Imagine the future. Your community foundation helps bring your charitable goals to life.

If you’ve already established a donor-advised fund or other type of fund at the community foundation, thank you! It’s our honor to work with you to achieve your charitable goals. If you’re considering getting started working with the community foundation, thank you for exploring it! We welcome a conversation to learn more about the difference you’d like to make in our region, whether through lifetime giving, a gift in your will or trust, or a combination of both. The community foundation is your home for all forms of charitable giving.

Our team is committed to regularly sharing updates and information that can help you and your family along your philanthropic journey, including timely topics that are on the minds of many during the volatile first few months of 2025.

–You may be wondering whether stock or cash is a better gift this year to your donor-advised fund or other type of fund at the community foundation. It’s smart to ask the question! The community foundation is happy to work with you and your advisors to evaluate what’s best for your own situation.

–A lot of donors and fund holders ask our team about the “step-up in basis” and how it factors into charitable planning. It’s an especially important principle as you evaluate which assets to leave to your fund at the community foundation in your will, trust, or via beneficiary designation. Our team is happy to demystify this for you!

–If you’re over 70 ½, you’re likely aware of a helpful charitable giving tool called a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD. You’ll be glad to know that recently-proposed legislation would expand the types of eligible charities to receive QCDs to include donor-advised funds. Fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to work together! It is truly our honor and pleasure.

Angie Tatro,
CKCF CEO

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Uncertain times: FAQs about charitable giving

Economic turbulence, inflation concerns, and a general sense of financial instability have made 2025 very challenging for a lot of people. As you consider how to support your favorite charities this year, take a moment to evaluate which assets may be best suited for your donations. In particular, the choice between giving cash or appreciated stock can have a meaningful impact on both your finances and the charities you support. The team at the community foundation is here to help answer your questions, including a few that are very common this year:

Should I give stock?

If you are concerned about preserving cash right now, then donating appreciated, publicly-traded stock can be a highly-effective strategy. By transferring long-term, marketable securities directly to a donor-advised or other type of fund at the community foundation, you avoid capital gains tax and may be eligible for an income tax deduction based on the fair market value of the securities. The community foundation, in turn, can sell the securities without incurring tax, maximizing the dollars available to support your favorite charities. Even in a down market, many investors still hold stocks that have appreciated over time, making this a win-win for both you and the causes you care about.

Should I give cash?

If your investment portfolio has declined significantly across the board, you may prefer to contribute cash this year. Doing so allows your investments time to recover, potentially increasing their value for future charitable gifts. Contributing cash to your fund at the community foundation allows you to organize your giving in one place, making it easier to gather tax information when April 15 rolls around again.

How can my donor-advised fund help in challenging times for our community?

Donor-advised funds offer flexibility for your charitable giving, particularly in unpredictable market conditions. By contributing to a donor-advised fund, you receive an immediate tax deduction and can recommend grants over time, allowing you to support your favorite organizations even when your personal finances are in flux. Many people like having a reserve of charitable funds that enables them to maintain consistent support for the causes they love, regardless of market ups and downs.

What else should I consider as I plan my charitable support this year?

Giving strategically in uncertain times is important to help stabilize the charities in our community and allow them to continue to support people in need. The community foundation can help you formalize long-term commitments while also ensuring that immediate needs are addressed. Maintaining support for the organizations you care about ensures their continued impact, even when resources are tight.

The team at the community foundation is here to help you make a difference in our community as economic pressures mount. Please reach out to discuss the best options to achieve your charitable goals, even in a year as unpredictable as this one.

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Comparing two scenarios: Why the step-up in basis matters

As you’ve watched the news about potential tax reform, a principle known as the “step-up in basis” might have caught your attention. Over the years, from time to time, draft legislation has proposed that this principle be changed or eliminated. Although tax law changes to eliminate the step-up in basis are not part of recently-introduced “death tax repeal” legislation, it’s still a good idea to be aware of the potential implications on the charitable giving strategies in your estate plan.

The tax principle of “step-up in basis” means that the cost basis of inherited assets will be reset to their fair market value at the time of the owner’s death, effectively erasing any capital gains that accrued during lifetime. You and your advisors might have discussed this principle in deciding which assets to leave to a charity in your estate plan and which assets to leave to your heirs. The implications can be huge. Consider these scenarios:

IRA to kids, stock to charity

If you were to name your children as the beneficiaries of an IRA, and then provide for charitable gifts in your will or trust, your children will pay ordinary income tax on distributions from your IRA following your death. Assets passing under your will or trust, such as appreciated stock, get a step-up in basis, but if a charity is the ultimate beneficiary, it doesn’t really matter because charities are not subject to tax. Tax result? Less than ideal.

IRA to charity, stock to kids

If, instead, you name your fund at the community foundation as the beneficiary of your IRA, the community foundation pays no income tax. Then, any stock that passes to your children through your will or trust will receive a step-up in basis, meaning your kids can sell the stock and avoid capital gains tax on the appreciation during your lifetime. Tax result? Very good!

Please reach out to the community foundation to learn more about leaving a legacy in your estate plan to support your favorite causes. We are happy to work with you and your advisors to maximize both the community impact and tax efficiency of your charitable gifts.

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QCDs: Soon there may be more to love

If you are 70 ½ and older, by now you’ve likely heard about a charitable giving tool called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (“QCD”), allowing you to direct a distribution from your IRA to an eligible charity, such as a designated fund, unrestricted fund, or field-of-interest fund at the community foundation. With a 2025 limit of $108,000 per taxpayer, QCDs count toward required minimum distributions (RMDs) but are excluded from taxable income, which can help you avoid higher tax brackets and phaseouts of deductions.

The community foundation team is here to help you make the most of charitable giving tools, including QCDs. A frequently-asked question about QCDs is whether they can be used to add money to a donor-advised fund. The answer is no–for now. While most public charities qualify as QCD recipients, donor-advised funds, private foundations, and supporting organizations do not under current law. Recently-proposed legislation, however, aims to further expand QCD eligibility by allowing distributions to donor-advised funds.

If enacted, this change would give you and other eligible donors even more flexibility in maximizing your philanthropy. Indeed, a donor-advised fund is often the “hub” of a family’s charitable giving because it makes it so easy to stay organized and track support to favorite charities over the years. It’s becoming common for a family to add to its charitable giving “portfolio” by establishing a designated or field-of-interest fund alongside the donor-advised fund, as well as giving to the community foundations initiatives through the donor-advised fund. In many cases, family members also update their estate plans to include bequests to their funds at the community foundation.

A QCD is a wonderful tool, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it becomes even more wonderful. As always, the community foundation will keep you posted on this and other tax law changes that may impact your plans for supporting your favorite causes and the community we all love.

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The team at the community foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.

Imagine the future. Your community foundation helps bring your charitable goals to life.

Spring has arrived! It is such a pleasure to hear from so many individuals, families, and businesses about how your charitable giving plans for 2025 are taking shape. If you are already working with the community foundation, thank you. If you are considering opening a donor-advised fund or other fund this year, we look forward to it!

Over the weeks ahead, consider spending a few minutes getting up to speed on trends in charitable giving and ways you can incorporate philanthropy into your life. To that end, here are three topics we think you’ll enjoy.

–In the aftermath of tax season, many families are evaluating what they could have done differently to maximize tax efficiencies and support the causes they care about in a more meaningful way. Learn how the community foundation can work with you and your advisors to set in motion the charitable components of your financial and estate plan.

–It’s a tough world out there! Charitable giving is such an important part of disaster relief and responses to other crises. Generous donations support much-needed assistance for people in need and can help speed along recovery efforts. Learn how the community foundation can be an important sounding board as you evaluate ways you can help.

–Wrapping charitable giving into your family’s activities is easier than you might think, whether you’re throwing a “birthday party that gives back” or teaching your kids about budgeting for donations. Check out the community foundation’s quick tips for making philanthropy a part of your kids’ lives in easy, uplifting ways.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together and for your continued commitment to making our community a better place for all. We look forward to our next conversation!

Angie Tatro,
CKCF CEO

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Make a plan–and make your favorite charities part of it

At some point during your adult life, you’ve likely realized that it would be wise to put in place a will, trust, and powers of attorney, as well as undertake at least a basic level of financial planning to stay on track with retirement and other wealth-related goals for yourself and for your family. Perhaps you’re also among the many people who have thoughtfully incorporated charitable giving strategies into a comprehensive financial and estate plan.

If you’ve not yet wrapped charitable giving provisions into your will, trust, and financial plans, it’s never too late (or too early) to do so. The community foundation is happy to work with you and your legal, tax, and wealth advisors to set up charitable giving structures and processes that align with your intentions to support favorite charities and causes, as well as reinforce the tax and estate planning objectives you’ve set in motion.

Indeed, formalizing your charitable intentions can bring a deep sense of purpose. By incorporating charitable giving into your estate plan, your values and philanthropic commitments can continue beyond your lifetime.

What’s more, lifetime charitable giving can be part of a strategic wealth management plan, allowing you to optimize your financial resources while supporting causes you care about. For example, charitable income tax deductions for your donations may reduce your taxable income and lower your annual tax bill. Plus, donating appreciated assets, such as publicly-traded stock held for more than one year, can help you avoid capital gains taxes. In addition, dollars flowing to charities following your death can help minimize the burden of estate taxes.

The community foundation team would be honored to help you develop a philanthropy plan, starting with lifetime giving and incorporating estate gifts as your legacy intentions take shape. As you consider whether the time might be right for you to formalize your charitable giving, here are three tips to consider–all of which the community foundation can help you achieve:

Give to what you know. Most people experience the greatest joy from giving to causes that are personally familiar. Personal experience makes it easier to understand how the charity is using your dollars. So, for example, if you’ve had experience with helping foster children, you are likely to understand how the organization is using your donation to support training for foster parents. Please ask the community foundation team for insights! It’s our job to keep up with the good work of charities that are meeting local needs.

Give where you are. Even with the increasing number of community challenges across the country and the globe, sometimes the greatest needs are right here at home. The community foundation team can help you identify opportunities to support local charities by gathering information about the overall need and how a particular charity addresses that need. When you give to local organizations, you are in a strong position to have confidence in your gift.

Give to the causes you love. Donations to charities that are aligned with your own passions make you feel the best and ultimately make the most difference because you’re likely to continue giving. The community foundation team is here to help bring your community dreams to life through the power of philanthropy. And that feels great!

If you’ve already established a donor-advised fund or other type of fund with the community foundation, or if you are considering getting started with the community foundation this year, we are here for you! The community foundation is honored to serve as your home for charitable giving. Our team looks forward to hearing from you.

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Crisis giving: Proceed with caution, but do proceed!

It’s a natural human response to want to help in a crisis–even though it’s hard for many people to ask for help. Indeed, Stanford social psychologist Xuan Zhao notes that people generally underestimate others’ willingness to help and overestimate the inconvenience it may cause. Asking for help can lead to meaningful experiences and often builds powerful human connections. That’s what philanthropy is all about.

Given how we are wired, it’s easy to understand why natural disasters, humanitarian tragedies, and other crises often prompt people to make charitable donations. It’s often tempting to give to a charity without a lot of thought, both because of the emotional pull as well as the urgency of the human need presented by the crisis. But that’s usually not wise. Here’s why:

–It’s important to make sure the charity is reputable and has a proven track record.

–It’s also important to consider that giving cash is usually the best option, even when you know the ultimate need is for food and medical supplies, for example. Cash allows charities to purchase exactly what is needed, often at a discount, and support local economies by buying from local businesses.

–You should also be cautious of high-pressure appeals that urge immediate donations without providing detailed information about what the charity is really doing.

The good news is that the community foundation is here for you! Whether you’ve established a donor-advised or other type of fund at the community foundation, contributed to an existing fund, or are considering getting involved, our team is happy to serve as a sounding board.

Our team can help you sort through the many options for giving to crisis relief to help ensure that your dollars make a difference. We’ll help protect your gift from fraud, help you maximize your tax benefits, strive to avoid duplication of relief efforts, and help your donations both meet immediate needs and fuel long-term recovery.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Many happy returns: How to help your kids celebrate charitable giving

If you’ve ever considered wrapping charitable giving into a child’s birthday party, you are not alone! Lots of parents are encouraging their kids to have guests bring gifts to charity instead of presents, whether it’s collecting books for a children’s hospital, pet toys for an animal shelter, or non-perishable food for a local food bank. Guests can feel part of something special by bringing items that align with the birthday child’s interests, and the party can include activities like making cards for the elderly or packaging donations together.

Even bigger than that, though, is the opportunity to educate your kids, starting at an early age, about charities and how every dollar can make a difference. Here are a few pointers:

Be intentional. Teaching children the value of charitable giving requires intentional strategies that blend financial education with empathy-building experiences. By including philanthropy as a regular part of your family routines and traditions, you can help your kids understand wealth as a tool for positive impact rather than just personal gain. Over time, you’ll see that this approach fosters both financial literacy and compassion for others.

It starts with money–and more. It’s often helpful to start the conversation by talking about money management and community needs, side by side. For example, you can explain how $100 might feed a family for a week, or how $1,000 could fund educational supplies for an entire classroom. You could even help your kids create a “giving budget” so they can practice ways to make their intentions visual and concrete. If you have established a donor-advised fund or other type of fund at the community foundation, log in to your account and show your kids how it works.

Offer choices. Most kids don’t like to be told what to do (!), so it’s important to empower children by showing them how to research and pick causes that are aligned with their interests. The community foundation’s website is a great place to start. This is where kids can see the big picture of how charitable giving connects to our region’s quality of life, as well as learn about the community foundation’s priority initiatives and the nonprofits doing important work on the ground every day.

Get out and about. Children (and adults) learn by doing, so try to find opportunities for hands-on involvement. You and your kids could volunteer together at food banks, organize neighborhood donation drives, or create handmade items for those in need. The community foundation is always happy to offer resources that will help you and your family find volunteer opportunities that are a good fit for your areas of interest and the ages of your children.

As always, the community foundation is happy to be your sounding board as you get your family involved in charitable giving. We are honored to work with all generations of community-minded people! The future of our region depends on it, and we are here to help.

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The team at the community foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.

Imagine the future.  Your community foundation helps bring your charitable goals to life.

Greetings from the community foundation! 

It’s our honor to work with so many individuals, families, and businesses to structure your charitable plans! If you are already working with the community foundation, thank you! If you are considering opening a donor-advised fund or other fund this year, we look forward to it!

As always, the community foundation is committed to sharing tips and insights to enrich your experience with philanthropy. 

–Tax time can be filled with to do lists and complexity. The community foundation is always here to offer simple tips and reminders about the tax rules related to charitable giving. Check out five important reminders that can help you get oriented as you gear up for this year’s filings.  

–In some cases, monthly giving to your favorite charities makes a lot of sense and can help organizations meet cash flow needs. In many cases, though, it might actually be better for a charity to receive a single gift each year. The community foundation can help you structure a giving plan that is a win-win for both you and the causes you love.

–We’re honored to work with so many individuals who have made arrangements for a gift to the community foundation in a will, trust, or IRA beneficiary designation. Many legacy donors have discovered that giving while they’re living is a wonderful way to get involved and make a difference right now, in addition to later. Learn how the community foundation can help you do both. 

Thank you for being part of the community foundation! We’re honored to be your home for charitable giving. Together through philanthropy, we can help our region thrive.  

Angie Tatro,
CKCF CEO

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Just the facts: Five tax reminders for charitable giving

Tax time is a great reason to review the basics! At the community foundation, our goal is to help make the tax aspects of your charitable giving as easy and effective as possible. If you’ve already established a donor-advised or other type of fund at the community foundation, or if you’re considering starting a fund in 2025, it may be helpful to scan a quick reference guide of FAQs for a few of the tax rules that apply to charitable giving. 

Where charitable giving is concerned, why does it matter whether or not I itemize my deductions?

Charitable contributions can only be deducted if you itemize your deductions. If you do your own taxes, you’ll report deductions on Schedule A of IRS Form 1040. Itemization is only available if your total deductions exceed the standard deduction. For example, for tax year 2024 (the tax return you’ll file in 2025), the standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for joint filers. As you look at 2025 and beyond, check with the community foundation about how your donor-advised fund can help you cross the itemization threshold while still carrying out your multi-year annual giving plans to support your favorite charities. 

If I use my donor-advised fund to make all of my gifts to charity, do I need receipts for all of those gifts?

No! A big advantage of organizing your giving through a donor-advised fund at the community foundation is that you can make a single gift of cash–or even better, appreciated stock–to your donor-advised fund, and then support your favorite charities from that fund. This means the only tax receipt you need is the one that documents your gift to the community foundation for your donor-advised fund. 

What documentation is required for me to take a charitable deduction?

Donations over $250 require written acknowledgment from the charity. The community foundation provides this for gifts you make to your donor-advised fund or other type of fund. Use IRS Form 8283 for non-cash contributions valued at $500 or more. Appraisals are required for donations valued over $5,000 (such as private stock and real estate).

How much of my income can I deduct for charitable donations to the community foundation and other public charities?

Cash donations to public charities (including your fund at the community foundation) are deductible up to 60% of adjusted gross income. Donations of non-cash assets, such as appreciated stock or real estate, are deductible up to 30% of AGI. Remember that donating appreciated assets held for more than one year to a fund at the community foundation can avoid capital gains tax; the community foundation does not pay tax when it sells the asset, leaving more money in the fund to support your favorite causes than you would have if you had sold the asset and donated the cash. 

What are the rules for IRA distributions to a charity?

If you’re age 70 ½ or older, you can make Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), up to $108,000 in 2025, from IRAs to certain types of funds at the community foundation (such as designated funds or unrestricted funds, but not donor-advised funds). QCDs can satisfy your required minimum distributions. 

As always, the community foundation is here to help you achieve your charitable goals during tax season and throughout the year as you implement a philanthropy plan that meets both your financial goals as well as your goals for making a difference in the community.

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“Thanks, but …”: The hidden cost of small gifts to your favorite charities

Your favorite charities are grateful for your support over the years. Whether you make your gifts outright or support charities using a donor-advised or other type of fund at the community foundation, every gift makes a difference in the quality of life in our community. 

You may even care about your favorite charities so much that you strive to send over a donation every month throughout the year. In some cases, this works well for the charity, especially if its budget is particularly lean month-to-month or if monthly recurring donations are a priority for the charity’s public relations goals or other strategic reasons. It’s worth knowing, however, that in some situations, consolidating your gifts into a single annual donation is actually better for everyone, including the charity.

Here’s why:

Although recurring donations offer predictable cash flow for organizations, the processing fees and administrative burdens can disproportionately affect charities when donations are fragmented. By giving one substantial annual contribution to each of your favorite charities—whether personally or through your donor-advised fund at the community foundation—you can maximize impact while reducing operational costs for the charities.

Indeed, you might not realize the degree to which processing fees can erode small donations. Every transaction carries fixed costs, of course, regardless of size. A check, for example, can cost charities more than $3.50 to process by the time you add up bank fees, processor charges, and staff time. Even supposedly “streamlined” digital donations via credit cards and digital wallets incur fees that sometimes can add up to more than 4% of the donation amount. 

As an example, a single $100 annual gift via check might cost a charity $3.61, but four $25 quarterly donations via check could result in more than $14 in processing fees—consuming more than 14% of the donated amount! 

The direct costs associated with each check are just part of the expense. Nonprofits spend valuable resources reconciling accounts and managing donor records for each transaction. A single annual contribution can help reduce these often hidden costs, allowing charities to focus on mission-driven work rather than processing paperwork. This efficiency gain can be particularly crucial for small charities, which often operate with lean teams and tight budgets.

If you’re interested in shifting from monthly to annual giving and you’ve not yet established a donor-advised fund, you might consider doing so. A single contribution to your donor-advised fund each year allows you to claim an immediate tax deduction, and then in turn process an annual grant to each of the charities you’d like to support. This approach can help eliminate processing costs. 

For example, if you typically give a total of $1,200 each year to your place of worship and you started providing that support in a single annual transaction, such as through your donor-advised fund, instead of writing twelve $100 checks, you could save your place of worship nearly $50 in processing costs. Plus, you’ll personally benefit from simplified record-keeping with one annual receipt for the gift to your donor-advised fund rather than tracking multiple transactions. 

Whether you’re supporting local social service agencies, arts organizations, alma maters, or places of worship, consolidated giving ensures that more dollars flow directly to services rather than getting eaten up by processes and fees. What a terrific example of financial stewardship to honor both your own generosity as well as your favorite charities’ operational realities. Please reach out to the community foundation today to learn more about how annual consolidated giving might fit into your philanthropy plan.

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Giving later and now: Make an impact even before your legacy gift

According to the 2023 Giving USA Report released in June 2024, charitable bequests, totaling nearly $43 billion, are up 4.8% over the previous year, keeping pace with inflation. This extraordinary generosity signals the possibility of tremendous impact in our community and in communities across the country. 

We are grateful to so many of you who have chosen to leave an estate gift to the community foundation. Whether your will or trust includes a bequest to your fund at the community foundation, or whether you’ve named the community foundation as the beneficiary of your IRA, your gift will help improve the quality of life for people in our region for years to come. 

At the community foundation, we’re honored to work with donors who are not only interested in leaving a legacy, but also want to maximize giving during their lifetimes. Indeed, many donors are interested in establishing a donor-advised or other type of fund at the community foundation for a variety of reasons:

–They want to experience the joy of seeing the results of their gifts. 

–Parallel to providing financial support through their community foundation fund, many donors enjoy the opportunity to get involved, whether as a volunteer, board member, or simply an observer at site visits to charities they support. 

–They want to involve their children and grandchildren in supporting favorite charities, especially by working with the community foundation through a family donor-advised fund.

–They like the added perk that they may be eligible for an income tax deduction for lifetime charitable gifts and that the gifted assets are no longer subject to potential future estate taxes.

Please reach out to our team. The community foundation would be honored to work with you as you incorporate lifetime giving into your charitable giving plan that already includes a generous and much-appreciated estate gift to the community foundation. Thank you for being part of the community foundation!

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The team at the community foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.

Imagine the future.  Your community foundation helps bring your charitable goals to life.

 

Happy New Year from the community foundation! 

We hope your 2025 is off to a good start already.

Many of you have been fund holders or fund advisors at the community foundation for years, and we are grateful. Some of you established a donor-advised fund, field-of-interest fund, scholarship fund, or unrestricted fund in 2024, and we’re so glad you did. Others of you are evaluating whether to start a fund at the community foundation in 2025. Wherever you may be along your charitable giving journey, we invite you to reach out anytime. 

Here’s what’s trending here at the community foundation.

–A new year can bring new opportunities for community involvement, including introductions to charities you’ve not yet supported. Whether you’ve been approached to support a friend’s favorite charity or have just learned about a brand new organization, think of the community foundation team as your go-to sounding board for due diligence.  

–A budget may not be the very first thing that comes to mind when you think about ringing in a new year, but budgets are important, even when it comes to charitable giving. The community foundation is happy to offer tips to help you plan your philanthropy goals for 2025 to align with your financial priorities. 

–Charitable giving is a powerful thread that runs through multiple generations of many philanthropic families. The team at the community foundation can help incorporate charitable giving into your legacy plans to achieve not only your goals for community impact, but also your intentions to empower financial independence in your children and grandchildren.

We look forward to working with you in the months ahead!

With gratitude,

Angie Tatro,
CKCF CEO

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Doing your due diligence

You’re ready to roll into a new year, and that includes staying involved with the charities you love, whether as a donor, volunteer, board member, or all of the above.

The team at the community foundation is here to support your charitable endeavors, no matter where your passions lie. Our region is full of charitable organizations that are doing amazing work to improve the quality of life for everyone. Indeed, across the country, there are hundreds of thousands of charities making a difference every single day.

Occasionally, you may be asked by a friend or colleague to donate to a charity you’re not too familiar with, or perhaps a charity that’s not been around very long asks you for financial support. Please reach out to our team with your questions. We are happy to help you gather the information you need to be confident in your gifts to any organization, large or small, new or well-established. 

The overwhelming majority of charities are above board, ethical, governed by top-notch board members, and run by highly-qualified professionals. Unfortunately, though, every once in a rare while, there are instances when a charity might not dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. Although very infrequent, it’s still worth considering leaning on the community foundation to help you with due diligence for a few reasons: 

–You’ll want to protect your reputation against damage if you were to wind up supporting a charity that later becomes tainted by a scandal.

–You’ll want to validate that the charity is not facing significant or unusual legal or financial risks. 

–You’ll want to avoid scams, which, unfortunately, are on the rise. 

A big perk of organizing your giving through a fund at the community foundation is that our team always has its finger on the pulse of what’s going on with charitable organizations in our community. We can research the status of longstanding organizations, check into a brand new organization, and everything in between. Our goal is to help ensure that your charitable contributions have the greatest possible impact. We look forward to hearing from you! 

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Budgeting has its benefits, even with charitable giving

Your family may be among those who are taking their charitable giving budgets more seriously this year, given uncertainty surrounding interest rates, potential new legislation, and possible stock market swings. 

At the same time, you also know that our community’s needs continue to rise. As 2025 gets into full swing, your favorite charities will be relying on additional resources and support from philanthropic sources. 

Against this backdrop, a budget has benefits!

Here are a few steps to consider as you build a 2025 budget for charitable donations that can help you continue to support your favorite causes and remain fiscally cautious.

–Review all your charitable donations from the last three years and compile totals for each organization. This can be an easy exercise if you use a donor-advised fund at the community foundation because the data can typically be pulled directly from the community foundation’s donor portal or requested from the community foundation’s team.

–Carefully review the list of organizations you’ve supported over the last three years. Regardless of your donation levels, which charities are the most important to you? Are you serving on the board of directors of any of these organizations? Do you regularly volunteer at any of them? Is there a personal connection?

–Are there any organizations on your list that you supported primarily because the organization was raising money for a capital campaign, or because you were helping out a friend who is involved with that organization? If you anticipate household budget constraints in 2025, these may be organizations to possibly put on hold and then revisit supporting again in future years.

–Add up your total giving over the last three years and then divide it by three to get your average. Is that number doable this year? If not, reduce it to a level that fits within your financial situation to arrive at your tentative 2025 giving budget. Or, if you expect your income and assets to increase this year, consider taking your charitable giving budget up a notch. And always remember that there are tax advantages to giving highly-appreciated publicly-traded stock to your fund at the community foundation. 

–Consider whether to keep certain organizations at historic levels of giving, such as those you’re personally involved with. Or on the flip side, you may decide to temporarily reduce your level of giving to organizations for which you are providing other types of support, including volunteering or board service.

–Review your list to see if there are any organizations you’ve supported that you’d like to learn more about. The team at the community foundation is extremely knowledgeable about charities in our region and would be happy to provide information on how a particular organization spends its money and how it measures impact.

–Finally, do the best you can to set targets for the amount of support you’d like to provide to each organization—and perhaps even set targets for the timing of your gifts. You can change these targets at any time, of course. The point here is that the planning and budgeting process is a great way to create more intentionality around your giving. Intentional giving is not only more rewarding for you, but it is also likely to increase your level of engagement with the recipient charities and enhance your understanding of how dollars are being deployed to meet the mission. This, in turn, helps your favorite organizations get better at carrying out their programs and serving those who rely on their work. 

We look forward to working with you throughout the year! 

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It’s a family thing

If you’ve not yet involved your children or grandchildren in your charitable giving, this may be the year to consider it! Children of all ages can benefit from learning even just a little bit about philanthropy and how charities improve the quality of life for everyone. Indeed, many parents and grandparents believe that some level of community involvement is crucial for young family members’ personal growth and future contributions to a more compassionate society. 

The team at the community foundation is always happy to help you explore best practices for helping shape the young people in your life into caring, responsible adults and inspire your extended family to get more involved.

Increasing a family’s role in charitable giving often leads to broader questions about estate planning, such as: 

–How to structure legacies to favorite charities so that heirs can stay involved in your priorities across generations

–How to ensure that children and grandchildren will be financially secure but still motivated to pursue independent personal and professional growth

–How to foster and support the self-directed charitable passions of children and grandchildren

The team at the community foundation is happy to work alongside your tax and estate planning advisors to address questions like this. We understand that you may be concerned that leaving millions of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands, to your children could backfire and hinder your kids’ ability and motivation to achieve financial independence. You might even be among the growing number of baby boomers who are considering pushing out distribution dates of inheritances and gifts.  

In addition to concerns about fostering entitlement and dependency, many parents and grandparents are concerned that their children will miss out on the satisfaction of knowing they built wealth on their own. These parents believe that the challenges and struggles along the way will ultimately enrich their children’s lives with intangible benefits that are far greater than the obvious benefits that come with gifts or an inheritance of significant financial resources.

If you find yourself feeling this way, please reach out to the community foundation. Every day, our team works with families who are in this exact situation. We’ll help you evaluate strategies such as:

–Establishing philanthropic components of an estate plan so that children receive only the amount that can pass to them free of estate tax, with the rest passing to a charity, such as a donor-advised fund at the community foundation.

–Setting up a fund at the community foundation to allow you to support favorite causes and charities during your lifetime; if the fund is a donor-advised fund, you can provide that your children step in as successor advisors following your death.

–As successor advisors to the donor-advised fund, your children can work with the community foundation to recommend grants to favorite charities, support interest areas you’ve pre-selected, or both. 

Many people are attracted to this type of structure because not only could it avoid estate tax, but it also allows their children to stay involved with all of the family’s wealth, work together and keep sibling bonds strong, and get involved in the community. 

Please reach out to the community foundation team anytime. We look forward to exploring strategies to help you meet your financial and tax goals, as well as honor your wishes for your children to live happy and productive lives. 

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The team at the community foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.