Identify your charitable goals
The first stage in building an effective giving plan is identifying the goals and causes most important to you. Here are some tools and resources to help you narrow your charitable focus and make giving a family affair.
Find your focus
Clearly defining your focus creates a framework for decision-making and helps you gauge your progress in meeting your philanthropic goals. To find your focus, start by reflecting on your charitable giving motivations. What motivates you to give at this moment? What do you want to change in the world? Also look for ways to concentrate your giving, as focusing on a smaller number of charitable causes can make your donations go further.
Access in-depth activities to help you identify your goals, values, and motivations.
Involve your family
Engaging your family in giving is a great way to strengthen relationships, instill values, and leave a meaningful legacy. You can engage family members in several ways, including partnering with them to develop philanthropic goals and/or create and implement a giving strategy. You can also launch family members on their own giving trajectory.
Explore strategies for involving your family.
Related resources
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GuideSchwab Charitable Giving Guide
Download our Schwab Charitable Giving Guide to explore these ideas in more detail.
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VideoThe drive to give
Our donors share how they made a big difference for an underserved group.
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ToolExplore charities
Search for charities addressing a specific cause, or research their effectiveness or background.
Keep building your plan
See a list of details on additional parts of your giving plan:
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Entities eligible for tax-deductible donations
- What are the different types of nonprofit organizations and which ones are eligible for tax deductions?• How can I make charitable gifts to international causes?• Are political gifts tax-deductible?• What are impact investments, and are they tax-deductible?
- Determine which assets to give
- Select your charitable giving vehicles
Determine which assets to give
- What assets can I give?
- Why should I consider giving non-cash asset?
Select your charitable giving vehicles
- What are the different vehicles I can use for my charitable giving?
- How can I compare the different charitable giving vehicles?
- Which vehicles best support my giving goals?
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Set a three-year charitable giving budget
It is a personal decision to determine how much to give to your focus areas compared to reserving resources for you and your family’s present and future needs.
- How can I set my charitable giving budget over the coming three years?
Find organizations to support
When trying to identify nonprofits aligned with your interests, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to determine which organizations to support.
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Define your gift's purpose, frequency, and terms
- What is the difference between unrestricted and restricted gifts?
- What is the difference between direct and indirect costs?
- How do I determine the frequency of my gifts?
- How do I document the terms of my gift?
Track, review, and refine your charitable plan over time
- How should I record my charitable gifts?
- How do I track my charitable giving impact?
- How can I stay informed about the causes I support?
- How do I review and refine my charitable plan over time?
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Contribute your time, talent, and ties
- Should I volunteer?
- Should I serve on a board?
Learn and give with others
- How can I learn with and from others about the giving process?
- How can I give alongside other donors?
Identify different approaches to tackle social problems
Finding solutions to complex social problems such as homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, or climate change is challenging. Nonprofit organizations use different approaches in order to bring about change.
- What approaches do nonprofit organizations use to tackle complex social challenges?