens that come with private foundations. By pooling funds for investment management, even smaller individual funds can benefit from cost savings and higher returns, just like larger independent foundations. Learn more about the distinctions between these charitable options.

CFS primarily partners with organisations with Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status. We work with over 400 charities, civic and non-profit organisations to develop impactful programmes and fund causes that can make a difference and transform communities in Singapore. We evaluate these charities regularly to ensure compliance with criteria and guidelines.

As a charity with IPC status, CFS can issue tax–deductible receipts for eligible donations at the prevailing tax deduction rate (subject to Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) regulations).  

As a general rule, CFS accepts any asset as long as it is marketable and does not have any liability. Most often, funds are started through a gift of cash. Please reach out to us about the possibilities. 

Our audit partner KPMG conducts an independent audit of our financial statements every year. Our audited financial information is available here.

A flow-through fund allows you to distribute the money at your preferred pace. The fund will not be invested and will be kept liquid until it has been disbursed as grants. You can also inject further donations, which will be available for grantmaking according to your giving objectives and preferred schedule. 

An endowment fund is where your contributions are held at CFS in perpetuity and invested with annual payouts available for grantmaking to charitable causes of your choice. Endowment funds are ideal if you wish to support a charitable cause on a sustained basis or to establish a long-term scholarship or educational award. 

An investible flow-through fund is where your donation is held at CFS and invested. Investment returns, as well as the principal amount, are available for grantmaking to charitable causes of your choice. 

You may consider if you want to be able to make an immediate impact by flexibly disbursing grants from your donations to the fund, or if you want your donations to be invested and for your fund to make a steady impact in perpetuity. Other considerations may include your areas of interest and charitable goals. 

CFS does not charge any set-up fees.  

Our support fee depends on the type of donor-advised fund. The support fee is considered a donation to CFS and will be deducted directly from the donor’s donor-advised fund. The support fee qualifies for the tax deduction specified by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Please get in touch with us for more details on our fees.   

CFS has a dedicated team of grantmaking professionals with many years of experience in the philanthropy and non-profit sector. Our work is also reviewed by our Programmes and Grants Committee, which comprises experienced members of the community who have an up-to-date overview of the non-profit landscape in Singapore. 

All funds are managed by our Investment Committee, which comprises experienced professionals in the financial industry. Their in-depth experience and knowledge ensure that funds are invested responsibly to achieve stable returns.

Every six months, donors receive a donor statement with updates on their fund balance, donation history and grants disbursed. Donors who have donated sizeable amounts may also receive regular reports from the charities and programmes they support. 

You can still make an impact and support your preferred charitable causes beyond your lifetime. You can nominate CFS in your will or name us as a beneficiary of your insurance policies or CPF monies. We will honour your wishes after your lifetime. You can contact us for further details on how to specify your wishes. 

CFS safeguards our donors’ details and confidentiality. We hold our donors’ interests in high regard, as stated in our Deed Terms and Conditions.  

We strictly adhere to our Privacy Policy. We do not share donors’ details without their consent or contact donors for matters unrelated to their donor-advised funds, philanthropy and grantmaking.  

CFS values our charity partners and endeavours to treat all partners and programmes objectively and fairly and recommends suitable charities and programmes to our donors based on impact, merits and needs. We will not conduct fundraising on behalf of partners, specifically benefitting any charity or programme. 

CFS is cause-neutral and strives to be impartial in our engagements with donors, charities and in the development of programmes and activities. We welcome the submission of programmes or funding opportunities, which will be duly assessed for quality and offered to our donors alongside other eligible programmes that align with their interests.