A START-UP allocation of $25,000 for the Westminster Community Foundation was approved by the city council on Wednesday (Shutterstock).

By Declan McDaniels/Orange County Tribune

A start up-fund of $25,000 was approved by the Westminster City Council on Wednesday night for the recently formed Westminster Community Foundation. The motion was passed unanimously, after much time spent on the details of the foundation’s anticipated actions and funding allocation.

The city council authorized the formation of the Westminster Community Foundation on Apr. 26, 2023. 11 Board members were eventually appointed, two by each council member and three from the mayor. Terms are two years and are alternated so that each council member appoints one Board member per year. 

According to a city staff report from April, the foundation aims “to help raise funds for community events and to generally support City programs designed to help youth, seniors, low-income families, and the homeless.”

The long-term goal of the foundation is to be self-sufficient, but the start-up funds would help with initial fundraisers and website development. Jackie Diep, a board member of the Westminster Community Foundation, says that these funds are an investment in the city.

“Our committee definitely is very proactive,” Diep said. “In order for us to be successful, we want to make sure that the time is not focused on raising start-up funds, but really to make sure that our time and our focus is to make sure that we raise funds for the city.”

One main challenge with the foundation is getting officially established as a 501(c)(3) organization. This recognition from the IRS would make the Westminster Community Foundation an official nonprofit organization that is exempt from paying taxes. City Attorney Christian Bettenhausen explained that the process could be sped up significantly if the city shows that big donors would need to see official nonprofit recognition in order to donate.

“The IRS is actually taking a long time to process them, we’re looking into doing it expedited,” Bettenhausen said. “Part of that requires that we show that there are certain donors that will not give if they don’t get the 501(c)(3). If we can get the expedited application, we might be able to get this process [going] very quickly.”

With the City of Westminster currently struggling financially, councilmembers had many questions for the foundation, hoping to ensure that their allocation of city funds is thought-through extensively. The Westminster Community Foundation’s Board members gave a detailed plan to establish a standard that they intend to follow, claiming that their main priority is to give their time to help with issues in the community. Mayor Chi Charlie Ngyuen said that this foundation could be very meaningful to the city, and wants to see it get started as soon as possible.

“I think this is very important for us to fund the organization so that they can go ahead and get the ball rolling,” Ngyuen said.

The funds will be given to the Westminster Community foundation as they continue to work on receiving 501(c)(3) recognition. The Westminster City Council will meet next on Oct. 25 in the council chamber at 8200 Westminster Blvd.