Giving Today, Giving Later Details

What if the same tools that help you provide for your family could also transform your community?

Join us for a free community education event on October 14th at The Rialto. This event will explore the many ways to give, both now and for generations to come. This event brings together a nationally recognized estate planning expert, a local foundation leader, and the voices of a donor and nonprofit partner who live out these strategies every day.

Giving Now: Donor Advised Funds
Bridget Wilkinson, President & CEO, One Valley Community Foundation

Bridget opens the program with a practical look at Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), one of the fastest-growing tools in charitable giving. She'll explain what a DAF is, how it works, the tax advantages it offers, and how you can open one right here in Gallatin County. You'll also learn how a DAF can serve as a flexible bridge between giving today and building a lasting legacy tomorrow.

Giving Later: Ingenious Ways to Create a Legacy for Your Favorite Nonprofit and Family
Dr. Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist

If you think legacy planning is a boring topic, then you haven't attended a presentation by Dr. Marsha Goetting. She has a reputation across the state for making legacy and estate planning genuinely interesting — engaging the room with live audience response clickers and her signature blend of Montana wildflowers and estate planning wisdom.

Dr. Goetting will share eight creative ways to build a living legacy during your lifetime or leave a lasting one after death, for both loved ones and community — including which tools can fund a Donor Advised Fund and which cannot. In 2025 alone, she presented 62 legacy planning programs to more than 5,600 Montanans, and she is a Professor and Extension Family Economics Specialist at Montana State University.

Legacy Giving in Action
A nonprofit grantee partner and a One Valley donor

Numbers and tax benefits only tell part of the story. To close out the program, you'll hear firsthand from a local nonprofit leader on what this kind of support makes possible in our community — and from a One Valley donor on why they've chosen to give this way. Their stories bring the strategies to life.

Where to Go Next

We'll wrap up with information on how to take your next step, followed by a Q&A session where you can ask Dr. Goetting, Bridget, and our panelists your own questions.