Giving at scale in the Coachella Valley
CV Giving Day is built for the everyday gift — thirty dollars or three hundred, given directly to a nonprofit you chose. Larger gifts often need different tools, and those tools already exist here.
Desert Community Foundation, the 501(c)(3) that runs CV Giving Day, administers the vehicles below. This page explains what they are. It is not a pitch: the organizations doing the work are listed in the directory, and that is where the money goes.
A donor-advised fund works like a charitable account. You contribute once, take the deduction in that tax year, and recommend grants to nonprofits over time — on your schedule rather than the calendar's. Useful when a single year's income is unusually high, or when you want to give steadily without administering a private foundation.
Giving stock, ETFs, or other appreciated assets directly — rather than selling first and donating the proceeds — generally avoids capital gains on the appreciation, so more of the position reaches the nonprofit. Commonly the most efficient way to make a substantial gift.
Bequests, beneficiary designations, and charitable trusts commit a future gift without affecting present cash flow. This is how a number of Coachella Valley organizations have been endowed.
DCF holds the funds, handles administration and compliance, and knows the Valley's nonprofit landscape well enough to help match intent to organizations. Desert Community Foundation covers all platform and processing costs for CV Giving Day. Donations, prize funds, and sponsor contributions go to participating nonprofits.
To talk it through: Mary Panesar, Executive Director, mpanesar@desertfoundation.org.
Vehicles are only half of it. 173 Coachella Valley nonprofits participated in CV Giving Day 2026 — every one with a verified profile carrying its legal name, EIN, cause, and location.
This page describes charitable giving vehicles in general terms. It is not tax or legal advice; talk to your own advisor about your situation.