Automate Donations

Cash is easy to automate: most charities run monthly supporting-member billing, and a recurring gift is worth more to them than the same total given sporadically, because it is revenue they can budget against. Appreciated securities do not automate directly — no broker transfers shares to a charity on a standing instruction — so the automation layer is a donor advised fund (DAF) (section “Use Donor Advised Funds (DAF)”): fund the account with low-basis shares once or twice a year, take the deduction on the funding, and let scheduled grant recommendations pay the charities monthly. You get the securities treatment and the charities get the steady stream.