Planned Giving is Your Nonprofit's Superpower

I LOVE PLANNED GIVING. I do. It happened gradually over the course of almost 20 years. One day, I was learning what a donor-advised fund (DAF) was, and now I’m preaching why you need a DAF strategy.

If you work in fundraising or at a nonprofit, you need to embrace planned giving. I’m not saying you should focus on this over relationship building, but you should definitely make time for the items listed below.

There are A LOT of planned gifts out there. Another time, I’ll wax poetic about endowment gifts, but today I’m going to focus on the big three:

1. Donor Advised Fund (DAF)

2. IRA Charitable Rollover

3. Appreciated Stock

   
   

I’ll quickly cover why you need to talk to donors about these giving tools, donor benefits, and who your target market should be.

Let’s start with Donor Advised Funds.

This is my absolute favorite giving vehicle. A DAF is a charitable giving account established through a financial company like Fidelity or a charity like the Jewish United Fund of Chicago. Once a donor opens the account, it works similarly to a checking account. The donor can then make grants from their fund to nonprofits.

The company that holds the DAF will verify the organization donors want to give to is a legitimate nonprofit. They may have other rules depending on the company, but for the most part, it’s pretty simple. You can donate to multiple nonprofits with one tool!

Plus, donors can invest the dollars in their fund, so if you open an account with $10,000 and the stock market does well, your DAF can grow above that $10k! Donors also receive a charitable tax deduction when they open the account (though this depends on their unique tax situation). There are also additional benefits if the donor opens their DAF with appreciated stock!

There are a few stipulations when giving from a DAF. They cannot be used for:

1. Event tickets

2. Gala sponsorships

3. Any benefits that provide more than an incidental benefit to the donor

   
   

Here is the“wow” factor: there’s an estimated $250 billion in DAF assets! Yes, your donors could have a lot of money in these funds. Many people don’t like to write checks, and many donors have more money in their DAF than they do in their checking account. That’s why it’s important to:

1. Talk to donors about their DAFs

2. In your database, mark down who gives from a DAF

3. Ask for DAF donations

   
   

When you’re trying to figure out who might have a DAF, target donors who are 40-60 years old and give $500 or more annually to your organization. And when they donate from their DAF one year, the following year, thank them for their DAF and ask for an increased gift from their DAF this year. 

Your website also needs info on DAFs!  There are tools that make giving from a DAF to your organization easier, like Chariot. Look for tools that make giving simple.

Next up: IRA Charitable Rollovers.

The IRA Charitable Rollover has specific rules. I’ll start with donors who are 70.5 years or older. They can donate up to $108,000 in 2025 directly from their IRA to a nonprofit. Many older adults prefer to give this way because the transferred amount is not subject to income tax.

For donors aged 73 and older, there’s an additional benefit! If you’re 73 or older, your IRA donation counts as your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). Donors simply need to call their IRA administrator (e.g., Vanguard) and instruct them to transfer the money directly to your charity.

Pro tip: post information about this on Facebook, as many older people use the platform to look at pictures and chat with their grandkids and kids. Send communications about the IRA Charitable Rollover to long-time donors who could benefit from this. If you have ages in your database, it’ll be easy to target these individuals.

Lastly, I recommend adding a dedicated page to your website explaining the benefits of this gift and the process. You can also include a form so donors can notify you of their gift. This way, if you receive a check from Schwab for $5,000 and they left off a name, you can identify the donor.

Last but not least, Gifts of Stock.

As of April 4th, 2025, there was over $52 trillion in the US stock market. Although the market has fluctuated, people still have lots of appreciated stock. If you are currently not accepting stock gifts, talk to your bank and see if they can process the gifts for you. Here are the rules:

1. The stock must be appreciated.

2. It must have been held for over a year.

3. The donation must be made directly to the charity (if your donor sells the stock and then donates, they typically lose out on tax savings).

   
   

The two main benefits of giving appreciated stock are mostly tax-related for the donor. In most situations, donors receive a charitable tax deduction and bypass capital gains taxes. Market these gifts to:

• Anyone who gives you $1,000 or more annually

• Donors aged 40-70

• Donors who gave you stock last year. Remind them about the benefits and ask for another donation of appreciated assets.

  
  

If you haven't started talking to your donors about these gifts, now is the time to do it!

These giving tools benefit your donors from a tax perspective, and provide a much-needed revenue stream for your organization.

This is not meant as financial advice. Please consult with your professional advisors for tailored guidance. You should include that disclaimer on any communication you send out marketing these giving vehicles.