Non-Profit Blog

Doubling down: Summer development tip

Even with many of your donors traveling or taking time off, summer is not the time for stewardship and fundraising to move to the back burner. Especially because endowment gifts and complex charitable giving structures take time to establish, mid-year presents an excellent opportunity to double down on development efforts.

For example, always remind your donors to give appreciated stock instead of cash. Absolutely it feels like you are a broken record! You mention the benefits of giving appreciated stock all the time in your donor communications. But it really can’t be overstated. Donors are so tempted to reach for the checkbook for charitable giving, even when they are making a gift to your organization’s endowment fund at ACCF. Read more!

Your endowment: Helpful language to engage donors

Your donors are likely very familiar with the term “endowment,” but they might not know how it works or how important it is to help sustain your mission for the long term. If you’ve established your organization’s endowment fund at ACCF, we’re happy to help you communicate the benefits of endowment gifts to interested donors who may be new to providing this type of support.

For example, you can include language in your communications along these lines:

“Endowment” is the word often used to refer to a designated pool of assets that are invested by and tracked separately such that a modest portion (usually based on a percentage) of the assets are distributed each year for charitable purposes, and the rest of the assets remain invested to grow in perpetuity. This growth, in turn, helps the endowment provide even more support each year to our organization.

And this:

Our organization has established its endowment fund at ACCF, where the team is experienced at managing the accounting, investment, and distribution aspects of endowment funds. Working alongside ACCF, our board and staff are committed to keeping a finger on the pulse of our community’s greatest needs and maintaining a deep understanding of how our organization can meet those needs now and well into the future when priorities emerge that simply could not have been predicted. Distributions from our endowment fund are reviewed and approved by an independent board of directors to ensure that they fulfill our organization’s mission-focused goals for establishing the endowment in the first place.

And this:



When you support our endowment fund through gifts of stock, bequests in your will, beneficiary designations on your retirement plans, or even gifts of real estate and other complex assets, you are helping pave the way for our organization’s long-term stability to continue to improve the quality of life in our region. What’s more, we can work with you and your advisors to structure endowment gifts that meet your own estate planning and tax objectives.

As always, please reach out to the ACCF team for ideas about growing your endowment. We are here for our community, and we are here for you!

Trends Worth Watching

The team at ACCF is committed to keeping an eye out for trends and developments that impact charitable giving and your ability to raise funds for your organization’s mission.

Here are three developments you’ll want to track:



–Although you and your donors certainly anticipate that your organization will thrive for years to come, there is no crystal ball. Sometimes, the unexpected happens and the viability of a nonprofit organization is threatened or called into question. It is especially important to consider these issues when planning for large endowment gifts. That’s why so many nonprofit organizations consult ACCF about how to structure donors’ endowment gifts to ensure that the mission is served, regardless of what might happen to a particular entity. Please reach out as you work with your donors on major bequests. We can help ensure that both the donor’s intent and your mission are served across generations.

–Be prepared to help donors with planning issues to address the anticipated changes to the estate tax exemption at the end of next year. The estate tax exemption is the total amount a taxpayer can leave to family and other individuals during their life and at death before the hefty federal gift and estate tax kicks in–is scheduled to drop, rather precipitously, after December 25, 2025. For 2024, the estate tax exemption is $13.61 million per individual, or $27.22 million per married couple, an increase over 2023 thanks to adjustments for inflation. Later this year, the IRS will issue inflation adjustments for 2025. For 2026, without legislation to prevent it, the exemption is scheduled to fall back to 2017 levels, adjusted for inflation, which would roughly total $7 million per person. That is quite a drop! This means a lot more people–including many of your donors–could be subject to estate tax in the not-too-distant future. The team at ACCF is happy to help develop strategies for maximizing endowment gifts as the sunset draws near. Please reach out!

–You’ll want to pay attention to the latest fundraising statistics, simply to be aware of what’s going on in the nonprofit sector overall. For example, while the number of new donors is up, donor retention rates continue to suffer. This does not need to be the case, however, for your organization; strong donor stewardship practices can significantly increase donor retention and even increase large gifts to your endowment. Please reach out to us for ideas on how to grow your endowment fund.



Thank you, as always, for the opportunity to work together! It is our honor to be your partner in philanthropy and community impact.

We are thrilled to invite you and your team to ACCF’s 1st Annual Non-Profit Picnic! Saturday, August 17th is National Non-Profit Day, and in celebration of the incredible work done by non-profits in our community, ACCF is hosting a special picnic just for you! This is NOT open to the public.

Event Details: 

• Date: Friday, August 16th 
• Time: 11:30am-1:30pm

Location:

• The Gathering, LLC 
• 1058 Lincoln Rd, Allegan, MI 49010 

We invite you and your team to join us for an afternoon of community, delicious food, fun games, and more. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the positive impact each organization has on Allegan County and to connect with others who share a passion for making a difference. 

Tickets are $10 per person and available online. Please be sure to fill out the guest information after you submit payment. If your organization doesn’t have the budget to cover this, please let us know—we can waive the fee so you can participate but we still need to register you. Our goal is to have as many organizations represented as possible, making this a true celebration of our collective efforts. 

Pre-registration is required by August 1st. We look forward to a fun-filled afternoon and hope to see you there! 

Non-Profit Resources

Welcome to the dedicated space for our non-profit partners, your go-to space for tools, helpful information, and opportunities to support your mission.

To learn about current external grant opportunities for potential funding sources, click here.

If you would like to submit a job posting to be listed on the MACC section of the ACCF website, please fill out this form.

To view other resources and opportunities that are shared with us, click here.

Are you a non-profit or business interested in submitting your events on our calendar? Fill out the form below and details will be sent to you.

July 2024

If you wish to share any news or updates about your organization, please complete and submit this form by the 20th of each month to be featured in the following month's ACCF and non-profit newsletters. Please note that we ask for the file to be submitted in one PDF and for you to provide us with your most up-to-date logo.