Your first call for all things charitable

These days, it may seem old-fashioned to pick up the phone, but the knowledge and support of the Community Foundation are just a call away. How can we help?

This month, we’re carefully watching the proposed IRS regulations related to donor-advised funds. The proposed rules, first issued in November 2023, have been the subject of conversation within financial and estate planning circles, and our CEO Frank Fernandez testified on Capitol Hill May 6 to highlight concerns that these rules could reduce charitable giving.

We’ll keep you posted on those rules as they move toward final status. In the meantime, we’d love to share a few examples of when and why the team at the Community Foundation should be your first call when you’re presented with a client’s charitable giving question or opportunity.

Caution before exit: As you work with clients who own closely-held stock and who are charitably inclined, please give us a call well before the client starts down the path of an exit. A gift of closely-held stock to a private foundation creates a vastly different tax result than a gift of closely-held stock to a fund at the Community Foundation. The Community Foundation is a public charity with all of the tax benefits that go along with that status, even while serving as an “umbrella” for individuals’ and families’ funds.

Planning in all seasons: A focus on tax savings isn’t just for tax season or year-end. Whether you’re meeting with a client in winter, spring, summer, or fall, our team can help you spot an opportunity to activate charitable giving techniques that both deliver tax benefits and achieve a client’s philanthropic goals. We’d be happy to join you in a meeting with a client to review their historical charitable gifts and dive deeper into their intentions to give during their lifetimes and even leave a legacy.

Portfolio awareness: If you’re a financial advisor, you’ve certainly made it a practice to advise your clients about asset allocation. But when you talk with clients about short-term cash needs, do you ask about their charitable giving plans? A client who is planning to make a major gift to charity–of which you are unaware–could potentially disrupt a portfolio’s overall asset allocation. The Community Foundation can help you structure a client’s gift to charity so that the client does not need to prematurely divest from non-cash positions.

Bottom line, please consider the Community Foundation team as your “go to” resource for philanthropy. We’d love to be your first call whenever you encounter an issue that relates to charitable giving. Indeed, most of the time, the Community Foundation can provide an effective and efficient solution for your client with one phone call. And if we can’t, we can point you and your client in the right direction.