There are many good reasons why a donor may want to give anonymously and some of those reasons are provided below.
No matter what the reason, a DONOR ADVISED FUND is a very useful vehicle for your anonymous gift to 501(c)(3) organizations like ours because:
- You benefit from an immediate tax deduction
- You retain authority on how to contribute your fund’s assets to charities over time
- Your assets benefit from tax-free growth as long as your account remains funded
- You reduce the administrative burden on the charities you help
- You remain anonymous to the public and to the charities you help
Below is a list of Donor Advised Funds with links to each. For those who are new and looking to contribute smaller amounts, Fidelity and Schwab are options that don’t require a minimum amount for contributions. (Schwab issues a physical check which is mailed to the nonprofit. *If the gift is time critical, Fidelity can provide electronic ACH transactions, giving the recipient rapid access to the donated funds.*)
DONOR ADVISED FUNDS:
- Fidelity Charitable
- Schwab Charitable
- Donors Trust
- Waterstone
- Vanguard Charitable
- BNY Mellon
- Network for Good
- National Philanthropic Trust
- Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund
*Setting up an account with Fidelity Charitable takes about 5 minutes. Linking to the source of funding (bank account, stockbroker, etc.) takes about 10-15 minutes, but then it typically takes 3-6 business days for the contributed funds to appear in the Fidelity charitable account from which they can be disbursed via ACH to the nonprofit. Once funds appear in your account, select “find a charity” and enter “Center for Security Policy” – looking for TAX ID: 52-1601976. You can set up a one-time gift or monthly/quarterly/annual gifts as desired. Note that the minimum gift with Fidelity is $50.00)
REASONS FOR ANONYMOUS GIVING
Motivations for anonymous giving range from spiritual and emotional to practical and patriotic.
At the most basic level, anonymity goes hand in hand with the vital principle of free speech – making anonymous giving a centerpiece of American philanthropy since our nation’s founding. On a practical level, as our nation is beset by numerous enemies of freedom – both foreign and domestic – donors who support free speech and the mission of our Center for Security Policy might seek anonymity to spare themselves the possibility of being criticized by these agitators.
Practicality and patriotism are good reasons but so is one’s conscience. Academic studies have demonstrated that publicized gifts sometimes diminish the emotional benefit of giving because it can cause the giver to doubt their own motivations.
Similarly, publicized gifts can often make the recipient feel as though they might be pressured to bend to the will of the giver as though it were some kind of “sponsorship” or “advertisement.” This is the primary reason why our Center for Security Policy does not accept donations from governments at any level, foreign sources, or any corporations who can profit from the policies we recommend. One of our core principles is that our nonprofit represents the public interest rather than any special interest.
Finally, there is a spiritual virtue in anonymous giving. The apostle Matthew sums this up in Chapter 6, verse 1: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Whatever your reason for staying anonymous or your method of giving, we are here to help and are grateful for your support. We couldn’t imagine doing what we do without the generosity of people like you!