Set a Giving Goal

Establish an annual commitment to giving back with an achievable goal.

A charitable giving goal is a specific amount you aim to give over a time period, usually a calendar year. Specifically, giving goals can be how much you plan to contribute into a charitable giving vehicle like a donor-advised fund and/or grant to charities.

Research shows setting commitments to charitable giving help you give >7% more than you otherwise might.

Each year, you can hold yourself accountable and inspire others by setting a giving goal for total contributions and grants made from your Charityvest account.

Giving goal considerations

Deciding how much to give is a personal, moral, and spiritual decision, so there's no formula. Here are a few key considerations below:

• The type of donor you are today and how a giving goal can help your next steps. Not every experience of giving is the same. Depending on where you are on your purposeful giving journey, you can use giving goals to align with your philanthropic and financial circumstances.

• Your desired giving legacy. You want to understand your long-term motivations for giving and what it is you're trying to achieve over your lifetime. An annual giving goal will be a stepping stone to your longer-term aim.

• Your desired tax strategy for giving. Your giving goals will also be influenced by your tax strategy for philanthropy.

• Whether you want to give now or give later in life. It's important to evaluate the financial and personal implications of choosing to give now, versus at a later stage in life.

Goal-setting methods

Though giving is an intensely personal and purposeful decision, many donors use defined methods to simplify the decision and the fulfillment of their giving goal. Here are a few we've seen purposeful donors use:

• Fixed amount: to pick a flat amount that sounds aspirational but attainable.

• Percentage of income: to pick a percentage of pre-tax income.

• Percentage of assets: for donors who have more assets than income, it can be much more powerful to set a giving goal around a percentage of your assets over a particular time period.

• Financial finish line: giving 100% of income and/or assets above some threshold.

How to set up your giving goal

It's easy to create and share your giving goal on Charityvest:

• Click the link to Set your giving goal, located on the right-hand side of your Dashboard.

• Enter your estimated pre-tax income and decide what percentage of your total income you wish to contribute and/or grant from your Charityvest account during the calendar year. Review our recommended goal and consider what feels best for your financial situation.

• Share your giving goals with others through a public link. The goals will be not be disclosed in dollars, rather in percentages.