The PCF is new, so we don’t yet know. However, the experience of Community Foundations elsewhere is that it costs about 10% of donated funds in the early years, falling gradually to about 1% when the foundation is well established.

There is no guarantee that a community foundation will succeed. For it to do so, a continuous flow of funds is essential.

Should the PCF fail, any remaining funds will be donated to HM the King’s Chai Pattana Fund.

But we believe we will succeed, not least because we are receiving advice and support from the international Synergos Foundation and from Shannon St John, formerly President of the Triangle Community Foundation, one of the most successful of the US community funds.

At present we are keeping costs low by delaying the opening of an office and the hiring of full-time staff. When we are confident that we can sustain such overheads (which we expect will be soon), we will open an office, as we believe that part-time volunteers cannot effectively manage an organization as large, complex and diverse as we expect the PCF to become.