Your Giving

A charitable giving fund is a dedicated account for supporting the causes you care about over time. You can use cash, stock or other assets to create a named fund, qualify for an immediate tax deduction, and when it’s convenient for you, choose the nonprofits you want to support. Plus, by establishing your charitable giving fund with the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines your gift may be eligible for the Endow Iowa Tax Credit, a 25% state tax credit. Explore the variety of charitable giving funds available to meet your goals.

Manage My Fund 

We believe in a hands-on approach to giving. Manage My Fund is an easy-to-use online tool that provides you with the opportunity to review your charitable giving fund, recommend grants, make gifts to your fund or research giving opportunities whenever and wherever is most convenient for you. Learn more. 

Legacy giving is a way to support the causes you care about through a gift in your will, trust or estate plan. The Community Foundation is here to help. We work with you and your estate planning team to ensure your wishes are documented and carried out as intended. Learn more.

Our legacy funds provide you with the flexibility and simplicity to include your fund as a beneficiary of your will, trust or retirement assets. You then work with our team to determine how your selected assets will be used to benefit the nonprofits of your choice. If the causes you care about change over your lifetime, we can easily make updates without revising your estate documents. Learn more about legacy funds or download a free copy of our Wills Guide and begin your planning today.

When considering making a gift, most people’s instinct is to open their checkbook. While cash is a wonderful gift, our team is here to help you think about the assets you currently hold that might better meet your financial and giving goals in tax-wise ways. 

The Community Foundation can accept gifts of many types, including appreciated securities, real estate, business interests, personal tangible property, retirement plans, life insurance and agricultural assets. Gifts to your fund may be tax deductible and eligible for the Endow Iowa Tax Credit program, a 25% state tax credit exclusively available through Iowa community foundations.

The Community Foundation team has experience in accepting a variety of gift types to support charitable giving funds. This expertise ensures the gift will be facilitated smoothly to maximize your tax-savings and giving opportunities. Learn more.

Our charitable giving team is here to help you establish a charitable giving fund with a current or planned gift. There is no minimum amount required to open a charitable giving fund and we work with you to establish the right fund to meet your giving goals. Likewise, we accept a variety of gifts including appreciated securities, real estate, business interests, personal tangible property, retirement plans, life insurance, agricultural assets and more to make sure that you are maximizing your giving in tax-wise ways. 

Community Foundation Advantage: You may qualify for an immediate tax deduction when you open your fund and you may be eligible for the Endow Iowa Tax Credit. 

You choose which of the Community Foundation’s professionally-managed, world-class investment portfolios you would like to allocate your charitable giving fund to, so your charitable assets grow, tax-free to you. If you would prefer, you can take advantage of our Charitable Investment Partners program and have your charitable giving fund invested by your trusted financial advisor. Either way, you can make additional contributions to your fund at any time.

Community Foundation Advantage: Simplify tax time. Rather than remembering all the organizations you supported over the course of the year, you’ll have immediate access to a comprehensive record of the contributions you made to your charitable giving fund. 

Make secure, online grant recommendations to the causes you care about from your charitable giving fund and we handle the administrative details. If would like to engage our team to help recommend a grant, you can call us at (515) 883-2626. Or complete this form and submit to us via email, mail to 1915 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309 or fax to (515) 309-0704.

Community Foundation Advantage: Our team of charitable giving experts is only a phone call, email or personal meeting away to help you facilitate your giving or to learn more about needs in the community that might match your charitable interests.  

With over 50 years of service to our community, we are connecting and investing in pressing needs and promising opportunities. And we are committed to sharing this expertise with you. Whether taking advantage of our online resource, GIVEdsm, to learn about and support local nonprofits, or joining us at one of our events to hear from local leaders on priority projects for our community, we know that our community is strengthened by our collective work. We are simply better together.