I became interested in CREATE’s donor advised funds after a friend told me about it. Our family business has a history of making charitable contributions, usually at the end of our fiscal year. Of course, some donations are made throughout the year, but most of our giving occurs after the close of our annual business year. In the past, we sometimes had the capability to make some significant gifts, but we didn’t have enough time to evaluate possible recipients since we were facing a tax deadline. Now, we have the luxury of contributing to a CREATE donor advised fund, receiving an immediate tax deduction, and then taking adequate time to decide the best use of our charitable dollars.

We can easily make recommendations for our donor advised fund online and CREATE handles all the details very efficiently. This process worked so well, Penny and I quickly opened a personal donor advised fund, and it has given us similar flexibility. Of course, we still make some gifts directly, but the donor advised fund also allows us to accumulate funds for larger gifts at a later time, which is a very good approach for us.