How Blended Families Can Build Unity Through Purposeful Holiday Giving

What if the most meaningful gift your family gives this year doesn’t come in a box? The holidays are a great opportunity to celebrate more than just togetherness; they’re a time to pass down values like generosity, gratitude, and giving back. The holidays also offer blended families time to create new traditions that unite parents, stepparents, and children from both sides around shared values and a common purpose.

While the season is often full of gatherings and gift exchanges, weaving charitable giving into your celebrations can help ensure that the spirit of the season extends far beyond your own household. It also offers a chance to learn more about one another—what each family member cares about, the experiences that shaped those values, and the causes that feel most personal.

Here’s how to get the whole family in the giving spirit this holiday season.

Establish a Family Giving Tradition

One of the simplest ways to instill charitable values is to make giving a recurring family event. Consider picking a date to discuss giving together—just make sure it’s early enough that you have time to incorporate any action items into your to-do list before the year ends.

This tradition can be a wonderful way for blended families to build connection and a sense of shared identity. Try gathering everyone around the table and inviting each person to share a cause that reflects their background or interests. Maybe one child wants to support an animal shelter, while another feels strongly about helping families in need. Including everyone in the conversation fosters unity by reinforcing a sense of belonging for all family members.

You might be surprised by your family’s ability to identify community needs or challenges they’ve learned about in school or through personal experiences. Ask them to share why they care about certain causes or charities, and don’t be afraid to share your own stories as well. For remarried couples, this can also be a moment to reflect together on how your own upbringings and past family experiences have shaped your view of generosity.

Throughout these planning conversations, try to keep the tone light and conversational. The purpose here isn’t to boast about large dollar contributions or compare complex tax strategies. Rather, this is your opportunity to lay the groundwork for a blended family culture built on inclusion, respect, and shared purpose.

Consider Your Collective Impact

While individual giving is powerful, pooling resources as a family can help magnify your impact. You might, for example, consider creating a “family giving fund” to support one or two causes as a family. Doing so would help you make a larger collective donation than any individual family member could accomplish alone.

For blended families navigating new traditions and routines, shared giving can be a meaningful equalizer. It’s something everyone can contribute to, regardless of family history, and a way to focus on what unites rather than divides.

Shared giving traditions can also help families feel closer, even when they're miles apart. Everyone can contribute, regardless of where they live, and see their support in action, whether that’s funding a local food bank, supporting a scholarship fund, or providing relief after a natural disaster.

If some members of your blended family live in different households, volunteering together (when or if possible) can add an even deeper sense of connection. Sorting donations, wrapping gifts, or serving meals can create shared memories that bridge generations and strengthen bonds between step-siblings and extended family members. While charities could always use your financial support, many also appreciate the time and skills provided by volunteers during the holidays.

Choose Your Charitable Giving Strategy

There’s no single best way to give to charity, but some approaches may offer more flexibility, control, or tax advantages than others.

Direct Donations

Giving directly to a nonprofit is the most straightforward giving strategy available. That being said, your direct donations may come with attractive tax advantages. Donating appreciated assets directly to charity, for example, could allow you to bypass the need to sell and pay capital gains on the appreciation.. Instead, the asset goes directly to charity. This can be especially helpful for managing the tax impact of highly appreciated assets (including individual stocks and property), but as with anything involving taxes, the IRS does have rules and limits to follow, and appreciated assets are more complex than cash donations. Make sure to work with your tax advisor and financial advisor to determine the best assets to donate for your situation and goals.

If you prefer to donate cash, that’s always helpful too! Starting in 2026, you’ll be allowed to take an above-the-line deduction of up to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint filers) for charitable donations, even if you opt for the standard deduction. If you itemize for tax year 2026, you can deduct more in charitable donations than you can with the above-the-line deduction—but only for charitable giving above  0.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) floor (which starts in 2026).

Donor-Advised Funds

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a type of charitable investment account. You make a tax-deductible contribution to the fund, allow the funds to grow tax-free, and then recommend grants to your chosen charities over time.

DAFs can be especially useful if you want to maximize a year-end tax deduction while taking more time to thoughtfully select the charities you’ll support later. A DAF can even become a shared project for blended families, where each member helps research and nominate organizations to receive grants each year.

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

If you’re subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs), you can opt to donate the RMDs from your IRA directly to charity via a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). 

The amount donated counts toward fulfilling your RMDs for the year and is excluded from your taxable income.

For couples where one spouse is retired and another is still working, QCDs can also help balance tax efficiency between households while continuing to support the causes you care about together.

Create and Follow an Intentional Giving Plan

If you’re already doing a year-end financial review in December, there’s no reason not to assess your charitable goals as well. Look at your budget, evaluate your year-end tax position, and consider how much you’d like to allocate to charitable giving in the coming year.

Having these important conversations can also open the door to meaningful discussions about shared values, family history, and long-term legacy. What traditions from each side of the family do you want to carry forward? Which new ones will you build together? And how might giving back through your time, money, or service become a central part of your new family identity?

These conversations, whether with your spouse, children, or a financial advisor, can naturally lead to broader legacy topics. For example, you might want to discuss how giving could be incorporated into your estate plan (with a charitable remainder trust, for example) or whether you’d like to include a charity as one of your account beneficiary designations. 

During these year-end reviews, think about how your actions and considerations serve as a model for your young ones. Help them see what it really looks like to align money with values in an impactful way while building a legacy that blends the best of both families’ stories.

Make the Holidays More Merry and Bright

If you haven’t already, think about how to involve your family in your charitable giving this holiday season. Start with an open conversation. Ask which causes matter most to them, and look for ways to support those causes together. It’s a meaningful way to align your values and make a bigger impact.

For blended families in particular, a thoughtful charitable giving plan can help deepen connections between step-siblings and encourage new traditions as you write the next chapter of your family story together.

If you’re looking for ways to incorporate charitable giving into your broader financial plan, we can help you explore your options. Let’s talk about what might work best for you and your family this season.

Based in St. Paul, MN, Endurance Financial Group is an Independent Registered Investment Advisor partnering with blended families to combine their household finances in a unified financial plan that works for all members of the family. They can be reached by phone at 651-605-2318 or online at efg-planning.com. 

This material has been prepared in collaboration with Crystal Marketing Solutions, LLC, and has been edited with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools. The information presented is based on sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of publication. This material is for educational purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author, presenter, or affiliated organizations. It should not be construed as investment, tax, legal, or other professional advice. Always consult a qualified professional regarding your specific situation before making any decisions.