Planning Your Year-End Giving: Reconnecting with Your Values and Prioritizing Equity in 2025
As we approach the end of 2024, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment — not just to reflect on the year behind us but to prepare for the urgent challenges looming in 2025. An election year brings both opportunities for progress and threats to hard-won rights. It calls us to action, demanding that we stand ready to support those whose voices may be silenced and whose rights may be under siege.
With 2025 around the corner, this is the time to fortify our philanthropic strategies, ensuring they are bold, values-driven, and unwavering in their commitment to equity and justice. Now more than ever, we must reassess our giving to amplify our impact and prepare for the road ahead.
Here are three actionable steps to help you reflect on your 2024 giving and chart a purposeful course for the critical year to come.
Step 1: Reflect on Your 2024 Giving Through a Values-Based Lens
Start by revisiting the core values that guide your philanthropy. Think about the intentions you set at the beginning of 2024 and whether your actions this year aligned with those values. Did your giving reflect your commitment to equity and justice?
Reflect on questions like:
Did my giving reach communities most impacted by injustice?
How did I engage with partners and organizations this year? Did I listen deeply to understand their needs?
Are there areas where I could have gone further in redistributing resources or sharing power?
Take the time to journal your responses or discuss them with your family or team. By reflecting on where your actions aligned — and where they fell short — you can gain clarity for the year ahead.
Step 2: Assess the Impact of Your Giving and Identify Gaps
As you look back on your giving portfolio, it’s important to assess where you’ve made the most impact and where there are opportunities to expand or adjust your efforts.
Ask yourself:
What initiatives or communities received the majority of my support? Are these the areas where I feel my values are best expressed? Does this still feel like the right areas for giving in our changing environment?
Did my giving reach a range of communities and groups, or did it favor certain areas over others? Was this focus intentional?
Were there any organizations or movements I wanted to support but didn’t get around to?
An honest assessment of your giving gaps, combined with an understanding of changing needs, especially in light of election outcomes, can help you build a more inclusive strategy for 2025.
Step 3: Set Intentions and Make an Action Plan for 2025
Looking ahead to 2025, consider what you want your giving to achieve. This may include a recommitment to certain causes, an increase in unrestricted giving, or a shift toward supporting organizations that are focused on social justice, democracy, or environmental resilience.
Some ideas to help you set 2025 intentions:
Create a Giving Plan: Outline your goals, including specific organizations or areas you want to prioritize. Keep your plan flexible to allow for emerging needs.
Deepen Relationships with Grantees: Approach your partnerships with a spirit of humility and collaboration, seeking to co-create solutions with the communities you serve.
Commit to Learning: Engage in ongoing learning about equity, justice, and the unique needs of communities in 2025. Consider participating in educational sessions, joining a giving circle, or connecting with organizations that provide resources on trust-based philanthropy.
With these three steps, you can build a year-end giving strategy that honors your values and brings your actions into deeper alignment with your commitment to equity and justice. By planning intentionally, you’ll be better positioned to make a positive difference in 2025 — for yourself and the communities you care about.