Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Support for Your Favorite Community Causes

Oct 11, 2025 | Notes From the Director

CFGV Blog

CFGV: Your Local Philanthropic Partner

At Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, we’re committed to working with individuals, families, and businesses to help make a difference in the causes you care about. Indeed, many people have at least a general idea of the community impact they’d like to achieve when they first establish a fund. If you’ve already established a Donor Advised or other type of fund at CFGV, or if you are considering doing so, you might have a list of charities and priorities as your focus. 

CFGV is Here to Support Your Goals

Our team can certainly help you achieve your charitable goals, including giving to charities you’ve supported for years, as well as introducing you to new initiatives and programs that fall within your areas of interest. Identifying recipients and goals for impact is important in your philanthropy plan. 

Here’s another question that’s important to answer: How long would you like your charitable dollars to be at work? The team at CFGV is equipped to help you with this component of your giving, too. Here are six questions we’ll consider when establishing your charitable giving plan and corresponding fund structure:

  • Are the causes and issues that matter most to you likely to represent short-term, immediate community needs, or community needs that will be important for generations?
  • Would you like your children, grandchildren, or other loved ones to help guide your charitable fund in the future?
  • Would you like to see and experience the results of your giving now, or are you more focused on establishing something lasting beyond your lifetime?
  • Are tax savings, estate planning goals, or retirement income needs part of what you’d like your charitable plan to support?
  • If you’re interested in both immediate impact and long-term legacy, what portion of your charitable fund would you like to see spent down versus preserved in perpetuity?
  • When you think about your charitable impact—whether in five years or fifty—what would make you feel your fund or funds at CFGV accomplished their purpose?
young girl peering through a tower of balancing blocks

As we work together to consider these questions, the CFGV team is happy to offer suggested reading to help inform your decision-making process about the benefits of each type of structure, or a hybrid.

Designing a Plan to Reach Your Goals for Your Giving

Everyone’s financial situation is unique, and your philanthropy can be, too. CFGV can help you build a strategic and holistic plan for supporting the causes that have captured your heart. Many donors choose to combine strategies as they work with CFGV to build a portfolio of charitable giving vehicles to accomplish all aspects of their philanthropy goals. Here is an example:

  • A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) to organize annual giving to favorite charities, including taking advantage of “bunching” techniques to front-load contributions to take advantage of itemizing charitable deductions.
  • A Designated Fund to support a specific favorite charity in perpetuity, ensuring that charitable funds will be preserved even if the charity falls on hard times.
  • Annual gifts to CFGV’s Annual or Grants Fund so that critical issues can be addressed in perpetuity as the community’s needs change over time. 
  • Beneficiary designations on traditional IRAs and other qualified retirement plans naming your DAF and/or CFGV’s Forever Fund to receive the proceeds.

Please reach out anytime. CFGV’s team is here to talk with you about your favorite charities, your philanthropy values, and your goals for impact. Together, we can create a charitable giving plan that reflects your vision, whether that means lasting forever, making a difference right now, or both.

If you’d like to explore what it would look like to partner with CFGV to achieve your charitable goals, please reach out to Jessica Wurtz, CFGV’s Director of Philanthropy. Call our office at 970-641-8837

Jessica Wurtz

Director of Philanthropy, CFGV

The team at CFGV is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.

Simplified Summary

Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley is your trusted local partner in philanthropy. We have a variety of tools that can help you have the biggest impact. If you would like to work with CFGV, we will ask you some questions to help us understand what you are trying to achieve. Some questions include:

  • Are the causes you care the most about short-term needs or long-term needs?
  • Would you like your kids or grandkids to guide your giving in the future?
  • Would you like to experience the impact of your giving now or something that will last beyond your lifetime?
  • Are tax savings, estate planning, or retirement incomes needs part of what you’d like your charitable giving to support?
  • What would it look like if your charitable giving accomplished its purpose?

Your situation is unique to you and your giving plan should be, also. Reach out to CFGV if you would like to explore a way to partner together.

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