Every August, National Make-A-Will Month highlights the importance of planning for the future. For charitable organizations, it presents a unique and timely opportunity to engage donors in meaningful conversations about leaving a lasting legacy through their wills and other estate planning documents. Beyond encouraging supporters to complete or update their estate plans, National Make-A-Will Month gives you a ready-made platform to discuss how legacy gifts and contributions to your endowment can sustain mission-driven work for generations to come.

Here are a few ideas to inspire your donor communications during this month and beyond:

Remind donors that an estate plan is important.
Never assume that your donors have their estate plans in good shape. Indeed, many people know they should have a will or a trust but postpone getting it done. With estate planning already top of mind thanks to widespread Make-A-Will Month awareness campaigns, your donors may be more receptive to considering how charitable gifts, including to your organization, can become part of their legacy. Consider Make-A-Will Month as a sort of “bridge” between donors’ good intentions and taking action, benefiting both the donor and your organization.

Start a conversation about legacy giving
Even though you and your team know how important it is to at least briefly mention planned giving in nearly every donor conversation, discussions about leaving a legacy still can sometimes feel uncomfortable. Make-A-Will Month is a ready-made ice breaker, so it’s easier for you to introduce the topic without awkwardness. You can normalize the idea of including charitable gifts in a will, which in turn empowers donors to think about the impact they’d like to make long after they’re gone. The upshot here is that every single donor communication this month is an opportunity to open the door for a legacy discussion.

Shine a light on endowment gifts
Make-A-Will Month is a perfect time to educate your donors about the benefits of supporting your endowment. Indeed, endowments are often built with assets received from bequests in a donors’ wills or trusts, via beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance, or more complex gifts such as charitable remainder trusts. While estate planning is on your donors’ minds, reinforce the importance of your organization’s endowment to fund essential programs year after year. By connecting the themes of estate planning and lasting impact, you’ll be able to illustrate how a bequest to your organization can make a difference for generations to come.
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As always, whether it’s Make-A-Will Month or any other time of the year, please reach out to the Community Foundation. We are happy to serve as a resource as you develop strategies to deepen donor relationships. We’ll help you evaluate strategies for reaching out thoughtfully during Make-A-Will Month so you can tap this opportunity to expand trust and connection with your donors, paving the way for the future of your mission. 

​Recent changes in federal tax law under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) bring both challenges and opportunities for nonprofit organizations in our community. The Community Foundation is here to help you prepare and consider how to update your strategies as the landscape shifts. We’re sharing answers to three frequently asked questions about how the new laws will impact giving, what you can do about it, and how the Community Foundation can help.

“What’s happening with the standard deduction, and how big of a deal is it?”
The nonprofit sector is no stranger to the challenges resulting from a high standard deduction. In the aftermath of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which increased the standard deduction, the number of taxpayers who itemized deductions dropped significantly. This eliminated tax deductibility as a motivator for charitable giving for many Americans, which in turn, caused charitable giving to drop. Now, under the OBBBA, the standard deduction is going up again, which may continue to impact tax-motivated charitable giving, even with the uptick in itemizers thanks to the OBBBA’s new state and local tax deduction allowances (subscriptions required to the Wall Street Journal).

So how big of a deal is this? In many ways, the increase in the standard deduction means more of the same. Tax motivations to give to charity will continue to apply to the relatively small number of donors who itemize deductions. That said, keep in mind that donors don’t give to charity solely for a tax deduction. Many other motivations come into play because people truly want to make a difference. What’s more, the additional changes coming in 2026, described below, may motivate certain donors to make big gifts this year.

“Could 2025 really be a big year for charitable giving?”
The answer is yes! Coupled with an increasing standard deduction, two OBBBA provisions that take effect in 2026 may provide incentives for your donors to “front-load” charitable contributions, not only to exceed the high standard deduction to allow them to itemize, but also to avoid two limitations to charitable deductions effective starting with the 2026 tax year. First, beginning in 2026, the deductibility of charitable contributions will be capped at 35% of adjusted gross income (AGI), even for itemizers in the 37% tax bracket. Second, also beginning in 2026, a 0.5% floor will apply to itemized charitable deductions, meaning that only contributions exceeding 0.5% of AGI will be deductible. These two upcoming changes reduce the value of charitable deductions for high-income taxpayers and may create a strong incentive for your donors to make big gifts in 2025. Our team is happy to serve as a sounding board as you explore ways to maximize support in 2025, including motivating donors to make gifts to add to your endowment or reserve fund at the Community Foundation.

“How can we make the most of the new deduction for non-itemizers?”
The OBBBA introduced a new deduction for charitable contributions starting in 2026: $1,000 for individual filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. This provision, similar to the temporary pandemic-era incentive, allows non-itemizers to receive a modest tax benefit for their charitable gifts. This could meaningfully encourage new donors - particularly younger donors - to start making gifts to your organization. Note that this new deduction is for cash gifts only (and it also does not apply to gifts to donor-advised funds). You’ll want to mention this limitation specifically in your donor communications next year, and you’ll also likely want to clarify that despite the rules for this particular deduction, typically gifts of appreciated assets deliver the most tax benefits. 

Certainly, the OBBBA presents a mixed bag. You may discover that 2025 is a great year for large gifts, and, as the new laws take effect, 2026 will be an important time to add an additional focus on cultivating smaller gifts and broad-based support.

As always, the Community Foundation is honored to be your trusted partner and sounding board, whether or not your organization has established an endowment or reserve fund at the Community Foundation. We invite you to reach out to explore how our team can help navigate tax law changes and maximize opportunities in 2025 and beyond.

At the Community Foundation, we’re dedicated to helping your clients achieve their charitable goals. We’re honored to serve as your trusted resource for tax-efficient giving strategies, help your clients maximize their charitable impact, and support your clients as they build lasting philanthropic legacies.

As you continue (or begin) conversations about charitable giving with your clients, one important question often arises: How would your clients like their giving to be acknowledged and recognized?
Based on each client’s unique goals, the desired level of recognition may vary. While most donors choose to give publicly, there are many situations where donors prefer to give anonymously. As a trusted advisor, it’s essential to understand how anonymous giving might factor into a particular client’s overall philanthropy plan. Of course, the Community Foundation is here to help.
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Keep an eye out for the following client sentiments:

“We don’t want to get a ton of requests for charitable gifts. It’s overwhelming and it makes us feel bad that we can’t do it all.”
In today’s challenging economic environment, understandably, nonprofits often increase outreach efforts to ask for support. Through a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation, your client can recommend the extent to which personal information is shared with recipient organizations. In many cases, our team can customize outgoing communications to grantee charities while also ensuring that your clients receive meaningful updates (such as thank you notes, impact reports, and success stories).

“We don’t want our colleagues, friends, and even some of our family members to be able to see how much we give or where we give it.”
Some clients value privacy and choose to keep their giving and financial capacity under the radar. Donor-advised and other fund information remains highly confidential. Unlike private foundations, which require public reporting, donor-advised and other types of funds at the Community Foundation can help keep donor identities, grantee identities, and fund balances private.

“We want to make a big difference, but we want to do it without drawing a lot of attention to ourselves.”
For some donors, charitable giving is about honoring a loved one or building a family legacy, rather than personal recognition. These donors may want to make grants in a different name—such as a family name or in memory of someone significant. Working with the Community Foundation, whether it’s through a donor-advised or other type of fund, offers your clients a great deal of flexibility in how a family’s gifts will be recognized. Your clients can pick and choose which gifts they want to make public and which they want to keep anonymous. Clients can also make gifts that are publicly announced in honor of family members or using a generic foundation name.
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If your clients are considering philanthropic endeavors with any of these goals in mind, the Community Foundation is here to help. We collaborate with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, providing resources and support to ensure your clients can give to their favorite causes with the level of recognition and privacy they desire. We look forward to working with you!

It’s never been easy to navigate the ever-shifting tax rules to help clients structure charitable gifts, and now it’s even trickier. Major changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, are creating complexity, opportunity, and, for some, urgency. The OBBBA reshapes both how much a client can deduct for charitable contributions and which clients can benefit from these deductions in the first place. Indeed, your clients might have read a recent Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) outlining major tax planning themes related to charitable giving.

As always, the team at the Community Foundation is honored to be your first call when the topic of charitable giving arises in client conversations. In most cases, the Community Foundation’s tools can be useful, and if we can’t help directly, we’ll point you in the right direction.
Here are three key issues to discuss with philanthropic clients:

Evaluate whether the client could benefit from “bunching” charitable contributions in 2025
Many advisors are recommending that their clients address head on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s expansion of the standard deduction - $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples in 2025, with even higher levels for taxpayers aged 65 and older. A technique known as “bunching” charitable donations can be particularly useful. For example, if a client typically donates $12,000 each year to charity, but the client’s other deductions do not push them over the standard deduction, the client could give $36,000 (three years' worth of gifts) to a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation in 2025. The idea is that the client can combine this gift with other deductions to substantially exceed the standard deduction, allowing the client to itemize and claim a much greater deduction for that year. Over the following two years, the client can take the standard deduction and lean on the donor-advised fund to distribute funds to favorite charities.

Note that the higher standard deduction will likely impact tax-motivated charitable giving, even with the expected uptick in the number of itemizers thanks to the OBBBA’s new state and local tax deduction allowances (subscription required to the Wall Street Journal).

Look ahead to 2026 as you help clients plan for 2025
For your clients who continue to itemize deductions, 2026 will bring even further changes. Only charitable donations exceeding 0.5% of AGI will be deductible. For example, a couple with $225,000 in AGI would see their deductible charitable amount reduced by $1,125 per year. Although clients who are large-scale donors may find this change proportionately less impactful, clients making moderate or smaller-sized gifts might see a significant reduction in their eligible deductions. What’s more, under the OBBBA, high-income taxpayers will see their maximum tax benefit from charitable deductions calculated at a top marginal rate of 35%, down from 37%, starting in 2026.

These changes may prompt higher-income clients to lean heavily on bunching strategies in 2025 to maximize current tax advantages before stricter limits kick in.

Watch the fine print on the charitable deduction for non-itemizers
Under the OBBBA, starting in 2026, taxpayers who take the standard deduction will be able to claim a direct deduction for charitable giving - up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. This provision mirrors temporary measures seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crucially, the deduction is limited to cash gifts made directly to qualified charities; donations of property or stock, and contributions to donor-advised funds, do not qualify. For the estimated 100 million Americans who do not itemize, which likely includes many of your clients, this provision is certainly good news. That said, gifts of appreciated stock and donor-advised funds are tax-effective and convenient charitable giving vehicles, and many clients may be disappointed that they can’t deploy these techniques to take advantage of this new deduction.
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2025 certainly is shaping up to be an important year for helping your clients plan their charitable gifts. Please reach out to our team to explore ways to leverage the Community Foundation’s tools, including establishing your client’s donor-advised fund to take advantage of bunching. And of course, always remember that regardless of the tax implications, your clients’ philanthropy addresses vital community needs - and this is a motivator that transcends any deduction.

​Many people think of succession planning as something only relevant to businesses or nonprofits. However, it's equally important when considering the legacy you want to leave through philanthropy—including being intentional about what happens to your donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation after you're gone. The Community Foundation team can help structure provisions for your donor-advised fund to engage your family, tap the Community Foundation’s expertise, or a combination of both so that your donor-advised fund can become a multi-generational legacy that reflects your values.

Here are three considerations as you consider your “charitable succession plan”:

Leave a legacy
One of the most powerful ways to extend your impact is by leaving a portion of your estate to charity - such as by naming your donor-advised fund as a beneficiary of an IRA or other retirement account. This strategy delivers considerable tax advantages and enables your philanthropic dollars to be thoughtfully distributed in accordance with your values. Remember, IRAs left to the Community Foundation avoid not only the income tax that would hit your heirs, but also removes the assets from your taxable estate for estate tax purposes.

Lean on the Community Foundation
The Community Foundation is honored to serve as a trusted partner for many individuals and families. Our team can work with you and your advisors to enlist the Community Foundation’s expertise to make grants from your donor-advised fund according to your values and charitable intentions following your death. We can also work with you and your advisors to incorporate the ability for your children and grandchildren to serve as advisors to the donor-advised fund following your death, including taking advantage of the Community Foundation’s educational programs to help your children and grandchildren learn how to be effective philanthropists.

Capture your intentions
The Community Foundation team is happy to work with you to document and formalize your charitable wishes. We’ll help you articulate your priorities and outline how you envision your fund making a difference across generations, whether that means supporting specific organizations, issue areas, urgent community needs, or a combination of priorities. By helping you capture your intentions in writing and then following your wishes, the Community Foundation acts as a steward to safeguard your philanthropic goals and help ensure that the causes you care about continue to receive support for years to come.
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We look forward to talking about succession planning for your donor-advised fund. The Community Foundation is honored to help you secure your charitable legacy and involve your loved ones in meaningful giving. Thank you for the opportunity!

It’s time for back-to-school planning! If education is on your mind, you’re in good company. Charitable giving to education rose in 2024 to more than $58 billion! If education and related causes are important to you, the Community Foundation can help you explore a variety of meaningful ways to make an impact. Here are three ideas to inspire a deeper discussion:

Explore options for expanding student support
In many cases, donors set up a scholarship or other type of fund to support a particular educational institution, and then set it on autopilot. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but you might be missing an opportunity to make a deeper impact. The Community Foundation team is happy to facilitate a dialogue with you and the school to structure your funding–whether through a scholarship or other types of support–to fill gaps in student need. For example, if you’d like to support students pursuing a college degree beyond simply scholarship dollars, the Community Foundation can help identify needs for dollars to increase faculty salaries, purchase lab equipment, or pay an on-campus counselor to help students acclimate to college life.

Investigate opportunities to improve the quality of education itself
Many donors are concerned that high school graduates are ill-prepared for post-secondary education, whether that’s a traditional four-year college, community college, or trade school. The Community Foundation can help you address this gap with your charitable dollars. For example, you could establish a fund to support teachers, which in turn helps improve student success. Indeed, teachers are often considered the single most important in-school factor for student success. Charitable funding that enhances teacher training, mentorship, and ongoing professional development creates ripple effects across classrooms and generations of students.

Find your education “niche”
By establishing a field-of-interest fund at the Community Foundation, you can work with the Community Foundation team to identify specific parameters within education that you’d like to fund. For example, you may  be interested in supporting local grassroots programs offering tutoring and mentorship. Or, you may decide to direct your charitable dollars to quality early childhood programs, which have been shown to yield high returns on investments in education. The Community Foundation can help you identify an area of focus. Going forward, our team leverages the Community Foundation’s deep knowledge and research to identify high-impact opportunities, helping to ensure your generosity makes the greatest difference within your area of interest.
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Please reach out to our team anytime! As students head back to school and education is top of mind, the Community Foundation is here to make sure your giving is impactful, focused, and in line with your philanthropic goals. 

It’s more important than ever to stay informed about how changes in the tax law may affect your charitable giving. The recently-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) creates challenges as well as opportunities for structuring your philanthropy. We encourage you to reach out to your attorney, CPA, and financial advisor to evaluate how the changes in the law impact your own situation.
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As always, the Community Foundation is happy to work side-by-side with you and your tax advisors to build a plan for 2025 and beyond that not only supports your plans to make a difference in the community, but also addresses the rule changes under the OBBBA.

To help you along this journey, we’ve provided the checklist below of issues to discuss with your advisors.

Evaluate whether “bunching” may be right for you.
The OBBBA increases the 2025 standard deduction to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. The higher standard deduction will likely impact tax-motivated charitable giving, even with the expected uptick in the number of itemizers thanks to the OBBBA’s state and local tax deduction allowances (subscriptions required to the Wall Street Journal). There are important exceptions and nuances to consider, which you’ll want to discuss with your advisors. For example, if you are 65 or older, you’re eligible to receive an additional $6,000 “bonus” deduction—but it begins to phase out if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds $75,000.

Based on the increases to the standard deduction, you may want to talk with your tax advisors about “bunching” charitable gifts for 2025 using a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation. Through this technique, you can make several years’ worth of charitable contributions in a single year to exceed the standard deduction threshold, thereby maximizing tax benefits in that year. Over the following years, your donor-advised fund can distribute grants to charities over time according to your wishes.

There are more reasons you might want to talk with your advisors about front-loading charitable contributions in 2025. In 2026, a new provision under the OBBBA takes effect that allows you to take a deduction for charitable gifts only to the extent that your giving exceeds 0.5% of your AGI. What’s more, if you’re in the highest tax bracket, 37%, you can still only deduct charitable contributions at the 35% rate.

The upshot here is that you and your tax advisors may decide that 2025 is the year to bunch charitable contributions to maximize tax savings.

Get familiar with the deduction for non-itemizers, coming next year.
If you don’t itemize your deductions, you’ll be glad to know that starting in the 2026 tax year you can claim a deduction for cash gifts to qualifying public charities—up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. Excluded from this new provision are gifts to donor‑advised funds and non‑cash gifts, which is unfortunate because those vehicles are popular, convenient, and tax-effective. Still, keep in mind the new deduction, and, if you’re encouraging your adult children to get involved in philanthropy, make sure they are aware of this deduction. It could be particularly helpful for young people because many young people do not yet itemize. 

If you are over 70 ½, review the benefits of Qualified Charitable Distributions.
A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) enables individuals aged 70 ½ or older to donate up to $108,000 per year (as of 2025) directly from an IRA to eligible charities, and in the process exclude the donated amount from taxable income altogether - rather than relying on an itemized deduction. QCDs may be especially advantageous after the OBBBA’s significant increase to the standard deduction because QCDs provide a direct tax benefit regardless of whether you itemize or take the standard deduction. Indeed, using a QCD to fulfill required minimum distributions (RMDs) can lower your adjusted gross income, potentially reducing taxes on Social Security income and Medicare surtaxes and helping you sidestep the new floors and caps on itemized charitable deductions imposed by the OBBBA starting in 2026.

The Community Foundation is happy to collaborate with you and your tax advisor as you explore ways to achieve your philanthropic goals under the new laws. We look forward to hearing from you!