The TrustBridge network recently celebrated the largest quarter of cross-border grants in its history. Our network members continue to address global challenges and serve donors as they seek to fully fund the mission of the charities they love to support. As we celebrate together, we are also preparing for the future. On August 1, the TrustBridge leadership team is expanding with the addition of Jim Rich as Vice President.

More than twelve months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many nonprofit organizations are still struggling to recover. However, DAF donors stepped up, sometimes making large and critical grants to support their favorite charities and others that addressed essential needs in the spring and summer. Gifts through Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) increased by more than 29 percent in the first half of 2020, in large part due to intensified philanthropic engagement around the pandemic.

An estimated $59 trillion in wealth will be inherited by Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Millennials (also known as Generation Y, born between 1981 and 1995) from their aging Baby Boomer parents and grandparents by 2061. Experts predict that their unprecedented resources, both earned and inherited, combined with their visible interest in innovative ways to address global challenges will make them the most significant donors in history.

There are myriad reasons to give generously to a good cause. Your donations make it possible for nonprofit organizations to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. Your financial support delivers medicine to cure the sick and prevents disease. Your contributions educate and train people to lift them out of abject poverty. Your acts of kindness are helping to make the world a better place.

What if there was a way to increase your donation’s impact, a strategy that would yield a more significant benefit for both the charity and you? Well, there is: donating stock. Stock donations to charity provide advantages that make it a tax-smart way to give, yet many people don’t consider it an option for charitable giving.

Just down the street from my house is the historic home and office of the first female physician in the state of Georgia, Leila Denmark. She’s a little famous around here, not only for the great accomplishment of becoming a doctor in a time when women didn’t do that, but also because of the many lives she impacted and how long she lived.

The numbers are impressive. People donated nearly USD 835 billion in cross-border philanthropy in 2018, USD 658 billion from private sources. Globally, one billion volunteers donated their time and energy to charities. Why do people donate their money and time? Is it because we’re inherently kind? Or, are we fundamentally greedy and only give because we have ulterior motives or expect reciprocity?

Bitcoin, Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies have risen substantially over the past one to two years - and many investors have made large gains. With needs greater than ever this year, charities worldwide are hopeful that end-of-year giving will enable them to serve the world’s most vulnerable people. Donors can help charitable organizations reach those goals while saving money by donating Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies.

Conflicts and wars, natural disasters, and shortages of natural resources have always created worldwide suffering. While exact numbers are unknown, the pandemic has had a significant impact on global poverty, moving an estimated 49 million people into extreme poverty. The situation has put a tremendous strain on nonprofit organizations that provide support for those populations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs released guidance indicating that FCRA-Registered nonprofits have until March 31, 2021 to open the new designated FCRA bank account. Nonprofits do not need to visit the State Bank in Delhi to open this account. TrustBridge will continue grantmaking to Indian charities through existing bank accounts in this transition period.