End-of-year giving – stop what you’re doing and plan ahead!

As the year-end approaches, gift giving is often at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Time and money is spent shopping for the perfect Christmas gifts for friends, family and loved ones. If you’re like many of us, mixed in with the holiday shopping deals are requests for support and donations from nonprofit partners in the community. End-of-year giving requests are an important piece of the nonprofit giving cycle as nonprofits hope to capitalize on last-minute efforts by donors to alleviate tax burdens. But strategic givers know that giving doesn’t have to happen at the end of the year – in fact, with a donor-advised fund, you can plan your giving strategically so end-of-year requests don’t have to break the bank.

So, why should a donor-advised fund be the answer to your end-of-year giving needs?

You can more easily field unexpected requests.
All of our resources are limited, and we know that money can be tight at the end of the year. While you may want to donate to a number of organizations, you might have already exceeded the amount you can donate for the year. A donor-advised fund allows you to earmark and budget funds specifically for philanthropy. This way, when end-of-year requests pour in, you have a pool of money in your fund that you can donate without impacting your cash flow. This gives you the freedom to plan and give more easily!

For tax purposes, you receive a tax benefit in the year you contribute to your donor-advised fund.
If you’re giving at the end of the year in a mad rush to alleviate your tax burdens – stop! Meet with a trusted financial advisor earlier in the year and create a giving plan that includes a donor-advised fund. You’ll receive a tax credit in the year that you contribute to your fund, and you won’t have to rush to find places to donate money at year-end. Trust us – strategic giving pays off!

We are called to give – and donor-advised funds help you give more freely.
God’s Word is clear that we are intended to give what we have to those who have less. As Christians, it’s a part of our calling!

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

– 1 John 3:16-18

As we enter into the giving season, search your heart for those organizations and missions that mean the most to you and your family. Letting children become involved in the giving process is a great way to encourage family bonding and instill the importance of giving at a young age.

If you have any questions about giving back or would like to create your own donor-advised fund to begin your own giving journey, feel free to give us a call at 901-682-6201.

Where to give in Memphis?

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Giving, Memphis, Ministry

Memphis has a heart for giving – and we also have causes worth supporting. With so many asks coming in on a daily basis, and with a number of worthy organizations tugging at our heartstrings, it can be hard to land on which organization you want to support through your Christian giving. But if you know how much you want to give in a year, then there is an easy solution – create a donor-advised fund.

Creating a donor-advised fund through the Christian Community Foundation affords you time and the opportunity to give strategically. Donor-advised funds allow you to budget, plan and execute your giving in one move without designating a nonprofit. So, when a need arises or your heart is touched, you can immediately make a grant to the nonprofit of your choice from the pool of money you’ve set aside for giving.

Donor-advised funds are a flexible, convenient way for you to donate money when you aren’t sure of where to give. With a donor-advised fund, you receive an income tax deduction in the year that a contribution was made to the account – and you no longer have to keep up with donation receipts for every nonprofit or charitable contribution you make. You also can easily make a grant request online, and we’ll write, mail and confirm donation for you. We do all the leg work! Through CCF, you can also donate assets including cash, stocks, bonds or even real estate. This flexibility allows you to contribute what you want when you want with no extra stress or inconvenience!

In our city, the opportunities to donate seem endless. And it’s amazing that we have a nonprofit landscape so committed to tackling our community’s most challenging issues. We want to empower you to use the gifts you’ve been entrusted with to impact the community. You can do this most effectively with a donor-advised fund.

We know that the giving process can be overwhelming at times, which is why we are here to help every step of the way. If you need assistance in setting up a donor-advised fund or with any donating needs, feel free to contact us at (901) 682-6201.

Do donations through CCF make a difference in Memphis?

Local nonprofit organizations are a driving force in improving the quality of life within our community. It is our duty as citizens to support these organizations, as they are bettering the very place we call home.

Nonprofit organizations assist other businesses in the community to drive economic development, provide greater access to the arts, amplify cultural awareness, ensure citizens receive a quality education, confront our city’s greatest health care challenges, and foster spiritual growth and revival for people in need — they virtually lend a hand to every sector of the community.

Nonprofits act as the arms and legs to our community’s boldest dreams – they turn the belief that our city can be a better place for everyone into action. Supporting local organizations provides us the opportunity to see our communities turn into the place we’ve always envisioned it to be. Last year, our donors gave more than $40 million in grants to local nonprofits through their donor-advised funds. These donations undoubtedly allowed nonprofits to expand their operations and make a bigger impact on their clients and community.

Even if our donors choose to give to worthy nonprofits around the globe (that also need our support), they’re still inadvertently supporting local nonprofits through our Hope for Memphis Fund! The Hope for Memphis Fund is a grant program sponsored by CCF that pours money directly into Christian nonprofits in the Greater Memphis Area.

To support our organization’s operations, CCF charges a small administration fee on each donor-advised fund we manage. These fees cover our operational costs, which we responsibly manage. At the end of each fiscal year, we determine what our surplus funds are, and all of those funds are made available to nonprofits through the Hope For Memphis Fund grant process. The surplus funds have grown year over year, exponentially expanding the impact we can make through Hope for Memphis Fund grants.

The Hope for Memphis Fund is dear to CCF, as it’s a simple way to live our mission. These grants serve as the arms and legs of our efforts to transform our city.

Help us continue to keep the hope alive on this journey to advance our community! Together, we can support development in the city of Memphis and its surrounding areas. Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” So, let’s do our part to turn the ripples into waves by supporting local nonprofits with CCF!

How to be more generous

Memphis is no stranger to generosity and giving. In 2017, Business Insider named Memphis the most generous city in the United States, with citizens reportedly giving an average of 5.6 percent of their incomes to charity.

We encourage you to strive to be more generous: with your friends and family, with others, with your community, with yourself. But how?

Committing to monetary donations is an easy way to grow your generosity this year. When finding time to serve is challenging, and deciding where to give seems daunting, Christian Community Foundation is here to facilitate your desire to practice gratitude through generous giving. Creating a donor-advised fund through CCF affords you the opportunity to donate now and determine where you’d like to recommend grant disbursement later. In the meantime, we’ll grow your funds tax-free through wise investments.

If you don’t know where you’d like to give, that’s OK. The beauty of creating and contributing to a donor-advised fund is that your donation counts today as a charitable gift (a tax benefit), but doesn’t have to be distributed until you feel called to grant the funds. This process is perfect if you want to begin a new habit of giving but don’t feel called to support any one organization.

With that being said, if you’re looking for an organization to support now, we can help there as well. Our donors contribute to thousands of 501(c)(3) certified nonprofit organizations annually, each with unique and valuable missions that make our world a better place to live. At CCF, we divide them into three categories:

Giving for the Kingdom – giving to organizations whose mission facilitates the building of God’s kingdom.
Giving for Common Grace – giving to an organization whose mission provides essential services that positively impact lives and communities.
Giving Hope for Memphis – giving to organizations whose work is changing the landscape in Memphis.

Making the decision to give generously is challenging for many, and we recognize that giving requires sacrifice. But as a facilitator of generosity, we know that giving radically changes the lives of those who receive and those who give. We want you to experience the power of giving.

2019 is the perfect time to begin giving back to our city. Interested in learning more about what we do and how you can start giving back? Give us a call at 901-682-6201!