GivingTuesday is December 1, 2026. A small fund won’t win the national noise, but it can use the day as a deadline its own circle already recognizes. A one-day plan, a sample email, and what to do the week after.
December is when most giving happens, and 2026 adds a new reason to ask: donors who don’t itemize can now deduct cash gifts. What changed, the deadlines that decide the tax year, and a four-week checklist.
Most first-time donors hear the term donor-advised fund without ever being given a plain explanation of what it is. It comes up in a financial advisor meeting, on a charitable receipt, or in a conversation about year-end giving. The phrase sounds technical, and the description that follows often does too. A donor-advised fund is not … Read more
Most donors finish a gift in under a minute. A name typed in, a card number entered, a confirmation page that says thank you. The transaction feels complete. The question of what actually happens to a donation after that click rarely gets asked. The money seems to go directly to the cause, but the path … Read more
Literacy work rarely succeeds through one event alone. One book fair can place books into homes, and one reading night can bring families into a school or community center. Even so, the larger need remains. Books have to keep circulating. Reading support has to continue beyond one date on the calendar. Community groups also need … Read more
A fundraising program works best when an initiative needs steady support over time. You might run a year-round effort with recurring needs. You might run a seasonal initiative that reopens every cycle. Either way, you need a stable way to accept gifts, keep records, and request funds as needs show up. At BrightLeaf Giving, we … Read more
Organizations raise money in different ways because their operational needs differ. Some build efforts around a specific objective to complete. Others exist to support ongoing work that does not end after a single activity. In practice, these two approaches show up as fundraising campaigns and fundraising programs. BrightLeaf Giving implements these models as Social Impact … Read more
You’re starting a Community Support Fund in 2026. Before you apply, lock in the CSF-specific choices that determine whether the fund stays simple to use: donation methods, fee expectations, and disbursal method. A Community Support Fund (CSF) is managed by BrightLeaf Giving and hosted by Rekonect. It’s built for ongoing fundraising for social causes, emergencies, … Read more
2026 is almost here and this presents an opportunity to make your Community Support Fund a true force for change. By planning ahead, you reduce mid-year uncertainty, prevent mixed messaging, and make it easier to act consistently when decisions need to be made. Rather than rushing into fundraising, taking time to prepare gives you a … Read more
Year-end campaigns are where many Community Support Funds (CSFs) see their biggest spike in activity. New donors come in, lapsed donors reappear, and urgency is on your side. However, the organizations that actually build durable support are not the ones that only push hard in December. They are the ones that deliberately convert that spike … Read more