"Giving Now and Later" Article

Here’s an article to use on your website and in other materials to signal the importance of giving both during lifetime and through an estate plan. This material is useful where you want to inspire a legacy donor to also give annually.

Giving now and later: Expanding impact beyond your legacy gift

We are grateful that you are considering leaving an estate gift to the Community Foundation. Whether you name the Community Foundation in your will or trust or as the beneficiary of your IRA, your gift will help improve the quality of life for people in our region for years to come. 

At the Community Foundation, we’re honored to work with donors like you who are interested in ways to not only leave a legacy but also maximize their giving during their lifetimes. Indeed, many donors are interested in establishing a donor-advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation for a variety of reasons:

• They want to experience the joy of seeing the results of their gifts. 

• Parallel to providing financial support through their Community Foundation fund, many donors enjoy the opportunity to get involved, whether as a volunteer, board member, or simply an observer at site visits to nonprofits they support. 

• They want to involve their children and grandchildren in supporting favorite nonprofits, especially by working with the Community Foundation through a family donor-advised fund.

• They like the added perk that they may be eligible for an income tax deduction for lifetime charitable gifts–and that the gifted assets are no longer subject to potential future estate taxes. 

The Community Foundation team would be honored to help you develop a lifetime and legacy giving plan, starting with the basics. As you consider whether the time might be right for you to formalize your giving plan, here are three tips to consider–all of which the Community Foundation can help you achieve:

• Give to what you know. Most people experience the greatest joy from giving to causes they are personally familiar with. Personal experience makes it easier to understand how the nonprofit is using your dollars. So, for example, if you’ve had experience with helping foster children, you are likely to understand how the nonprofit is using your donation to support training for foster parents. Please ask the Community Foundation team for insights! It’s our job to keep up with the good work of nonprofits that are meeting local needs. 

• Give where you are. Even with the increasing number of community challenges across the country and the globe, sometimes the greatest needs are right here at home. The Community Foundation team can help you identify opportunities to support local nonprofits by gathering information about a specific need and how a particular nonprofit addresses that need. When you give to local organizations, you are in a strong position to have confidence in your gift.

• Give to the charities you love. Gifts aligned with your passions carry the most energy and ultimately make the most difference. The Community Foundation team is here to help bring your community dreams to life through the power of philanthropy. And that feels great! 

Please reach out to our team. We would be honored to work with you to create a lifetime and legacy giving plan. Thank you for being part of your Community Foundation.

"Your Home for Charitable Giving" Article

Use the copy below in articles, one-pagers, on your website, and in talking points to reinforce that the community foundation is a holistic organization with something for everyone.

Your Community Foundation: Honored to serve at the center of your philanthropy

Perhaps you established a fund at the Community Foundation years ago, or maybe you make donations to one or more Community Foundation funds as part of your annual charitable giving plan. Or perhaps you are considering establishing a donor-advised fund to help you keep your giving more organized and involve your children and grandchildren in your philanthropic priorities. Perhaps you’ve even named your Community Foundation fund in your will or trust to continue your legacy of giving beyond your lifetime. 

Whatever your situation may be, it’s a great idea to consider a few best practices for ensuring that you are tapping the Community Foundation’s full ability to help you make the biggest difference possible for the causes you care about. We invite you to lean on the Community Foundation’s wide range of charitable giving tools to help you achieve all of your philanthropic goals.

Here are a few benefits of tapping the Community Foundation to serve as the “hub” of your charitable giving:

• The Community Foundation adopts a holistic approach to charitable giving so that you’re able to make a meaningful difference in the community we love. The Community Foundation’s mission, and the tools and services the Community Foundation provides, help you establish strong roots for your philanthropy from which so much good can grow. 

• A donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation provides the convenience of a one-stop shop. You are able to make tax-deductible contributions of cash (or, ideally, appreciated stock) into the fund. You can recommend grants to your favorite charities–whether in our region or across the country. Make sure you’re leveraging your donor-advised fund to execute the full range of your charitable giving each year, including gifts to your alma mater, place of worship, and favorite local and national charities. You’ll find it so much easier to keep track over time of where you’re giving, and how much. 

• Our team can help you establish a designated or field-of-interest fund to complement your donor-advised fund or other regular giving practices. A designated fund allows you to deepen your philanthropic roots in support of a specific charity over the long term, while a field-of-interest fund focuses your support on a particular area of community need by leveraging the Community Foundation’s expertise. 

• If you are over the age of 70½, your designated fund or field-of-interest fund can receive “Qualified Charitable Distributions” from your IRA up to $111,000 per year (2026 limit) per spouse, bypassing your taxable income and, if applicable, counting toward your Required Minimum Distributions.

• We can work with you and your attorney to help you name your Community Foundation fund in your will or trust to support the full range of your favorite nonprofits beyond your lifetime. Indeed, many Community Foundation donors name their donor-advised funds, field-of-interest funds, designated funds, or even the Community Foundation itself, as beneficiaries in their wills and trusts, and especially as beneficiaries of IRAs and other qualified retirement plans, because doing so delivers significant tax benefits and complements the estate planning process. 

• The Community Foundation is happy to work with you and your estate planning attorney to document and execute your charitable intentions for distributions following your death. So, for example, instead of listing each individual nonprofit in your will or trust, name your Community Foundation Fund to receive the entire charitable portion of your estate, which the Community Foundation will distribute according to your wishes to your favorite charities, as well as honoring your wishes that a portion stay with the Community Foundation to support the Community Foundation’s mission in perpetuity.  

• The Community Foundation offers opportunities for donors to get together and learn from each other as a group. If you’re not involved already, please reach out, and we’ll fill you in! We can help you and your family learn more about your favorite nonprofit organizations and the issues they are addressing so that you can become more informed and effective philanthropists in our community and beyond. The Community Foundation team’s unparalleled, deep knowledge of local issues and organizations is a real advantage for you and your family. When you better understand the needs of the community and how your favorite nonprofits are addressing those needs, you’ll be better equipped to structure your giving so that it makes a difference in measurable ways. You’ll enjoy your charitable giving a lot more, too, when it’s rooted in the best practices the Community Foundation offers.

The Community Foundation is here to help you make the most of your philanthropy across the board so that you’re not only putting your money to work to improve the quality of life in our community and beyond, but you’re also achieving financial and philanthropic goals for your overall charitable giving.  

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! 

Planned Giving One-Pager

Use the copy below to create your own planned giving one-pager to help your donors and fund holders learn how they can add to their funds or support the community foundation’s mission.

The Community Foundation has been serving the people of our community for [ ] years. The needs in our community—and specifically the needs the Community Foundation addresses on a daily basis—continue to grow. As stewards of our mission, our staff and board of directors are committed to ensuring that our organization can continue to serve our community right now and for years to come.

We appreciate your support! We are grateful to so many donors who give cash or stock every year or have supported our capital and growth campaigns.

As we look ahead to growing our mission and serving even more people in our community, we are inviting dedicated donors like you to consider including the Community Foundation in your long-term charitable giving plans. Whether through a complex gift in the next year or so, or through a legacy gift in your estate plan, you can support the Community Foundation through a “planned gift,” knowing that your gift to the Community Foundation will help fund our operations and important programs.

A planned gift can take many forms, including:

• A gift of real estate or private stock

• A gift in your will or trust

• A charitable remainder trust

• A beneficiary designation of your life insurance policy, IRA, or other retirement plan

We welcome the opportunity to work with you to support the Community Foundation for years to come. We are so grateful for your loyalty to our mission.

Fact Sheets

Use our fact sheet templates to build your own!

Private Foundation vs Community Foundation

Looking for an easy way to illustrate the difference between a private foundation and a community foundation? This template makes it easy!

Even more samples

At Embolden, we’re happy to share samples of materials that have worked well for us personally over the years. Visit our “Even more samples” page to get inspired!

Charitable Fund Review

The Charitable Fund Review is one of our favorite tools. Please contact us to learn how to use it in your stewardship efforts, especially together with Embolden’s Meaningful Conversations methodology.