Gifts to Your Fund: Breaking Through the Paradox of Choice

As you consider your 2025 giving priorities, you’ll no doubt recall that writing a check to favorite charities is not the only way to support the causes you love. But sometimes it seems easiest to reach for the checkbook because it’s overwhelming to think about all the options.

You might be experiencing what’s known as the “paradox of choice,” a phenomenon where an abundance of options actually decreases your satisfaction and diminishes your decision-making ability. Too many choices can cause decision fatigue, anxiety, and regret over potentially missed opportunities.

We understand! The team at the Community Foundation is here for you. We’ll help you evaluate potential assets that would make great gifts to your donor-advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation, including:

• Gifts of publicly-traded stock, allowing you to potentially avoid capital gains tax
• Giving shares of closely-held business interests to your fund as part of a long-term business succession plan
• Gifts of real estate, including farmland or commercial property, allowing you to potentially avoid capital gains tax and reduce the value of your taxable estate if future estate taxes are a concern
• Beneficiary designations on retirement plans, and even “Qualified Charitable Distributions” from your IRA to a designated or field-of-interest fund if you are over the age of 70 ½
• Naming your fund at the Community Foundation as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, or even transferring a whole life policy and making annual tax-deductible contributions to the Community Foundation to cover the premium
• Gifts of oil and gas interests, cryptocurrency, and collectibles are also possibilities for adding to your fund at the Community Foundation

The bottom line here is that our team can help you work through the possibilities. We’ll make sure that the daunting range of options doesn’t prevent you from making the best decisions to achieve both your financial planning and charitable giving goals.
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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 article 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.