Donors
Your generosity. Shared impact.
Building A Shared Tomorrow
Through generosity, partnership, and community impact.
Every act of generosity has the power to create lasting change. Shared Tomorrows Community Foundation partners with individuals, families, businesses, and organizations to strengthen our communities through thoughtful philanthropy, strategic grantmaking, scholarships, and charitable funds that make a meaningful difference today and for generations to come.
Discover the Many Ways to Make a Difference
Every donor has a unique story, purpose, and vision for giving. Whether you want to support an immediate community need, invest in future generations, honor a loved one, or create a lasting charitable legacy, Shared Tomorrows Community Foundation can help you achieve your philanthropic goals.
We work alongside individuals, families, businesses, and professional advisors to make charitable giving simple, meaningful, and impactful.
Why Give Through Shared Tomorrows Community Foundation?
Supporting a nonprofit directly is a meaningful way to make a difference. Giving through Shared Tomorrows Community Foundation offers another way to create lasting impact by combining your charitable goals with local knowledge, thoughtful stewardship, and long-term community investment.
Personalized Giving Made Simple
Whether you wish to support a specific cause, establish a scholarship, create an endowment, or respond to emerging community needs, Shared Tomorrows helps make charitable giving easy. We handle the administration, grantmaking, recordkeeping, and fund management, allowing you to focus on the impact you want to make.
Local Knowledge. Greater Impact.
As a community foundation, we understand the strengths, challenges, and opportunities within our region. We work closely with nonprofit organizations and community partners to identify needs, evaluate opportunities, and direct charitable resources where they can have meaningful and lasting impact.
Trusted Stewardship
We are committed to managing charitable gifts with integrity, transparency, and respect for each donor’s intentions. Through careful oversight, responsible financial management, and thoughtful grantmaking, we help ensure your generosity continues to strengthen our community today and for generations to come.
Ways to Give
STCF Community Impact Fund
Our Impact Community Fund, which is administered through our grant and scholarship processes, provides unrestricted flexibility for Shared Tomorrows to address our community’s needs each year. Donors make unrestricted donations to this fund allowing the Shared Tomorrows Board of Directors the discretion to direct funding for grants that best serve the community in our focus areas of Human Services, Food Stability, Youth Development & Wellness, Education, Arts & Culture Enrichment and Animal Welfare. The Community Impact Fund also provides scholarships that create better tomorrows for recipients and community residents based on the Board’s assessment.
Field-of-Interest Funds
This is a charitable fund where the donor specifies an impact focused “field” of charitable focus or interest (such as the arts, seniors, food insecurity, youth wellness, etc.) rather than naming specific organizations. Donors can choose to establish a permanent endowment in a field of interest, with a percentage of the income used for grants annually. This will ensure the endowed funds support the field of interest for decades to come.
Designated Funds
Designated funds can be established by a donor to support one or more specific nonprofit organizations. Designated funds ensure on-going support for their favorite charitable organizations, offering a diversified and impactful revenue source.
Designated funds can also be set up specifically for scholarships to help deserving students achieve their educational goals after high school. Business, individuals and families are known to set up such funds. Donors can specify a particular field of study, eligibility requirements as well as the amount of scholarship for recipients. The fund can be named in honor or memory of a cherished person reflecting their particular interests.
Alternatively, donors can establish a designated scholarship fund for a specific Michigan colled, university or trade school, whose admissions office selects and awards students the scholarships on an annual basis.
Donor Advised Funds (DAFs)
Donor Advised Funds allow donors to direct grants to their favorite nonprofits, as well as access our knowledge of local nonprofits who are in great need, helping to maximize their donation impact. DAFS can provide strategic tax advantages with an immediate, maximum tax deduction when a donor first contributes, and then distribute grants to various nonprofits over time. This is very beneficial when donating appreciated assets like stocks or real estate.
Estate Planned Giving
A beautiful way to give back to your community is in your estate plan. A gift through your trust becomes part of your legacy, ensuring that long into the future, causes that you care about will continue to receive the same compassion that inspired you today – all while accommodating your personal, financial, tax, estate planning, and philanthropic goals.
For those age 70½ or older, donating directly from an IRA, often called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), allows you to give straight to Shared Tomorrows in a way that may not be counted as taxable income. You can also make a gift from your retirement account, or with your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) if you are over 73 years old, or in your will, or trust.
All are wonderful ways to show your on-going support and appreciation for the good work a specific nonprofit you cherish does, or to nonprofits in your Field of Interest. Or you can choose to continually give scholarships to help students who want to pursue and persevere higher education in Michigan.
Gifts We Accept
Shared Tomorrows Community Foundation welcomes a variety of charitable contributions, including:
- Cash, checks, and wire transfers
- Credit card and online donations
- Appreciated securities
- IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions (when eligible)
- Employer matching gifts
- Memorial and honorary gifts
- Planned and estate gifts
Not Sure Where to Begin?
Whether you’re making your first charitable gift or developing a long-term giving strategy, we’re here to help. Together, we can create a giving plan that reflects your values and strengthens the communities we serve.
Ready to get started?
