Ways to Give
The Foundation exists to help people – people like you – support the causes and communities you care about. We offer many charitable giving tools that you can use to make your giving easier, save you more in taxes, and help you do more good for your favorite causes or for your entire community. Working with the Foundation to achieve your goals will allow you to benefit from expert advice, deep community connections, professional investment management, and streamlined administration.
You’ll find many more details farther down this page, but please always feel free to simply contact us with questions or to schedule a time to meet. The Foundation staff will always treat our conversations with you as confidential and will never try to persuade you to make a donation or put you on a mailing list.
Funds
The primary tool that the Foundation offers is Funds, which come in many different types. You can either create and donate to your own Fund that is set up just the way you want and named what you want (see Types of Funds) or contribute to a specific fund at BMCF that already exists.
How the Foundation Can Help You
Below are sections of information that explain many of the details of how the Foundation can help you. Click on the arrow or empty space next to a headline to open or close that section. The information below is not exhaustive. As of July 2026 as we build out a new website, the sections below are still under construction. Please contact us if you don’t see the information you are looking for or have questions!
Giving is a great way to make a positive difference but knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. Whether you want to support a favorite nonprofit, involve your family in your giving, create a legacy, or respond to emerging community needs, Blue Mountain Community Foundation can help.
We take the time to understand what matters most to you and the difference you want your giving to make. Through thoughtful conversations, we help clarify your charitable priorities, identify causes that align with your values, and explore giving options that fit your goals.
You do not need to have all the answers. Our team can help you:
- Define the causes and issues you care about most
- Explore opportunities to support your community
- Involve family members in your giving plans
- Help you craft a giving plan that reflects your values
- Choose the giving vehicle that best meets your objectives
Whether you’re just getting started or refining a long-term vision, we’re here to help you create a giving plan that reflects what matters most to you.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to giving. The best giving strategy depends on your personal values, financial goals, and the difference you hope to make. Our team will help you understand your options, simplify the process, and build a plan that works for you.
Your estate plans offer a chance for you to provide for the people you love while also supporting the causes and community you care about. By including a charitable gift through your will, trust, retirement account, or other assets, you can ensure your values live on.
A few examples of ways to include a gift through your Estate Plan include:
- Naming specific nonprofit organizations to receive gifts in your will or trust
- Setting up a charitable fund through your estate
- Naming a charitable beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy
- Creating an endowed fund to support causes you care about forever
- Providing future scholarship opportunities for students
- Adding to an existing BMCF Fund to address changing community needs
Our team can help you understand the options and work with your attorney, accountant, and financial advisor to build a plan that works for you.
Are you unsure where to direct your giving? We can help.
Our team knows the nonprofits and programs making a difference across our region. We’ll help you learn about the causes you care about and connect you with organizations that align with your values and charitable goals.
Whether you’re passionate about education, the arts, health, youth programs, animal welfare, the environment, or helping families, we can introduce you to opportunities to make a meaningful difference.
We’re here to help you find the causes and organizations that matter most to you.
Your charitable giving doesn’t have to be limited by geography. Whether you want to support a local nonprofit, respond to national needs, or give to causes around the globe, we can help.
Through a fund at BMCF, you can recommend grants to qualified charitable organizations, near or far. We handle all of the details, making it easy to support the causes you care about wherever they are.
When you give through BMCF, you join a community of people who care about giving back. We’ll invite you to events, educational seminars, and social gatherings, where you can connect with donors, volunteers, nonprofit leaders, and community members who share your commitment to strengthening the Blue Mountain region. We can help you build relationships, learn from others, and find inspiration through what others are doing to make a difference.
With BMCF, making a difference can be easier than you think. When you’re ready to give, we’re ready to help.
Whether you know exactly what you want to do or need help exploring your options, our team can help make giving simple, meaningful, and rewarding. We can help you choose options that fit your goals and handle the administrative details, so you can focus on the joy of giving and the difference you want to make.
Many families want to create a lasting tradition of giving but don’t want the costs, paperwork, and administrative responsibilities that often come with starting a private foundation.
BMCF offers a simple and affordable alternative. Through a donor-advised fund or other charitable fund, you can involve your family in giving, support the causes you care about, and build a shared legacy without the burden of managing a private foundation.
We’ll handle the administration, compliance, and grant processing so you can focus on what matters most: giving together and making a difference.
Giving together can be a meaningful family experience. If you’d like, BMCF can help involve your children or grandchildren through family giving conversations, visits with local nonprofits, volunteer projects, community events, and opportunities to help choose the causes and organizations to support.
Planning your legacy is an act of care, and many people ask whether BMCF can serve in a formal role as part of their estate plan. The answer is:yes, in some cases.
BMCF’s Board may approve BMCF to serve as executor of your will or trustee of your living trust when the arrangement aligns with our mission and our ability to honor your wishes.
If you are interested in BMCF serving as your Executor or Trustee, please contact Kol Medina, JD, at kol@bluemountainfoundation.org.
A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) can help you support the causes you care about while providing income for you or your loved ones during your lifetime.
By donating cash, appreciated stock, real estate, or other tangible assets to a trust, you can receive income payments for your lifetime or for a set number of years. When the trust ends, the remaining assets support the charitable organizations or funds you choose.
A CRT can potentially reduce capital gains taxes on appreciated assets or simplify the sale of certain assets. BMCF can work with you and your professional advisors to explore whether a CRT is right for you.
Giving with us is easy and rewarding, for both the donor and the gift recipient. Here are the different options you have when it comes to helping make a difference in our communities:
Online giving
You can make a gift via our secure website.
The Foundation welcomes your online donation. In order to maintain the full amount of your gift, you may wish to add 2.9 to 3 percent to your donation to cover credit card fees so that 100 percent of the amount you intend to give is actually received.
Checks
Please mail checks to:
Blue Mountain Community Foundation
P.O. Box 603
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Stocks
Please contact us about making a stock donation. We will send you the details of the required information for making a successful stock transfer. When planning your stock donation, please keep in mind that it can take up to a week for the conversion process to be final.
We also take gifts such as:
Cash, treasury notes, wires, or real property, art, cars, crypto, etc.
Please contact us for help setting up any of these gift options.
Each individual, family, or organization we work with has unique charitable interests and unique financial circumstances. We help you make the most of both, so you receive the greatest return on your community investment. The Foundation’s staff include an attorney who can talk with you about all of the details of your charitable goals, current assets, and estate goals and give you advice on how to best structure your giving now, throughout your life, and through your estate to maximize your tax savings and your gifts to nonprofits. Our staff can not be your attorney and will always suggest you consult with your own attorney.
Outright gift
You can make a gift of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets to the Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF). Your gift qualifies for the maximum charitable benefit under state and federal law. Our staff can explain how different types of donations provide different types of tax benefits.
Bequest
You can designate a gift or portion of your estate to the BMCF and likely receive a substantial reduction in federal gift and estate taxes. Again, our staff can talk with you about how to best incorporate charitable giving into your estate plan. “Best” means achieve your charitable goals and maximize your tax savings.
Charitable Trusts and Gift Annuities
Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Lead Trusts, and Charitable Gift Annuities can provide some of the best tax benefits. For people in the right situation and with the right charitable goals, these giving tools are immensely beneficial. Are staff can explain how to best use these tools.