The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation (GRACF) is honored to serve at the center of your philanthropy. Whether you’ve established a donor-advised or other type of fund, arranged for a bequest to a fund or to GRACF itself, or both, or you’re thinking about these things, we strive to help you organize your giving to make it easy and convenient. If you’ve not yet established a fund or arranged for a bequest but are considering it, we look forward to continuing the conversation!
Charitable giving is important not only locally and nationally, but also internationally. Indeed, the World Giving Index 2024 Global Trends in Generosity reports that 4.3 billion people worldwide helped someone they didn’t know, volunteered time, or donated money to a good cause in the preceding month.
It’s no surprise that research indicates that giving to others actually puts donors in a good mood. This is especially the case, studies show, in three ways: the act of giving feels good in the moment; people like having choices about their giving; people like to see the results of their giving.
We know this intuitively based on our own experiences. For instance, many of us enjoy picking out a birthday gift for a friend or family member and watching them open it.
The same good feelings translate to charitable giving. Certainly, one reason people like giving through GRACF is because it activates the research’s three key factors:
–Feels good in the moment. GRACF makes it easy to give cash, stock, or other assets to a type of fund that is the best fit for you, whether that’s a donor-advised fund, designated fund, field-of-interest fund, or unrestricted endowment fund. When you initiate the stock transfer, for example, it’s fun because GRACF makes it easy. You know immediately that you’ve taken meaningful action.
–Offers choices. The Community Foundation has tools that are flexible to meet your charitable giving goals. We can help you set up an annual giving strategy, establish a bequest to your fund in your estate plan, and everything in between. Most of all, we want to help you support the causes that are most important to you, whether those are particular charities or broader areas of community need.
–Shows results. GRACF is aware of our region’s priorities and how charitable giving can improve quality of life for everyone. Every day, we work with individuals, families, and businesses to help them not only make a difference, but also actually see the difference they are making.
The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation looks forward to helping you incorporate charitable giving into your life in ways that help the community and bring you joy! If you’d like more information or a conversation, please reach out to the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation at 218-999-9100, info@gracf.org, or stop in at 350 NW 1st Avenue, Suite E in Grand Rapids, Minnesota – we are happy to help!
