We often hear about “planned giving.” In the simplest of terms, it is your plan to support a worthy cause. It also refers to making a provision in your Will to leave a bequest to the charity of your choice – your legacy. However, this does not always have to be the case. You can plan or schedule your gift-giving while you get to enjoy the benefits of doing so. You can have an ongoing plan to support your favourite causes without amending your Will.
In today’s uncertain and challenging world, many of us are watching our pockets with an eye to making sure our families are secure and safe. At the same time, we want to support charitable causes that align with our values even during these challenging times. Planning for scheduled giving makes it easier and more manageable to support causes that are important to us.
Where in the past, we may have made an annual donation of a substantial amount during a fund-raising drive, we now find ourselves looking to give smaller amounts; but we sometimes wonder if the smaller amounts are making a difference. To the beneficiary, a monthly contribution, big or small, always goes a long way. Not only is your monthly donation helping someone, but it will also generate a tax-deductible credit for you. For example, only $30/month will result in a tax receipt of $360 per year, and a $50 monthly donation adds up to $600 per year!
It is easy to set up an automatic recurring donation from your bank account to your charity in the same way you arrange for the monthly payments for your household expenses. Alternatively, you can set up recurring donations directly with the charity of your choice. To set up recurring (or one-time) donations to the CWLF you can use the donation form on our website.
Why Schedule Your Donations?
Giving always feels good, but it feels even better when you commit to the causes important to you and carefully plan out how much you can give on a regular basis. Start by setting up monthly giving for the charities that you know you will support. Periodically review how much you are giving and to which charities and adjust as your budget allows.
Easier on your budget: Scheduled giving not only helps charities forecast their funding, budget their finances, and plan future charitable projects and initiatives — it also helps you budget! It allows you to support your charities within your budget.
Bigger impact: planned monthly giving allows you to make a bigger charitable impact. Month after month, your scheduled donations will almost always total more than sporadic donations made to various charities throughout the year (which of course you can still do!).