PLAN A LEGACY OF GOOD
PLAN A LEGACY OF GOOD
Every DAF (Donor Advised Fund) Gift turns into real-world impact for people, animals, and the environment.
When you give through your DAF to Greater Good Charities, every $1 becomes $10 in impact—turning your generosity into measurable, lasting environmental impact.
Give through your DAF today and see how far your dollar can go.
What is a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)?
A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is a tax-advantaged charitable giving account.
DAFs are often compared to a 401(k) for retirement savings or a Health Savings Account (HSA) for healthcare. You contribute cash or assets, get the tax benefits upfront, invest the balance in the market, and make grants out to nonprofits over time.
Any person, couple, family — or even a company — can open a DAF account. DAFs have surged in popularity in recent years because they're incredibly effective at increasing giving capacity and streamlining philanthropy for donors big and small.
Contribute cash, stocks, or other assets and get an immediate tax deduction. The benefits are huge: Take your tax deduction now, donate appreciated stocks to avoid capital gains tax, and keep one consolidated record for tax time.
Tax Saving: Get an upfront deduction, avoid capital gains on appreciated assets, all while your DAF investment grows tax-free.
Easier Decisions: With funds already set aside, DAF gifts don't impact your budget. It's like a gift card you've given yourself—so you get even more joy from your giving!
Streamlined: One tax receipt, one portal—no filings or setup costs. Like your own foundation with no admin or overhead and maximum flexibility.
Accessible: Over 1,000 DAF options—from brokerages to community foundations and independent providers—with improved platforms, lower requirements, and DAFpay, which provides an express checkout option.
Goal-Oriented: You can hold yourself accountable to your giving goals by automating periodic contributions to your DAF.
Highly Engaged: DAF donors are proven to give more, to more organizations, with greater consistency. DAFs shift your mindset ot be proactive and focused on long-term impact.
How Does the Tax Benefit Work for a DAF?
The size of your tax benefit generally depends on three things:
- The scale of your contributions
- Whether you're itemizing deductions on your return (instead of taking the standard deduction).
- Whether your contributions are in the form of appreciated assets, which lets you avoid capital gains tax.
Why a DAF Qualifies
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All DAFs are hosted by a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which makes the tax benefits possible when you contribute.
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The DAF "host" must take legal ownership of the contribution for it to qualify as a tax-deductible gift.
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Making grants from your DAF
A few ground rules make DAFs such a powerful, committed giving tool:
- You can never withdraw funds for personal use, even at a penalty. Funds can only leave a DAF as a donation to an eligible organization.
- This commitment is exactly what makes DAFs so powerful for philantrhopy.
Making a gift from your DAF is technically a "recommendation" the provider approves. Approval depends on:
- The organization being in good standing with the IRS.
- The organization not falling into ineligible categories (e.g. policital 501(c)(4)s).
- The gift being for "appropriate use" with no personal benefit to you — auction items, tickets, and gala tables are not DAF-eligible.
- Any additional values-based criteria an individual provider may have.
A legacy gift to Greater Good Charities is an easy way to leave a lasting impact to protect people, pets, and the planet. By planning a future gift to GGC, you are ensuring that our work will continue through our programs and initiatives. Your commitment to protect the vulnerable populations, homeless pets, and threatened species will be honored and sustained with your planned gift.
- Determine the Greater Good Charities programs you wish to support and the property you expect to be available for those gifts.
- Consult with an attorney who regularly prepares wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents.
- Contact our Director of Donor Engagement to discuss your planned gift to Greater Good Charities. She can help make sure your gift will be used for your chosen purpose, or help you select how the funds can be used to make a difference in the lives of pets in need.
- Ask our Director of Donor Experience to provide you with sample bequest language to share with your attorney.
- Provide our Director of Donor Experience with a copy of the relevant provision from your will or trust benefiting Greater Good Charities. This information will be kept on file and remain confidential. Planned gifts may remain anonymous by request.
Manager, Development Operations
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email: DebraParsons@greatergood.org
If you want to control the disposition of your property at death, you need to have a will or a trust to direct how and to whom your property is to be distributed. In your will, you can also name a person or company to administer your estate and someone to serve as a guardian of minor children. If you do not have a will, state law determines to whom your property is given – with no provisions for gifts to friends or charities.
A gift in your will can be:
- A specific dollar amount or a specific asset.
- All or a percentage of the “residue” of your assets (what is left after you have made other gifts).
- Unrestricted or Restricted (used for a particular purpose).
- Structured to provide lifetime income to family before the gift is available for use by GGC.
- Contingent (gift is made only if specific conditions occur, e.g., your spouse has died before you).
- Revocable (Can be changed by you at any time).
We highly recommend that you work with an attorney to craft a legal document that outlines your wishes, including your charitable bequests. Here are Sample Bequest Language that will hopefully guide as you make your legacy gift plan.
Planned Giving with Greater Good Charities
GGC uses gifts from estates as the donor directs. Often bequests are made to establish a named endowment in honor of the donor or others. Endowments are permanent funds designed to provide a perpetual source of annual support for a designated purpose, such as program support, operations, staffing, infrastructure improvements and facility upgrades. Bequests can also be designated for current use, which makes the entire gift available for use immediately.
Charitable gifts from estates present a variety of tax planning opportunities. But unlike charitable gifts made during your lifetime, you do not receive a current charitable income tax deduction. However, if your estate is subject to estate tax, a bequest to GGC entitles your estate to an estate tax charitable deduction for the amount donated, and reduces the amount of tax your estate must pay. Note also that if you make a gift by naming GGC as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or IRA, there are income tax benefits. Please advise with your financial planner or attorney for your individual planned giving.