Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

What does The Oglebay Foundation do with your gifts?
The Oglebay Foundation does exactly what you intend. We deposit 100% of your gift into one or more of the accounts established at The Oglebay Foundation by our Board of Trustees. We then confirm the designation in a thank-you receipt. The Wheeling Park Commission management submits a request for your gift. After ensuring that the request meets the account’s guidelines, The Oglebay Foundation issues a check.
Unrestricted gifts: The Oglebay Foundation designates about 90% of your unrestricted gifts to providing access to park programs for local youth, enhancing the natural beauty of the parks through landscaping and planting, and ensuring facilities are well maintained. The remainder of the unrestricted funds supports Oglebay Foundation communications and fundraising or critical Oglebay and Wheeling Park initiatives for which other funding is not available.
How is The Oglebay Foundation funded?
The operating budget for The Oglebay Foundation is provided through a lease arrangement on the Klieves Arnold Palmer Designed Golf Course at the Speidel Golf Club. Revenues from rounds played at this golf course are transferred to The Oglebay Foundation to support the Foundation’s general operation. This unique arrangement allows for 100% of your gift to be directed towards impacting Oglebay and Wheeling Park programs and facilities.
Operating grants from private foundations are utilized to help the Foundation grow and expand.
Why are the Wheeling Park Commission and Oglebay Foundation separate institutions?
- Confidentiality: Laws mandate that records and meetings of public institutions be open to the public. Because The Oglebay Foundation is separate from the Wheeling Park Commission, it is able to keep confidential gift records, wills, trust agreements, correspondence, and other highly personal documents related to gifts.
- Flexibility: Wheeling Park Commission guidelines restrict the ability to build significant endowment funds and maintain limited discretionary funds. By creating a separate foundation, the WPC has been able to match federal and state grants dollar for dollar since 1945.
- Security: As an independent non-profit, the Foundation exists to ensure your gift is directed towards its intended purpose.