Giving
Explore ways to meet your charitable goals.
Our Promise Why Partner With SDCF?
You care about South Dakota, and want to give back to the communities that gave so much to you. When partnering with SDCF, we ensure your charitable donations satisfy your philanthropic goals while doing the most possible good for South Dakota.
There are many reasons to partner with us:
- Lasting. Our investment strategies enable your charitable donations to have an impact for years to come.
- Trust. Gifts will always be administered in accordance with your wishes.
- Experience. Our professional staff and board of directors will work hard for you and our state.
- Effectiveness. Pooling gifts with other funds at the SDCF allows for opportunities to generate a higher rate of return on your planned giving—allowing it to reach more people.
- Flexibility. You can make charitable giving happen at any time to nonprofits, communities, and local causes of your choice.
- Recognition. Unless you choose to be anonymous, your name will be honored.
- Tax Advantage. You'll receive the maximum tax benefit from a gift to an endowment fund with SDCF.
Giving for Good Strengthen South Dakota with Your Gifts
Explore ways to invest in South Dakota through your charitable donations by using our fund search tool below. Have questions? Our expert team is happy to help you find the exact charitable giving opportunity you're looking for.
You can donate a variety of assets to benefit others. What to Give
Cash, check or credit card are great ways to benefit your favorite nonprofits through SDCF.
There’s more to philanthropy than cash. Giving various types of assets can have different kinds of tax benefits in addition to supporting your favorite charities.
- Stocks and bonds: Donating securities offers an income tax deduction and can save capital gains taxes.
- Land: Whether it’s farmland, commercial property, or undeveloped land, gifts of land can save capital gains taxes as well as offer a tax deduction. In addition, learn more below about Growing for Good, our program in which SDCF will manage your gift of land.
- Real Estate: For many people, their home or vacation property is their most valuable asset and can make a significant gift as it offers tax savings. You can even make a charitable gift your home and retain the right to live in it.
- Commodities: Donating farm crops offers a way to save taxes by reducing income.
- Personal Property: Whether it’s an art collection or baseball card collection, personal property can make a uniquely beneficial charitable gift.
- Other property: Business interests, mineral rights, and other kinds of property can make excellent gifts.
Invest in South Dakota's rich soil and building developments for generations. Our Growing For Good program allows landowners to gift land and other types of real estate to nonprofits benefit the landowner and surrounding communities.
Benefits of Growing for Good
- Tax deductions are maximized.
- Capital gains tax is reduced or eliminated.
- Local communities benefit through continued tax revenue and farm operations.
How Growing for Good works
- Evaluate Tax Implications
The land of many South Dakotans has a very low-cost basis and selling it often generates significant capital gains tax. Gifting a portion of land to charitable interests through the SDCF allows the landowner to reduce or effectively eliminate capital gains and estate tax - Consider Gifting Options
Each donor’s situation is different, but several land gifting options exist, including:- Make an immediate or deferred gift of land.
- Allow SDCF to sell your gift of land. The sale proceeds are added to your endowed fund and a percentage is distributed to charities annually.
- Choose SDCF to hold and manage your gift of land. A portion of the land’s net income will be distributed to the nonprofits you recommend each year.
- Retain a life estate in land by gifting a piece of property but continue to receive a stream of income off that property throughout your lifetime
- Produce in Perpetuity
You have focused on yielding a harvest your entire life. By gifting land through Growing for Good, that production, and your legacy, does not end. Your land will continue to provide for others as proceeds from the sale of your land or annual net income benefits the charitable interests you and your family care about, forever.
Contact our team to learn more about land and real estate giving.
Create Your Legacy Plan Your Gift
Bequests (wills), life insurance, charitable trusts and gift annuities are only a few ways to plan your giving and make a difference for your favorite nonprofits.
Ways to Give
We work to honor your charitable giving wishes. We also offer a variety of endowment fund types for your consideration. Interested in creating an endowment to benefit your favorite charities? Please contact us.
Agency endowment funds provide an ongoing revenue stream to support a nonprofit or academic institution's mission. Agency endowment funds allow nonprofits to lessen administrative tasks, realize greater earning potential, and advance their mission long into the future.
Agency endowment funds are created by a nonprofit organization, but donors can make gifts to support their work. SD Community Foundation allows you to donate with confidence: all donations are tax deductible, and the nonprofit agency is the sole recipient of your donation.
Is your nonprofit interested in establishing an agency endowment? Contact us.
A Community Savings Account (CSA), or community foundation, provides financial support to charitable and nonprofit purposes in a specific community. CSAs are permanently endowed to meet basic needs and enhance the quality of life for its residents.
All CSAs have a local board of directors who raise and distribute funds. All funds raised in your community stay in your community to support the goals of the place you call home.
Make an online donation to an existing Community Savings Account (CSA).
Designated funds benefit specific charitable organizations selected by donors when establishing the fund. This type of fund is perfect for donors who are passionate about supporting specific organizations.
Benefits of designated funds:
- No need to write annual checks to the same organization
- Donors may be eligible for a larger tax deduction
- SDCF team will file and manage grant, audit, and government reports
Make an online donation to an existing designated fund. Or contact us to establish your own.
Field of interest funds benefit areas of interest, specific issues, populations, or geographic areas that interest the donor without identifying individual organizations to receive the award.
With field of interest funds, donations are flexible but dedicated to the cause of the donor's choice. Gifts adapt to benefit the organizations that will have the most impact on a specific field of interest.
Make an online donation to an existing field of interest fund. Or contact us to establish your own.
Scholarship funds benefit South Dakota high school graduates pursuing higher education. Donors can define specific areas of focus for the scholarship and application parameters. Donors can also help select the students who will receive the scholarship.
Benefits of donating to a scholarship fund:
- Donors define specific area of focus, application parameters, and ultimately students who will receive the scholarship.
- SDCF team handles paperwork necessary to comply with federal regulations governing scholarship distributions.
- SDCF team issues scholarship checks to higher education institutions.
Make an online donation to an existing scholarship fund. Or contact us to establish your own.
The South Dakota Fund exists to quickly meet vital and emerging needs within our communities. As the state continues to change and encounter new challenges, gifts to the South Dakota Fund are directed to the area of greatest need.
A grant program was established to award nonprofits across the state with funds to continue their work, and our own board of directors chooses recipients based on needs. Learn if your nonprofit's project is eligible for a South Dakota Fund Grant.
Make an online donation to the South Dakota Fund, or contact us to learn about other donation options (checks, commodities, stocks, land, etc.)
Donor advised funds allow donors the flexibility to recommend nonprofit organizations of their choice to be considered for grants each year.
Benefits of donor advised funds:
- Gifts are tax deductible, and because the fund is housed in a public charity, donors receive the maximum tax deduction available.
- Avoid excise taxes and other restrictions imposed on private foundations.
- Operational efficiencies, including staffing costs, legal costs, or costs to establish the fund.
- SDCF team will file and manage grant, audit, and government reports.
Make an online donation to an existing donor advised fund. Or contact us to establish your own.
Want to learn more? Contact the development officer in your area. Contact Us
Jeff Veltkamp
Director of Development, MBA, CFRE, CGPAJeff is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and Certified Gift Planning Associate (CGPA) with a deep-seated passion for translating donors' charitable visions into tangible realities. Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Jeff serves as the Director of Development for the South Dakota Community Foundation. In this role, he collaborates with donors, advisors, nonprofits and communities in the southeast region to bring philanthropy to life for a stronger South Dakota.
Prior to his current position, Jeff served as the Executive Director of the USF Foundation at the University of Sioux Falls, where he guided multimillion-dollar campaigns for endowments, programs, and infrastructure. His dedication to philanthropy was preceded by six years as a retail manager at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply, where he honed his leadership and customer service skills in Montana and Washington State.
Raised on a Montana ranch, Jeff has a passion for the outdoors and eagerly seizes any chance to immerse himself in nature. He’s a graduate of the University of Sioux Falls with both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Business Administration, where his involvement in the Cross Country and Track programs further enriched his collegiate experience.
Beth Massa
Director for Foundation Relations, CFREBeth Massa joined the South Dakota Community Foundation team in 2015. In her role as Regional Director for Foundation Relations, she is responsible for building, managing and maintaining relationships and events in support of the SDCF’s many programs and grant initiatives. Based out of Rapid City, she brings together stakeholders throughout western South Dakota to address issues by implementing local solutions. She enjoys working with donors, professional advisors and nonprofit partners to make charitable visions a reality.
Beth grew up at Fort Meade/Sturgis and graduated from Texas Lutheran University. She is a graduate of Leadership South Dakota and earned the CFRE certification in 2019. Prior to her work with the SDCF, she held leadership positions with Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, Native American Environmental, and the McKie Automotive Group.
In addition to her responsibilities at the Foundation, she is an active community member serving as the Board Chair for the Sanford Underground Research Facility Foundation, Thrivent Financial Strategy team, Past President of the SD Chapter of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), Past President of the West River Estate and Financial Planners, and the South Dakota Nonprofit Network,
She and her husband Mark have two grown sons.
Jamie Farmen
Community Development Coordinator & Marketing Manager, CFREJamie has been with South Dakota Community Foundation since 2017. She received Certified Fund Raising Executive accreditation in 2023. Based in Pierre, she works with the Foundation's Community Savings Accounts by assisting local Advisory Councils in their efforts to create a legacy for their area. In the central part of the state, she works with donors, nonprofits and communities to reach their philanthropic goals. Jamie also manages the Foundation's marketing efforts to increase awareness of its mission across the state.
Jamie grew up near the South Dakota Badlands on her parents’ cattle and wheat ranch. She is a University of Wyoming graduate.
Growing up in a rural area, she understands the importance of community to South Dakota’s citizens. Jamie is grateful to contribute to SDCF's mission of bringing philanthropy to life for a stronger South Dakota.
Patrick Gallagher
Community Development CoordinatorIn March 2020, Patrick Gallagher joined South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) as Community Development Coordinator for the northeast region of the state. Based in Aberdeen, he works with donors, communities, nonprofits, and financial advisors in understanding how the SDCF strengthens South Dakota, today and for future generations.
Gallagher works directly with SDCF’s regional community savings account partners, including the Aberdeen Area Community Foundation (AACF), as well as area nonprofits and individuals. In addition, his work includes a partnership with the Knight Foundation in soliciting grants for their endowment fund benefitting the Aberdeen community.
Pat grew up in Redfield and attended the University of Notre Dame. After college, he lived in the Washington, D.C. area for about 15 years and worked in educational communications and nonprofit public relations. In 1998, he returned to South Dakota to live in Aberdeen. He worked as the Development Officer for the Aberdeen Catholic School System for more than 17 years, where he assisted donors in meeting their goals of supporting the school system through estate gifts, capital gifts, scholarships, and other methods. Prior to coming to SDCF, he served as Resource Development Director for GROW South Dakota for four years, obtaining grants and other funding to support its community development mission.
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