At first glance, DonorsTrust is a simple donor-advised fund provider – a place that offers a useful charitable tool.
While true, we are more than that. Donor-advised funds are our primary program, but, unlike the commercial DAF providers, we have a mission that drives us – a mission built on specific principles that motivates our work.
We are the community foundation for liberty. We support charities that protect our Nation’s constitutional liberties and strengthen civil society through private institutions rather than with government programs. Because of that, we want to help donors delve more deeply into their charitable endeavors because much is at stake. Here are four ways that we help our clients engage more deeply with philanthropy:
1. DonorsTrust DAF reduces the time you need to spend on tedious logistics
DonorsTrust is a donor-advised fund provider. Baked into using a DAF are benefits part and parcel to the tool itself. One such benefit is simplicity. Using a DAF minimizes the amount of administrative work the donor needs to do for their giving. The DAF provider takes care of vetting your intended charities, sending out grants (it can even automate some gifts), keeping records of your giving, and offering you options on the level of privacy between yourself and your grantees. With all of that taken care of, you can spend more time on the fun part– giving!
2. DonorsTrust’s Whitney Ball Legacy Society can help you plan for the future
It’s all too easy to think of giving as an activity for today and not worry about tomorrow or after we’re gone. After all, most gifts we make are to causes we want to support right now.
It can also seem like a morbid topic to tackle. I get it. On the DonorsTrust blog we’ve shared stories from colleagues about their unexpected reasons for confronting their own legacy plans. While it’s never a pleasant topic, leaving a legacy you are proud of and that speaks to your commitments and passions in life is!
We can help you discern and modify your current charitable intentions that you established when opening your fund with us to suit the long-term legacy you seek. Additionally, updating your statement of donor intent with us is much easier and cost-effective than updating a will or trust every time your charitable priorities change. Any time you wish to modify your decisions, you simply call us up and request the change.
3. DonorsTrust can be your charitable match maker
We have a great deal of institutional knowledge about giving. We know even more about the intersection of philanthropy and the ideas of liberty. As the community foundation for liberty, it’s our job to survey the landscape: what work is being done on which issues, who is doing that work, how are they doing it, and how donors can get involved. We’ve written on this before, but introducing donors to new organizations or projects that align with their unique philanthropic goals brings us satisfaction. We love liberty and we want to see the places doing good work to expand freedom receive the support they need just as much as we want donors to find fulfilling causes to support. It’s why we’re here!
We do this by:
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- Creating special projects to focus funding towards urgent high stakes issues of the day. This past spring we launched the Growth and Resilience Project to serve as a rapid funding catalyst to groups seeking to expand freedom, challenge government overreach, and reduce economic strains during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Sharing articles on our blog. Our Intentional Giving blog serves as a platform to provide donors with valuable information to grow their giving. Our client interviews reveal both the benefits of using a DAF but also the many ways people give. Our Expert Giving series examines different issue areas through the lens of liberty (some of the best of these are compiled into a book – get your free copy here). We also share helpful tax, legacy planning, and giving strategies to aid donors.
- Inviting clients to events that we sponsor and host. One of my favorite perks of working at DonorsTrust is that I am able to attend some truly amazing events. Frequently we invite guests to share in the experience with us. We often include clients so that they can interact with a nonprofit new to them or engage on a more personal level with one that might be more familiar. Think of it as a date for philanthropic match-making.
- Talking. The biggest boon to partnering with DonorsTrust is that we are a boutique operation. With only 9 full-time staff, donors know just about everyone on the team and always get one of us one the phone when they call. Our small size means that we are able to form deeper relationships with our clients and therefore offer more insightful advice on their philanthropy when they ask.
4. A community founded on shared principles
Perhaps the best thing about choosing DonorsTrust as your charitable partner is that you join a community of passionate, like-minded philanthropists who give generously to promote ideas like limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise. Though they may not know each other, and don’t often see each other in person, they understand they are part of an outstanding group of individuals working towards common goals.
Giving to charity is simple. It doesn’t require too much effort, if you don’t want it to. But I’d argue it isn’t very fulfilling or even as meaningful as it could be that way. At DonorsTrust, our clients drive the process. We assist them engage more deeply with their gifts and goals so that their generosity can meet its full potential and bring about lasting and meaningful change.
Sometimes that means I put on a fancy dress and attend a gala with a client, other times it means editing a timely and topical article for the blog. In either case, it’s what DonorsTrust is here for.
