Tag Archives for strategic giving

Giving generously, impactfully and strategically

Talking about giving is challenging. It’s deeply personal yet critically important to share. If we all band together to share our giving stories, we can make meaningful change in our communities. At the Christian Community Foundation, we’ve been carefully honing our language and defining our purpose. As we seek to create ways for our donors to share their giving philosophy, three words continue to rise to the forefront: generosity, strategy and impact. 

When these three words are at the center of your conversation about giving, the message shifts from one that can come across as braggadocious to one that is engaging, enticing and motivating. It takes the focus off the giver and places it onto the process. 

These three words will guide our conversations about giving through the Christian Community Foundation for years to come. We’re excited to share what they mean to us and how we talk about them so you can reflect this message in conversations with friends, family and people you love. 

Giving generously. 

If you’ve spoken with Rex Jones, CCF’s president, about giving (and we hope you have), you’ve likely heard him say, “God doesn’t deal in dollars and cents but in the condition of the heart.” That is the crux of generous giving. We seek for our family of donors to give in accordance to their personal conversations with God and their families. When you focus on generosity as a concept and not as a number, it makes giving accessible to all people. Being generous isn’t about the size of your donor-advised fund account. It’s about the personal sacrifices you make in accordance with your calling from the Lord. Speaking with others about giving in terms of generosity shifts the conversation from money to the condition of the giver’s heart.

Giving strategically. 

When the Lord lays it on your heart to make a gift, it may not always fit within your budget, especially if you don’t set aside money for philanthropy. From a practical standpoint, giving can stretch us. At the same time, it can feel odd to put aside a pool of money for giving. But the Lord tells us to prepare our fields for harvest, and one way to prepare your financial fields is to allocate money for giving in advance. If you’re prayerfully considering your giving, it is no less meaningful to invest in a donor-advised fund at the beginning of the year to meet needs than it is to write unbudgeted checks as you’re presented with an ask. As an added bonus, when you pour money into your donor-advised fund, that money can be invested and grow tax-free.

Giving strategically helps protect the condition of your heart in the giving process and allows you to answer God’s calling when a need arises without jeopardizing your family’s well-being. When we talk about giving strategically, it removes guilt from the process and allows donors to reconcile their desire to give with the financial needs of their family.

Giving impactfully.

All giving is impactful. We believe that gifts given in alignment with a believers heart are used by God in ways we may not be able to fathom. Like we’ve said earlier, giving isn’t about the amount of money on the check. But when you give generously and strategically through a donor-advised fund, one advantage is that your money grows tax-free until you give it away. This is an incredible way to increase your impact through giving – one that excites many of our donors. 

When you give generously, strategically and impactfully, you are ultimately creating an active giving process. You are prayerfully considering what you want to give away, are making financial plans that account for philanthropy and are creating opportunities for your gifts to grow. This is a powerful conversation that we believe can transform Memphis and the world for the Kingdom of God. Do you want to join us in this effort? You can start today by contacting us at 901-682-6201.

What does generational giving look like?

When you take a look at the breakdown of givers, the numbers tell an interesting story. Baby Boomers make up 43% of givers, while Generation X makes up 20% and Millennials 11%. It seems clear that age correlates with generosity, and younger givers appear to be behind. Undoubtedly, younger individuals and families have more expenses – from student loan debt to child care – and are also less established in their careers. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are likely past most of these expenses, leaving them with more disposable income to give.

While it’s easy to attribute the generational drop-offs to age (and some can surely be attributed to age) there are additional factors, like lack of education on the matter. Younger generations may also be giving in other ways, such as giving their time to causes. No matter the reasoning, the best way to learn about giving is through demonstration. At Christian Community Foundation, our family of givers is comprised of people spanning a wide range of ages. And, we believe that giving isn’t about the amount of money you can contribute, it’s about establishing a practice of generosity. What we can say firmly is this – giving is a learned behavior, and our youngest givers do so because they learned the behavior from people they love.

As a foundation centered on helping others find ways to donate to causes they care about, we aim to provide all routes necessary to help you help others. These efforts are made to aid organizations right in our own backyard. And what better way to help following generations learn about helping our community than through the help of family? We want to bring that spark of helping others back to life – and strategic giving starts with education.

That’s why we’ve created the NexGen Fund. This donor-advised fund was created to start conversations on giving in your family. With the help of more established generations, younger people can learn the values of giving at any age. While most funds require a minimum investment to be established (which is intimidating to some younger donors), NexGen has no such requirement. You or a family member can create a fund in another’s name, and upon access to their own funds, the mentee can continue to give and distribute. Creating a trickle-down effect can help improve your family’s knowledge on giving to those in need. This is a plan of action waiting for family members following in your footsteps.

Creating this type of fund allows future generations to distribute it to organizations in need. Why is this important? Because at the center of Christian faith, giving is the ministry of God at work. We are called to keep hope alive, and we can’t do it without you!