Greetings from the community foundation!
Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes one of the busiest stretches of the year for charitable giving. This month, we’re looking ahead with practical ideas to help you strengthen donor relationships, prepare for two October opportunities, and keep conversations about generosity focused on the long term.
Go big—and don’t go home!
A major campaign or special initiative may call for a major ask. Explore four ways to pursue transformational gifts while keeping annual giving, planned giving, and the donor’s long-term relationship with your organization in the picture.
DAF Day is your day, too!
DAF Day is October 8. We’ve got three simple tips to help your organization make the most of it—without turning your development team into donor-advised fund experts.
Beyond the will: Make the most of Estate Planning Awareness Week
Didn’t we just talk about wills in August? Yes! But estate planning is much bigger than a will. National Estate Planning Awareness Week, October 19–25, gives you another—and different—opportunity to talk with donors about legacy giving. Check out our simple five-point plan for making the most of the week.
As always, please reach out anytime. We are honored to work alongside the nonprofits doing so much good throughout our community.
—Your community foundation
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Message to donors: Go big—and don’t go home!
“It seems like the more I give the more I get, and that is the way it is supposed to go in life.”
—Dolly Parton
Isn’t it wonderful when donors live by that motto? Even if you’re quite certain your donors enjoy giving to your organization, you’ll still likely be hit with waves of uncertainty from time to time. For instance, a capital campaign, milestone anniversary, major facility project, or other special initiative can create an exciting opportunity to invite your most committed donors to make unusually significant gifts. But it can also create an uncomfortable question for fundraising teams: If we ask a donor to give big now, are we jeopardizing the annual—and perhaps even planned—gifts we hope they'll make later?
It's a legitimate concern, particularly as donors navigate a changing tax environment. With the higher standard deduction making it harder for some taxpayers to realize an income tax benefit from charitable gifts in any single year, donors and their advisors may increasingly consider savvy tax planning strategies such as "bunching" multiple years of charitable contributions into one tax year. This can make giving patterns look different from the steady annual gifts nonprofits have traditionally encouraged.
The answer isn't to shy away from transformational asks. Instead, think of a major gift as one part of a donor’s long-term relationship with your organization—not the finish line.
Here are four ways to do it.
Talk about the donor's whole giving picture—not just the campaign.
When you're seeking a significant campaign gift, it is tempting to focus every conversation on the immediate goal: the new building, endowment initiative, anniversary campaign, or other pressing priority.
But your most engaged donors likely care about more than a project. Ask how they envision supporting your mission over the next several years. What programs matter most to them? What do they hope their philanthropy accomplishes? Is creating a legacy important to them?
Those questions can open the door to a broader conversation about annual, campaign, and planned giving. Some donors might make substantial campaign commitments while maintaining annual support, for example. Others might decide that a particularly large current gift means annual giving needs to look different for a few years—but also make commitments through their estate plans.
There isn't one correct combination. The important thing is to have the conversation.
Don't mistake a change in giving pattern for a change in commitment.
Tax considerations may influence the timing, amount, and type of charitable gifts donors make. For example, a donor who historically wrote a check every December might instead combine several years of giving into a larger contribution in a single year, potentially using appreciated assets or a donor-advised fund. That means your stewardship systems need to be ready to accommodate these opportunities.
Another example is a loyal donor who pauses giving for a calendar year. Are they no longer interested in supporting your mission? Or perhaps they simply have funded several years of charitable giving at once. Make sure your development team understands the donor's intentions and records them appropriately so that an intentional change in giving strategy doesn't accidentally trigger a "lapsed donor" communication.
Most importantly, don't let a pause in gifts become a pause in the relationship. Continue sharing impact, expressing appreciation, inviting participation, and keeping donors connected to your work.
Keep planned giving in the conversation—even after a very large gift.
One of the easiest mistakes to make after receiving a major campaign gift is assuming you've already asked enough of the donor. Planned giving doesn't have to be another immediate ask. Instead, it can be part of an ongoing conversation about what the donor wants their philanthropy to accomplish over a lifetime and beyond.
A donor who makes a significant campaign gift today may also be an excellent legacy giving candidate, whether they name your organization as a beneficiary of an IRA, include a charitable provision in an estate plan, establish an endowment, or explore another planned giving strategy with their tax, legal, and financial advisors.
Indeed, a major campaign gift may signal something important: This donor cares deeply about your mission. That's a reason to continue the relationship, not retreat from it.
Think lifetime relationship, not individual transaction.
Campaign fundraising naturally creates urgency. There are goals to meet, deadlines approaching, and perhaps a very large thermometer somewhere that everyone would like to see reach the top. Your donors, however, aren't campaign transactions.
The strongest fundraising strategy considers how annual giving, major giving, and planned giving fit together across a donor's lifetime. Ask boldly when the opportunity warrants it, but accompany those asks with thoughtful conversations about the donor's broader goals. And after the campaign gift arrives, keep stewarding, listening, and talking about the future.
A big gift today doesn't have to diminish support tomorrow. Handled thoughtfully, it can become another chapter in a much longer story of generosity. Please reach out to the community foundation anytime. We are happy to be a sounding board!
You say it’s our DAF Day? It’s your DAF Day too!
Donor-advised funds have become an increasingly visible part of charitable giving, and DAF Day offers nonprofits a timely reason to make sure donors know they can use these funds to support the organizations they care about.
But making the most of DAF Day on October 8 does not require a complicated campaign—or a sudden push to become a donor-advised fund expert. Instead, think of the day as another opportunity to communicate clearly with donors, make giving easy, and keep your organization’s mission front and center.
Consider these three tips for DAF Day 2026:
Make sure donors know you accept gifts from donor-advised funds.
Duh, right? This sounds simple, but it is an important first step. A donor may have money available in a donor-advised fund without realizing that your organization can receive a grant from it.
Take a look at your website, giving page, email communications, and other donor materials. Is giving through a donor-advised fund mentioned anywhere? If not, DAF Day is a good reason to add a simple reminder.
You do not need to explain the mechanics. A sentence such as, “You can also support our mission by recommending a grant from your donor-advised fund,” may be enough to prompt a donor who already has a donor-advised fund to consider using it.
Connect donor-advised fund giving to your mission—not to the giving vehicle.
DAF Day may be about donor-advised funds, but your communications should still be focused on your organization’s work and the many, many ways donors can support it. Accordingly, rather than making the giving vehicle the centerpiece of your message, show donors what their generosity in any form can accomplish. Share a story, highlight a current need, describe an opportunity, or remind supporters what their gifts have made possible. Then include donor-advised funds as an option alongside the many other ways people can provide support—gifts of stock, Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs (for donors 70½ and older), gifts through an estate plan, and so much more.
This keeps the emphasis where it belongs: on the donor’s charitable intentions and your mission. A donor-advised fund is simply one tool a donor may choose to put those intentions into action.
Use DAF Day as a conversation starter.
Not every communication, for DAF Day or otherwise, needs to include an immediate ask. DAF Day can simply provide an opening for broader conversations with donors about their philanthropy. For example, a longtime supporter may have established a donor-advised fund as part of a broader financial or estate plan. Another donor may be interested in making a larger gift but has not considered whether assets already set aside for charity could be part of the solution. Still another may appreciate a reminder to review the charitable funds available to them as year-end approaches.
The goal is not to assume that every donor has a donor-advised fund—or that a donor-advised fund is the right giving tool for every donor. Instead, use the occasion to invite conversation and remind supporters that there are many ways to be generous.
Keep the community foundation team in your philanthropic network
As you prepare for DAF Day, as always, the community foundation team is a useful sounding board for general questions about charitable giving through donor-advised funds and the philanthropic landscape in our community. Remember, though, that donor relationships and fund information are confidential. The community foundation cannot share information about which donors have donor-advised funds, encourage particular fund holders to support a particular organization, or provide a shortcut to securing donor-advised fund grants.
And that is actually an important feature of the relationship. Donors trust the community foundation to honor their privacy and charitable intentions, just as they trust nonprofits to steward their gifts well. And that’s good for everyone. Donor-advised funds often inspire and facilitate charitable giving that never would have happened without this useful tool.
So approach DAF Day for what it is: an opportunity to make donors aware of another way to support the causes they already care about—including your organization. Make it easy for donors to give, keep the focus on your mission, and use the occasion to strengthen the charitable conversations that matter all year long.
Beyond the will: Why “estate planning” matters and what to do about it
If August’s Make-A-Will Month feels like it was just yesterday, you may be wondering whether National Estate Planning Awareness Week from October 19 through 25 is simply another opportunity to deliver the same message. Fortunately, there is an important distinction—and one that can make October especially useful for you and other nonprofits. A will is only one component of a complete estate plan. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, bank and brokerage accounts, real estate, and other assets may pass outside a will altogether through beneficiary designations or because they are titled jointly or in the name of a trust. Estate planning gives donors an opportunity to think more broadly about how best to use their assets to support the people and causes they care about.
That makes National Estate Planning Awareness Week a natural opportunity to build on—not repeat—the conversations you may have started during Make-A-Will Month. Instead of simply reminding supporters to create or update a will, October gives you a chance to encourage them to look at the bigger picture and consider whether their estate plans fully reflect the people and causes they care about.
You do not need a sophisticated planned giving program—or even a dedicated planned giving staff member—to participate. A few simple, well-timed communications can introduce the idea of legacy giving to donors who may never have considered it before, while also reminding longtime supporters to make sure their charitable plans are up to date.
Keep the message focused on mission rather than technical details. Help donors imagine how a gift made through their estate could extend the impact of the generosity they demonstrate today, and encourage them to work with their professional advisors to determine the approach that is right for them.
Here is a simple five-point plan for making the most of National Estate Planning Awareness Week:
Put legacy giving in front of your donors.
Start with the basics. Send an email or include a short article in your October newsletter reminding donors that an estate plan can provide for both the people and the causes they care about. This is also an opportunity to broaden the conversation beyond wills by mentioning that charitable gifts can come through trusts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other assets with beneficiary designations. You do not need to explain how each option works. Simply let supporters know that your organization welcomes legacy gifts.
Make sure donors can find legacy giving information on your website.
Take a few minutes to look at your website from a donor’s perspective. Is there an easy-to-find page explaining that donors can support your organization through their estate plans? If not, National Estate Planning Awareness Week is a good reason to add one. Include the appropriate organization name and contact information so donors and their advisors know whom to contact with questions.
Tell a story about the future.
Planned giving is ultimately about impact, not estate planning documents. Use a social media post, donor story, or newsletter feature to illustrate what a legacy gift could make possible. Connect tomorrow’s gift to today’s mission: What could a donor help sustain, protect, expand, or accomplish for the next generation?
Invite donors to tell you about their plans.
Some of your most loyal supporters may already have included your organization in their estate plans without telling you. Give them an easy opportunity to let you know. The invitation can be simple: “If you have included our organization in your estate plan, we’d be honored to hear from you so we can thank you and better understand your wishes.” You may discover legacy donors you did not know you had.
Make legacy giving an ongoing conversation.
Do not let the subject disappear when Estate Planning Awareness Week ends. Look for natural opportunities throughout the year to mention legacy giving alongside other ways donors support your mission. Repetition does not have to mean repeating the same message. Make-A-Will Month might focus on creating or updating a will; Estate Planning Awareness Week can emphasize the broader plan; another communication might focus on beneficiary designations or the long-term impact of a legacy gift. Together, these messages can gradually make planned giving a familiar part of the way your organization talks about philanthropy.
And remember that you do not need to become an estate planning expert yourself. Your role is to open the door to the conversation, not to provide legal, tax, or financial advice. Your community foundation can be a sounding board as you become more comfortable talking about legacy giving, encounter questions about charitable giving vehicles, or think about ways to incorporate planned giving naturally into your organization’s ongoing donor communications.
Please reach out anytime to the team at the community foundation! We are honored to work alongside the nonprofit organizations making such a difference in our region. Thank you for all you do!
This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.