Sharing Gulf Coast Community Foundation donor stories and other ideas for giving is just one way we try to help you help your clients. Each week, the Foundation’s development staff e-mails local professional advisors a brief example of how donors can creatively partner with the Foundation to achieve their financial and charitable goals.

 If you would like to receive our “tip of the week” via e-mail, let us know.

Recent "Ideas for Giving"

There Should Be Room for Change in a Philanthropic Plan
Philanthropic planning—like financial planning—is constantly changing. One generous man who previously focused his giving globally told his advisor that he wanted to start helping local nonprofits after seeing how the downturn had affected so many of them. Knowing that his client’s goals might change again in the coming years, this advisor intends to keep the dialogue going—and to keep his community foundation close for expertise on trends in giving and emerging community needs.

Add Family Fund Night to Family Game Night
A local couple who are longtime members of our Foundation family wanted to involve their children in their charitable decision-making. We helped them set up a new donor advised fund that the children could help oversee—from suggesting grants to deciding how much money to contribute. The new fund has given the family a way to pass on philanthropic objectives as well as teach their children about investing and managing cash flow.

Philanthropic Investments Should Be Sound Too
A donor who loyally supported a local nonprofit wanted to ensure that his philanthropy was helping to maintain a healthy organization. After he talked with us about his own goals and some financial challenges faced by the group, he decided to boost his gift this year to help stabilize them financially—otherwise, he realized, his smaller gift might prove meaningless. Learning more about the organization’s immediate and long-term needs even inspired him to spearhead a successful fundraising effort that has helped the organization through its difficult time.

Giving Locally to Help Globally
One of our donors who had always supported local causes through her philanthropy was overwhelmed when she learned about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Wanting to help but unsure where to best direct her donation, she turned to the Foundation for some guidance. We suggested several worthy organizations at the forefront of the international relief effort, and even connected her with one based here in her own backyard.

Honoring Family Through a Charitable Fund
A retired executive who was revising his estate plan wanted to honor the parents who had helped make him the success he became. His attorney suggested working with his community foundation, and he soon established a memorial fund in his parents’ name. The fund supports causes that mattered to his family, and it will continue to do so even after he is gone. While his generous giving today is a testament to the way those parents raised him, the fund he has endowed will ensure that their names and legacy last forever.


If you would like more ideas for giving to share with your clients, please contact Scott Anderson, Gift Planning Officer, at 941.486.4567.