2026 is in full swing! As you round out your development strategies for the year, this is a good time to consider the when, who, and how of donors’ decisions. The community foundation is happy to offer insights and trends to help you support your mission, ranging from considerations about how timing affects charitable giving, how donors’ advisors figure into the process, and options donors consider as trust in your organization grows over time.
Here’s what we’re sharing this month:
—Timing is a major factor. Donors don’t decide only whether to give; they also decide when. Certain junctures during a donor’s life tend to prompt charitable action—from tax planning deadlines to life events and periods of urgency. We’ll offer suggestions for how to reduce friction and make giving feel accessible at the right moments so that donors are more likely to act with confidence rather than delay.
—Recognizing the growing role of donor advisors. Many donors now make charitable decisions alongside attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors. The community foundation is happy to share what this shift means for nonprofits. When organizations communicate in ways that resonate with both donors and their advisors, they make it easier for generosity to move forward.
—Endowments help build trust. Endowments are often discussed as a tool for financial sustainability, but they also send a powerful message about your organization’s stewardship and long-term thinking. The community foundation is happy to share ways your endowment can reinforce donor confidence, support legacy giving, and signal organizational discipline and durability.
The community foundation is here to support your work. Whether you are refining donor communications, navigating gifts that involve donors’ advisors at the table, or exploring endowment strategies, we are happy to serve as a partner and sounding board. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
—Your community foundation
THIS MONTH’S
FEATURED ARTICLES
Charitable giving: Timing, timing, timing
As a nonprofit professional, understandably you spend a lot of “communication energy” explaining why your mission matters. Donors need to hear stories of impact, learn about outcomes, and understand what their gifts make possible. Yet there is another factor that often drives giving just as strongly as the “why,” and it receives far less attention: timing.
Donors do not decide only whether to give. They also decide when. Crucial timing decisions are influenced by patterns that are surprisingly consistent. Some donors act around tax moments and financial planning cycles. Others give when life events prompt reflection—retirement, a milestone birthday, the sale of a business, the death of a loved one, or a moment of personal gratitude. Still others give when they feel a sense of urgency or a clear opportunity to help solve a problem. Understanding these triggers can help your organization communicate in ways that align with donor readiness.
Here are a few tips to consider as you activate your fundraising efforts for 2026:
–Donors who work closely with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors often make charitable decisions as part of broader planning conversations. That means that your organization’s credibility, clarity, and stewardship story matter not only to the donor, but also to the advisors who help the donor evaluate options.
–Donors tend to respond well to simple calls to action that reduce decision fatigue, especially during busy seasons, such as the weeks leading up to tax time and year-end. Clear giving options, predictable touchpoints, and practical information about how to give can remove friction that otherwise delays action.
–Timing also matters for donors who give from non-cash assets. Gifts of appreciated stock, Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs (for donors who are age 70 ½ or older), and gifts of complex assets require processing time and coordination. Even donors who want to give may postpone doing so if they feel the process will be difficult. When you regularly communicate that you can accept a variety of gift types—often with the community foundation’s support—donors are more likely to act when the moment is right rather than waiting until the end of the year.
The community foundation is happy to serve as a sounding board as you evaluate donor timing patterns. We can also serve as a partner when donors want to support your organization through an endowment or other fund structure, or when a donor is considering a non-cash gift that would be difficult for your nonprofit to handle directly.
Here’s the key takeaway: As you are rounding out your communications calendar for the coming months, consider adding a simple question to your strategy discussions: what are the moments when your donors are most likely to be ready? When nonprofits match compelling impact stories with an understanding of donor timing, fundraising becomes not only more effective, but also more respectful of how donors actually make decisions.
Beyond the donor: Engaging advisors in stewardship
Many nonprofits have noticed a subtle shift in donor behavior over the last several years: more donors are giving with advice. Some donors consult a financial advisor or CPA for year-end planning. Some work with an estate planning attorney as they update documents. Some donors rely on multiple professionals who help them integrate charitable giving into a broader plan.
For nonprofits, this “advised donor” reality has practical implications. It means that fundraising and stewardship efforts must resonate not only with the donor, but also with the professionals who influence the donor’s choices. Advisors want to feel confident that an organization is well-governed, financially responsible, and clear about impact. Donors may be enthusiastic, but advisors may slow the process if they perceive risk or ambiguity.
One of the best ways to earn confidence is clarity. When your organization communicates what it does, how it measures success, and how it stewards funds, you make it easier for advisors to support a donor’s intent. This does not require complex reporting. It requires straightforward language about programs, outcomes, and how gifts are used. Consistent messaging about governance and financial oversight is also helpful, especially for donors considering larger commitments or legacy gifts.
Another helpful practice is making it easy for donors to give in the ways they prefer. Advisors frequently discuss gifts of appreciated stock, IRA distributions, and other non-cash assets with clients because these strategies can be more tax-efficient than writing a check. If your organization is prepared to receive those gifts—often through a partnership with the community foundation—you make it easier for advisors to recommend support. When nonprofits are not prepared, donors may be redirected elsewhere simply because the mechanics feel uncertain.
The community foundation can be a strong partner in this environment. We work with tax, estate planning, and financial advisors every day, and we can help facilitate gifts that are difficult for nonprofits to accept directly. We can also help donors support your organization through an endowment or reserve fund at the community foundation, providing professional administration and investment oversight. For many advisors, this structure reduces complexity and increases confidence because the gift is handled through a well-established charitable institution.
If you are thinking about how to strengthen fundraising this year, consider viewing your audience as slightly larger than you might have assumed. Donors remain the heart of the relationship, but advisors often sit at the table, too. When your organization communicates clearly and offers donor-friendly giving options, you make it easier for advised donors to act—and you position your organization as a trusted choice in a world where trust is increasingly important.
Endowments and trust: What’s the connection?
When nonprofits talk about endowments, the conversation often centers on financial sustainability. Endowments can provide steady support through distributions, build long-term stability, and help an organization weather unpredictable fundraising cycles. Those benefits are real. Yet there is another dimension of endowments that can matter just as much to donors: trust.
For many donors, an endowment is not only a funding tool. It is a signal. It communicates that an organization is planning beyond the next budget year, thinking long-term, and taking stewardship seriously. In a time when donors are increasingly cautious and discerning, those signals can influence whether a donor feels confident making a larger gift or including an organization in a legacy plan.
Trust is built in many ways, of course. It is built through program results, relationships, transparency, and consistent communication. An endowment can reinforce all of those elements because it invites donors to see the organization as enduring. Donors who are considering long-term commitments often want to know that the organization will be strong and stable enough to carry the mission forward. An endowment helps answer that question.
Endowments can also communicate discipline. Many donors appreciate that endowments are typically governed by spending policies and oversight structures that emphasize long-term stewardship rather than short-term spending. That does not mean endowments replace annual giving. It means that endowment conversations give donors another way to support the mission they love, especially when they are thinking about legacy, permanence, and the kind of impact that lasts beyond their lifetimes.
The community foundation can help nonprofits make endowment strategies accessible and credible. By housing an endowment fund at the community foundation, your organization can point to professional investment management, administrative support, transparent reporting, and strong governance practices. This can be especially reassuring to donors and their advisors. It also allows your nonprofit team to focus on mission while relying on the community foundation for the technical aspects of endowment stewardship.
If your organization already has an endowment, consider whether you are fully using it as a trust-building story, not just a financial feature. If you do not yet have an endowment strategy, the community foundation can help you explore whether an endowment or reserve fund could strengthen both sustainability and donor confidence. In many cases, the conversation is not simply about money. It is about assuring donors that their generosity will be stewarded with care and will make a difference for years to come.
This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.