Once givers learn that they can invest in a donor-advised fund and grow their capacity for charitable grants tax-free, opening a donor-advised fund is easy. Many donors start thinking about new ways to expand their giving, maximize their giving output, and how much money they want to pour into their fund each year. It’s an exciting process to watch as a fund administrator. But as the process evolves, a saving-focused mindset can kick in. Donors start to consider how they can continue growing the value of their donor-advised fund account while also sending out grants. It makes sense – as we often desire for our investment accounts to grow rather than diminish. But this mindset speaks to the importance of having conversations about donor-advised funds, strategic giving and the ultimate goal of using this financial tool. Here are some things to consider if this thought has crossed your mind. 

Get strategic with your investments and grants.

If you’re looking to grow your donor-advised fund account and continue giving grants, one thing you can do is strategically consider how you plan to use your fund. You might set a goal that looks something like this: I want to be more generous every year. Last year, I invested $100 into my donor-advised fund account and granted $50 to a nonprofit. This year, I will invest $150 in my donor-advised fund account and will grant $100. In this scenario, you’re increasing the amount of money in your donor-advised fund overall AND are granting out more than you did the year before. 

Consider opening two funds for long- and short-term giving goals.

Maybe you want to grow your donor-advised fund so you can make a large investment when the time is right. Building up enough funds for a major gift can take a while, and it’s best to let the money grow tax-free over time than to continually pull from it to make grants. Get strategic with your plan and create two donor-advised funds – one for your long-term gifting goal and the other for short-term or spontaneous gifts. Then you can leave one account untouched to grow until you’re ready for your large gift while using the other one to make grants throughout the year. 

Shift your mindset – giving doesn’t have to be about growth. 

Maybe growing your fund is important for you right now. Like the scenario we mentioned earlier, you might be planning to make a large gift that you need to build up funds for. But if that isn’t your scenario, we encourage you to pray about your giving plan and consider whether or not you need to grow your donor-advised fund account. Now might be a season of giving freely – investing in nonprofits who need support even if that reduces your DAF balance. There may come a season in the future when building your fund up again makes sense, but there is nothing wrong with having your balance decrease as you give according to the calling God puts on your heart. 

January marks the start of a new year, and new years tend to lead to new habits and resolutions. Whether you’re considering making changes to your personal or professional life in 2023, it’s important to have a plan. At Christian Community Foundation, we want to encourage you to refresh your giving strategy this year. Here are five steps you can take to start your giving out on the right foot.

One: Review your last three years of giving and identify any trends.

Looking back at your giving over the course of a few years will help you determine where the majority of charitable giving is going. If you are giving to several organizations and causes, it will also help you determine the type of causes you support. Lastly, looking back at your giving will help you find any discrepancies – like if your charitable giving was much greater in one year than all the rest. Identifying trends will help you better determine where your money has gone and where you want it to go in the future. 

Two: Make sure your budget is up to date and consider how much you want to give to charity.

Your finances will fluctuate from month to month and year to year. Whether you’re re-evaluating your giving plan or not, looking at your budget for 2023 is a fantastic way to start a new year. When planning out your budget for the year, we encourage you to add giving as a line item. Pray with your family about how much you want to give away in the year. That number will be unique to each family and the year, but the focus should be on overall generosity and not the amount of money you decide to give away. 

Three: Meet with your trusted financial advisor and develop a plan.

When coming up with the best plan to fit your financial goals and needs, meeting with a trusted professional – like a financial advisor – is a smart step. Financial advisors have a great deal of knowledge and understanding of the financial field. They can combine what they know with your specific financial situation to develop the perfect plan for you. Financial and giving plans are specific to the individual, so using a trusted financial advisor will help you know exactly what you can and cannot do. 

Four: Research nonprofit organizations to find the right fit for you.

The next step to revamping your giving strategy would be to research nonprofits to find the right fit for you. You might be ready to give but can’t decide how to divide your gifts. That’s where the Christian Community Foundation comes in. You can invest all of your planned gifts in a donor-advised fund, then dispurse them to nonprofits when you’re ready. We can help you transform Memphis, the Mid-South and beyond in ways that further the kingdom of God through both faith and action. 

Five: Determine how much you want to grant your donor-advised fund – either all at once or over time.

Donor-advised funds give charitable givers a flexible, easy way to give back to their community. These funds basically function as your own personal foundation, but it’s a lot less expensive. You determine how much you want to give, and you also get to decide how long the fund is active. All of the money can be given at once in a large lump sum, or it can be dispersed over a certain amount of time. The choice is yours. Donor-advised funds also give you the power to create a legacy and continue your charitable giving into your retirement years. 

If you’re looking to re-evaluate your giving plan in the new year, consider giving Christian Community Foundation a call. Our financial advisors are here to help you determine the perfect plan for you. As an added bonus, we’re local, which means that we have all the knowledge of the big organizations with the specifics of the city of Memphis. We hope to see you soon!

Are there charities and causes in your life that hold a special place in your heart? You can ensure that your support remains after you pass. 

A posthumous giving plan can be an important part in your estate planning process. Also known as a legacy plan, this tool allows you to continue your charitable giving after your death. While you might not be here anymore, your name and giving will continue on.

What is a legacy plan?

A legacy plan is a way to give back after your death. These funds allow for the creation of a donor-advised fund at a later date – when your will, trust and/or other estate planning documents officially take effect. These funds can be set to be used for a certain amount of time, or they can continue on indefinitely. 

If your legacy fund is established through your will, your estate will receive a tax deduction. You can also contribute to your legacy fund while you’re still living. Tax deductions will be included at the time of those donations, too. Legacy funds are great because you can include them with estate planning but work directly with the foundation to make changes in giving without having to go back and make changes to your will or trust. 

How can you set up a legacy fund with CCF?

Legacy funds can be set up with Christian Community Foundation in life and after death. To get started, you’ll enter into a legacy fund establishment agreement, which can be found on our website. This agreement allows donors to transfer their donor-advised funds into legacy funds after death. It also lets CCF know if there are any assets in someone’s estate planning coming their way for the purpose of setting up a legacy fund. 

When assets are transferred to CCF, they are subject to the bylaws that currently govern the organization. Donors are not allowed to make any restrictions on the Foundation’s use of the funds. Donors can make recommendations for how the funds are to be spent. They can create a mission statement, assign beneficiaries, appoint fund advisors, establish the lifespan of the fund, make annual grants and establish investment allocations. The minimum amount required to start a legacy fund with CFF is $100,000. If the fund falls below that number, it will be distributed to the established assigned beneficiaries. 

A donor-advised fund makes giving simple in life and in death. Getting started in the process is easy. Visit our website or give us a call today to start working on your giving plan.

If you give through the Christian Community Foundation, it’s likely that your goal is to be strategic and impactful with the grants you request out of your donor-advised fund. This requires a level of planning that many families and individuals typically don’t remember or prioritize as part of their giving. So…how do you decide which giving method is best for you and/or the grantees of your choice. Is it more helpful to make one large annual contribution? Are recurring gifts actually helpful? Here are things to consider when creating a grant disbursement plan for your donor-advised fund.

About recurring gifts

Increasingly, nonprofits are developing multiple tracks for givers to follow. Upon submitting an online gift, many donors are prompted to consider if they’d like to make this gift monthly, becoming a participant in a subscription-like donation model. You might wonder if this is merely a cash grab, an opportunity to capture the generosity of donors who might make an errant click that starts them on an ongoing giving journey they may not realize they’re on for several months. But in reality, recurring donations can play an important role in nonprofit planning and management AND can be helpful to donors whose budget requires smaller, more frequent donations.

Donors who submit monthly recurring grants (via donor central) can possibly enable nonprofits to make important purchasing and investment decisions for the future because they can estimate how much money will come to them through promised donations. Of course, the donor can withdraw from the program at any time, so the estimation is still just a best guess.

One time or recurring, which is right for me?

So, should you give larger, one-time gifts or should you space out your donations throughout the year as part of an ongoing, recurring donation? Which is more impactful? The truth is that both are impactful and can benefit the organization in which you are investing and the answer may depend upon the organization and timing. For example, if an organization you love is running a limited-time capital campaign to replace its roof, a one-time donation can help them reach its goal better than a recurring monthly donation could. If that same nonprofit is launching a new program that will run into perpetuity, recurring donations can help meet programmatic needs for months or years to come.

How do I do it?

If you’re requesting a grant through CCF, both opportunities are available to you. Through Donor Central, you can request a one-time grant from your phone, tablet or computer at any time. You can also set up a recurring donation from your fund, which will send the nonprofit of your choosing a check at a cadence you determine. The beauty of a donor-advised fund is that the way you disburse grants really doesn’t matter. You receive the tax benefit upon investment into your DAF, not when you request a grant.

What else should I know?

One-time and recurring gifts to a nonprofit will come to them in the form of a check from the Christian Community Foundation with your name on it (unless you choose to remain anonymous). This means that you won’t be enrolled in recurring monthly donation programs the organization has unless you discuss it with the nonprofit you invest in before you start making recurring donations.

We’re in the business of strategic, generous and impactful giving. We work with our donors to develop giving plans that meet their needs and allow them to create the most impact possible with the money they can give. Using those three words, we drive emphasis on the process of giving. We don’t mention anything about where our donors grant funds. We purposefully focus on the how.

Understandably, we get a lot of questions around where people can or can’t donate. It makes sense – blessing an organization with a gift is undoubtedly the most exciting part of a person’s giving journey. Most often, we’re asked if giving through CCF is limited to Christian ministries. And our answer is clear: no!

While we don’t disclose the organizations to which our donors give, we can share that our donors support thousands of nonprofits that meet people’s needs across the globe. Many of these organizations are Christian ministries, but not all of them are. As long as an organization has a 501(c)(3) status and does not operate against Christian values, our donors can give to it. 

When we say that we focus on the how, we mean it. As a foundation, we don’t provide recommendations on where to give, even when asked. We believe that giving should be a movement of the heart, a process of discovery that each giver should go through with their family and through their own relationship with Jesus Christ. If the Lord leads you to give to an organization, and you and your family prayerfully consider that gift, then we encourage you to request the grant. 

Our founders recognized that extending the love of Christ into our community would often happen by supporting Christian organizations, but not always. That’s why you’ll see Common Grace gifts mentioned throughout our founding language. Common Grace gifts are given to nonprofit organizations that meet the foundational human needs of our neighbors. These organizations do lifesaving work, providing food, shelter, companionship, medical care and education to people who need it. While Common Grace gifts don’t go to Christian organizations, they do go to organizations that are meeting people’s human needs, which mirrors an example set by Jesus throughout the Bible. 

So, when you ask us about where to give, we won’t give you a list of organizations. Instead, we’ll encourage you to consider how you can give strategically, generously and impactfully wherever God leads you. If you’d like help getting started on your giving journey, or learning how to put these three words into practice, give us a call at (901) 682-6201.