Suggestions for Non-Profits & Individuals

October 2025
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill

Autumn is a time of transition – from kids heading back to school, to hot summer days turning cool, and trees trading green for gold. Change is all around us. Amid this seasonal shift, it’s easy to lose sight of the rapidly approaching end of the year. However, we want to encourage our clients to not only plan for the holiday season ahead but also to revisit their philanthropic strategies as individuals and as organizations.

For Our Non-Profit Clients

There is still time to develop and launch a year-end fundraising campaign if you have not done so already. In 2024, 30% of annual giving occurred in December, with 10% happening in just the final three days.1 This surge underscores the importance of having a strategy in place to capitalize on factors like year-end tax planning, Giving Tuesday (which falls in December this year!), and the holiday season.

One area we encourage our non-profits to consider is digital optimization.2

  • Is your online giving experience seamless across mobile and desktop? Mobile traffic continues to grow, highlighting the importance of a seamless mobile website. Nevertheless, desktop traffic cannot be ignored, as desktop conversion rates and gift sizes are larger.
  • Does your site support Donor Advised Fund (DAF) as a payment method? DAFs are an increasingly important source of charitable revenue. Consider also reminding donors of tax-efficient strategies like we’ve outlined below.
  • Are you reaching donors through both email and mobile campaigns? Mobile fundraising messages are seeing significant increases in click-through and conversion rates.

If any of these questions seem daunting, or if you’d simply like extra support, please do not hesitate to reach out to Stephen Link, director of our Philanthropic Services team. Our team stands ready to support your organization’s fundraising goals through the end of the year and beyond.

For Our Individual Clients

We have previously shared strategies to make your charitable giving more efficient. Now is a great time to revisit those ideas:

  • Fund a Donor Advised Fund (DAF): If you plan to itemize your tax return, funding a DAF is one way to take advantage of higher standard deductions. You can make a sizable gift to your DAF as a onetime deduction and distribute the funds over time to the organizations of your choosing.
  • Gift appreciated securities: With markets reaching all-time highs this year, donating appreciated assets can help you to minimize capital gains taxes while supporting causes that are important to you. This is an especially useful strategy for those who may have concentrated securities with significant gains.
  • Set up a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD): Have you taken your required minimum distributions for the year? If not, consider meeting your requirement by distributing the remainder to charity. Unlike your RMD, this distribution will not be subject to ordinary income tax. Alternatively, consider whether a QCD is something you would like to implement in the coming year.

Finally, if you have not already done so, be sure to review the beneficiaries not only of your will but also your financial accounts, life insurance policies, and retirement plans. Whether your goal is to support loved ones, your favorite charitable organizations, or both, it’s important to verify that your various accounts and documents reflect your wishes.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Cornerstone team, be it your advisor or our Philanthropic Services team, if you would like to discuss your philanthropic plans and any other questions you may have. We look forward to helping you make the most of this season of change.

1 https://www.vanguardcharitable.org/blog/year-end-giving

2 Trends in digital optimization cited from M+R Benchmarks 2025 Study.

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