it's not for everyone, but we use a Donor Advised Fund for anonymous giving:
https://www.schwabcharitable.org/public/charitable/home
You donate the money to a nonprofit run by Schwab, and then later you can tell them to donate it to any tax-deductible nonprofit, one time or on a schedule, and to either include your name with the gift or not.
We like it for (a) commitment (it's easier to set a goal to give X% of your income if you can just fire off one check every month) (b) simpler taxes (c) anonymity (d) fun (it feels fancy, I guess).
Fees and convenience are both kind of a wash -- it's cheaper than credit card fees, and it's nice having one place to manage donations, but the interface is pretty clunky.
Downsides are the high (for us) initial buyin, hassle of initial paperwork, and being limited to tax-deductible recipients. I definitely think someone could build a better interface around the idea of online banking for donations.
https://www.schwabcharitable.org/public/charitable/home
You donate the money to a nonprofit run by Schwab, and then later you can tell them to donate it to any tax-deductible nonprofit, one time or on a schedule, and to either include your name with the gift or not.
We like it for (a) commitment (it's easier to set a goal to give X% of your income if you can just fire off one check every month) (b) simpler taxes (c) anonymity (d) fun (it feels fancy, I guess).
Fees and convenience are both kind of a wash -- it's cheaper than credit card fees, and it's nice having one place to manage donations, but the interface is pretty clunky.
Downsides are the high (for us) initial buyin, hassle of initial paperwork, and being limited to tax-deductible recipients. I definitely think someone could build a better interface around the idea of online banking for donations.