Your family may be among those who are taking their charitable giving budgets more seriously this year, given uncertainty surrounding interest rates, potential new legislation, and possible stock market swings. 

At the same time, you know our community’s needs continue to rise. As 2025 unfolds, your favorite charities will be rely on additional resources and support from philanthropic sources. 

In this context, having a budget has significant benefits!

Steps to Build Your 2025 Charitable Giving Budget

Here are a few steps to consider as you build a 2025 budget for charitable donations that can help you continue to support your favorite causes and remain fiscally cautious.

  1. Review your charitable donations from the last three years and compile totals for each organization. This can be an easy exercise if you use a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation because the data can typically be pulled directly from the Community Foundation’s donor portal or requested from the Community Foundation’s team.
  2. Examine the list of organizations you’ve supported over the last three years. Identify the charities most important to you. Are you serving on the board of directors of any of these organizations? Do you regularly volunteer at any of them? Is there a personal connection?
  3. Consider whether any organizations on your list received support because the organization was raising money for a capital campaign, or because you were helping out a friend who is involved with that organization. If household budget constraints arise in 2025, you might pause support for these organizations and revisit them in future years.
  4. Calculate your total giving over the last three years and divide it by three to get your average. Is that number doable this year? If not, adjust to a level that fits your financial situation to establish your 2025 giving budget. Or, if you expect your income and assets to increase this year, consider taking your charitable giving budget up a notch. Don’t forget the tax advantages to giving highly-appreciated, publicly-traded stock to your fund at the Community Foundation. 
  5. Decide whether to keep certain organizations at historic levels of giving, such as those you’re personally involved with. Or on the flip side, you may decide to temporarily reduce your level of giving to organizations for which you are providing other types of support, including volunteering or board service.
  6. Identify organizations on your list you would like to learn more about. The team at the Community Foundation is extremely knowledgeable about charities in our region and would be happy to provide information on how a particular organization spends its money and how it measures impact.
  7. Set targets for the amount of support you’d like to provide to each organization, including the timing of your gifts. These targets can be adjusted as needed. Planning and budgeting add intentionality to your giving, making it more rewarding for you and beneficial for the recipient charities. Intentional giving can deepen your engagement and enhance your understanding of how donations are used to achieve missions. This helps your favorite organizations improve their programs and better serve their communities. 

We look forward to working with you throughout the year!

Contact Us

Contact our team to learn more: Marcia Shackelford, Chief Philanthropy Officer, at mshackelford@pacf.org or Michael Nuno, Vice President of Philanthropic Services, at mnuno@pacf.org.