​The word “endowment” can be intimidating, even for the most seasoned fundraising and planned giving professionals–and certainly for donors! But it doesn’t have to be that way. “Endowment” is such an important concept to secure your organization’s future, and it’s worth striving to simplify the basic points for your team and your donors.  
 
Here are answers to five frequently-asked questions about your endowment fund at the Community Foundation that may help you communicate with your staff, board, and donors. Please copy, paste, edit, and deploy as you wish! 
 
What does “endowment” mean?
“Endowment” refers to a designated pool of assets that are invested (in our organization’s case, by the Community Foundation) and tracked separately such that a modest portion (usually based on a percentage) of the assets are distributed each year to support our organization’s mission, and the rest of the assets remain invested to grow in perpetuity. 
 
Why is our endowment fund so important to the future of our organization?
The assets set aside in our endowment fund produce an income stream that helps support our mission now and in the decades ahead, allowing us to deliver on our mission consistently over time, especially as needs shift and the fundraising environment ebbs and flows. Plus, the growth of the endowment itself can provide increasing levels of support each year. 
 
How can donors stay involved even after they make an endowment gift?
Our team is happy to keep donors informed about the positive change in the community that is occurring thanks to distributions from the endowment fund. We’re happy to continue to keep a donor’s children and grandchildren informed, too, beyond a donor’s lifetime. In this way, a donor’s legacy continues through the generations. 
  
Who decides how the endowment distributions get used each year?
Our organization’s board of directors reviews endowment income each year as part of a careful budget process. It’s very clear that certain dollars are flowing into the budget from endowment income. Our independent board of directors, together with staff, develops and oversees a budget to meet our organization’s mission for the coming year.
 
How can a donor make an endowment gift?
A donor certainly may transfer cash to the endowment fund. Even better for tax purposes, a donor can transfer appreciated stock or real estate. A donor can also work with estate planning and financial advisors to structure a bequest to the endowment fund. Our team works with the professionals at the Community Foundation to help each donor design a gift to achieve both the donor’s tax goals and charitable giving goals. For instance, many advisors highly recommend a bequest through an IRA beneficiary designation because of the multiple tax benefits. Related, if a donor is over 70 ½, making a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” from an IRA directly to our organization’s endowment fund is a very effective charitable planning tool to reduce income tax and, if applicable, also satisfy Required Minimum Distributions.
 
The Community Foundation team looks forward to working with you and your donors to establish meaningful endowment gifts that support your organization’s mission for generations to come. Thank you for the opportunity to work together!
 
This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

​“You can’t make old friends” isn’t just the title of an album; it’s an important reminder that long-term relationships are the key to successful endowment building. That’s common sense, of course, but sometimes it’s hard to put this principle into action. You’re ready now to grow your endowment fund at the Community Foundation, and you wish your donors shared your sense of urgency! 
 
There are no silver bullets or magic tricks or secret sauces to make donor relationships grow faster, but it might help to understand how your donors’ emotions factor into decision-making about when–and to what extent–they will make a financial commitment to your endowment. 
 
Along those lines, the team at the Community Foundation really enjoyed a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review offering suggestions for ways to approach philanthropy so that it is “relational,” including thinking in terms of "we" instead of "us” or “them" and moving away from hierarchical models achieving impact. 
 
As you update your endowment-building plans, consider three ideas inspired by principles of relational philanthropy. 
 
Focus on donor loyalty and trust
Keep an eye toward creating long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with donors. Trust fosters donor loyalty, encouraging recurring and more substantial contributions over time, which is crucial to ultimately securing an endowment gift. To achieve this, you need to understand what benefits the donor is seeking by supporting your organization. Is it recognition? The knowledge that they’re part of something bigger than themselves? Confidence that a problem they’ve personally wrestled with will be solved for others? The donor’s perspective matters.
 
Inspire donor advocacy
It’s one thing for donors to feel personally connected to your organization. It’s an entirely bigger thing for them to become advocates. When a donor is so dedicated to your mission that they actively encourage their friends and family to also support your organization, you know you’ve got a friend for life. Asking this type of donor for a commitment to your endowment is likely to achieve a high rate of success. Pay close attention to which donors are regularly referring new donors to your organization, whether by offering up prospect names directly or inviting prospects to join the donor’s table at your organization’s annual event. 
 
Know your audience
Large-scale communications platforms such as email campaigns, social media, and your website are important tools in all fundraising activities, including securing endowment gifts. An endowment gift is a big ask, though, so make sure to layer in highly personal outreach to your donors, in addition to general messaging. One-by-one communication across channels allows you to demonstrate your organization’s understanding of donors' individual preferences for their involvement.
 
As always, please reach out to the Community Foundation anytime you have questions about best practices for growing your endowment fund. If your organization has not yet established its endowment fund at the Community Foundation and you’d like to learn more, we’d welcome the opportunity to talk with your team and board of directors. We look forward to continuing to work side-by-side to improve the quality of life in our community through the power of philanthropy. 
​
This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

As you implement strategies to attract gifts to your endowment fund at the Community Foundation, it’s critical to regularly encourage donors to check their estate plans to be sure they’ve incorporated their intended bequests. Now is an especially good time to get the word out because August is national Make-A-Will Month.
 
Here are three cut-and-paste messages you can use in your communications with donors, whether those are broad communications such as website pages or one-on-one emails to particular donors.  
 

• Money, mortality, and family relationships can be tough for anyone to address head on, and when you combine them, it’s no wonder so many people put off setting up or updating their estate plans. Don’t delay! Reviewing your wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations not only gives you peace of mind, but also lets you explore ways to include a bequest to [ABC Charity]’s endowment fund at the Community Foundation. Please reach out. We’d love to work with you and your advisors to establish a legacy that will benefit the community for years to come. We’re so grateful for everything you do to help [ABC Charity]’s mission stay strong. 

• As you work with your attorney and other advisors, be sure to review the beneficiary designations on your insurance policies and retirement plans. Pay close attention to tax-deferred retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs. Typically, you’ll name your spouse as the primary beneficiary of these accounts to provide income following your death and to comply with legal requirements. But as you and your advisors evaluate whom to name as a secondary beneficiary of these tax-deferred accounts, don’t automatically default to naming your children or your revocable trust. You and your advisors may determine that naming [ABC Charity]’s endowment fund at the Community Foundation is the most tax-efficient, streamlined way to establish a philanthropic legacy. A bequest like this avoids not only estate tax, but also income tax on the retirement plan distributions. Reach out to learn more! ​

• We’ve all heard stories about the sad consequences of someone not having an estate plan, or even having out-of-date beneficiary designations. Estate planning documents, including wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations, often represent generous acts of clear distribution and conflict avoidance for your family and loved ones. An estate plan allows you to demonstrate how much you care about the people in your life as well as your charitable passions. We’d love to work with you and your advisors to include [ABC Charity]’s endowment fund in your estate plan.

 
As always, please reach out to the team at the Community Foundation! We are here to help you build your endowment fund. We appreciate the opportunity to work with organizations like yours that are making such a big difference in the quality of life in our community. 
 
This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

I have always been actively involved in the communities in which I have lived over the years and understand the importance of working together towards common goals. Having spent nearly three decades in health care leadership roles, I have a full appreciation of the problems that arise from a lack of resources and community support - especially as it relates to social determinants of health. I believe a strong, healthy community is critical to the success of the population served and community boards, such as the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Region, are instrumental to success. 

When I first learned about the Community Foundation, I was immediately drawn to their focus on strengthening our community by connecting people who care with causes that matter. I have great appreciation for the “grass roots” approach to making investments and continue to be impressed by the work taking place in our community as a result of their efforts. I am proud to be on the Board and enjoy being a part of an organization that truly makes a difference in the lives of others every day. ​

​The Grand Forks Public Schools Summer Performing Arts Company (SPA) has just completed its 37th season. 1,153 area students participated in SPA this summer – a record-breaking year of enrollment.

SPA offers various Fine Arts programs for students of all ages and abilities. Programs vary in length and curriculum depending on the age group, and all culminate in a performance opportunity.

• Pre-K and Elementary students participate in a workshop of creative dramatics, theatre games, and movement exercises.
• Middle School students have a workshop-style program that focuses on drama, movement, and vocal music.
• High School students work on stage and behind the scenes on main stage musical productions.
• Bands on the Red is a three-week band program that focuses on lighter music like movie themes, show tunes, and marches.
• MySPA is an Arts opportunity developed for students with special needs or challenges. It focuses on a variety of creative expression including drama, music, movement, literature and visual arts.
• SPA provides guest artists in various disciplines to work with Multilingual students taking Summer School. In addition, vocal and instrumental lessons are offered as well.  

Our High School mainstage productions this summer were “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Grease”. We were fortunate to have full houses for all of our performances, and we are grateful for the community support.

Because SPA has gained so much community support through the years, we feel it is important to give back to the community that is so generous to us. This summer, we hosted a spare change drive to benefit the Grand Forks Foundation for Education Giving Tree and the Santa Claus Girls – two programs that help many area children and students. The Giving Tree helps Grand Forks Public Schools students and their families by providing a pantry stocked with critical items such as personal care products, essential household items, school supplies, snacks, and more. The Santa Claus Girls provide a gift bag that includes a toy, candy, reading book, coloring book/crayons, toothbrush and toothpaste, hat, gloves, and socks to children aged 12 and under from low-income families during the holiday season.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the SPA program is that no student has ever been turned away from participation due to financial hardship. Because of private donations and grant programs such as those offered through the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, and Region, we were able to assist 110 students this summer. Post-COVID, the requests for assistance have steadily increased. The number of extreme hardship cases has increased as well. Though Arts education is the primary focus of the program, we recognize the importance of providing a safe and positive environment for our students.  In some cases, SPA may be one of the only safe spaces some students may encounter outside of the school year. Supporting all students’ mental health and social well-being is critical.
​
All in all, 2024 was a tremendous season for SPA. We thank everyone for their continued support to ensure that all of our students shine brightly on stage and behind the scenes.

We’re hearing from more and more attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors that your clients are expressing interest in giving real estate to charity. This is wonderful news! 
 
You’re certainly aware that gifts of real estate to a fund at the Community Foundation, just like gifts of other long-term capital assets, can be extremely tax-efficient. That’s because your client is typically eligible for a charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the property. Because the Community Foundation is a public charity, when it sells the donated property, the proceeds will flow into the fund free from capital gains tax. 
 
To achieve the best tax outcome and overall charitable result, though, it’s critical to undertake a careful process along the general lines of the following (depending of course on the specific situation):
 

• First, you’ll need to determine that the real estate is a long-term capital asset (held for more than one year). That may sound obvious, but we’ve talked with advisors and their clients in the past about a potential gift of real estate and it turned out that the property was only recently purchased. The fair market value deduction (versus cost basis deduction) is available only for a long-term capital asset. 

•  Next, you’ll want to work with the team at the Community Foundation to structure a donor-advised or other type of fund to receive the asset, if your client does not already have a fund in place. The deductibility rules are different for real estate gifts to a public charity (such as a community foundation fund) versus a private foundation. Again, clients may not be aware of the pitfalls here. Sometimes we meet with advisors whose clients are very close to transferring real estate to a private foundation, which could be devastating in terms of missed tax savings. 

• You’ll need to verify that the property is not subject to a mortgage or other debt. Transferring encumbered property triggers important considerations with potentially significant tax consequences. The lender might not even allow a transfer in the first place. If you’re dealing with commercial property, you’ll also need to check to be sure that the property is not subject to “recapture” if your client has previously taken depreciation deductions. 

• You will need to determine whether the property produces income and discuss this with the Community Foundation. Income-producing real estate can potentially trigger “UBIT” (unrelated business income tax) for the Community Foundation. Although there are exceptions and strategies to minimize UBIT’s impact, it’s important that this issue be dealt with up front. 

• You may need to work with the Community Foundation to determine whether an environmental audit is required for the property. 

• Verify that the client has not entered into any discussions about an imminent sale of the property. Even if the Community Foundation will sell the property shortly after receipt (so that the proceeds can flow into the donor-advised or other fund to support the client’s favorite causes), your client cannot have pre-arranged this sale. Doing so could trigger the IRS’s step transaction doctrine and wipe out the tax deduction.

• Importantly, ensure that the client obtains a qualified appraisal to determine the fair market value of the property. This is critical to obtain a tax deduction, and the appraised value must be reported to the IRS on a Form 8283 in strict compliance with the IRS’s rules.

• Finally, transfer the property with the appropriate legal documents, including a deed. 

 
Whew! That’s a lot! The bottom line here is that gifts of real estate can be a wonderful tool for both your client and the charities they want to support through their fund at the Community Foundation. Our team can help you through the process, every step of the way, to ensure that your client’s real estate gift is handled without a hitch, opening the door to bring their charitable goals to life.  
 
The team at the Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.  

How much is too much? That’s a question many parents ask as they structure lifetime gifts and bequests to children in their financial and estate plans. Wealthy clients are sometimes concerned that leaving millions of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands, to their children could backfire and hinder their kids’ ability and motivation to achieve financial independence. 
 
In addition to concerns about fostering entitlement and dependency, many parents are concerned that their children will miss out on the satisfaction of knowing they built wealth on their own. These parents believe that the challenges and struggles along the way will ultimately enrich their children’s lives with intangible benefits that are far greater than the obvious benefits that come with gifts or an inheritance of significant financial resources.
 
As you work with clients who feel this way, please reach out to the Community Foundation. Every day, our team works with families who are in this exact situation. We’ll help you evaluate strategies such as:

• Establishing philanthropic components of an estate plan so that children receive only the amount that can pass to them free of estate tax, with the rest passing to a charity, such as a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation.
• Setting up a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation to allow your clients to support favorite charities during their lifetimes, with the terms of the donor-advised fund providing that the children step in as successor advisors following the clients’ deaths.
• As successor advisors to the donor-advised fund, the children can work with the Community Foundation to recommend grants to favorite charities, support interest areas pre-selected by their parents, or both. 

 
Many clients are attracted to this type of structure because not only could it avoid estate tax, but it also allows their children to stay involved with all of the family’s wealth, work together and keep sibling bonds strong, and get involved in the community. 
 
Please reach out to the Community Foundation team anytime. We look forward to exploring strategies to help your clients meet their financial and tax goals, as well as honor their wishes for children to live happy and productive lives. 

The team at the Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.  

​Over the years, you’ve no doubt experienced a wide range of what clients perceive as “wealthy.” You’ve likely also observed that clients have different assumptions about what it takes to be a “philanthropist.” The interplay between a client’s perception of personal wealth and charitable giving capacity presents interesting opportunities for client engagement. You may find yourself helping a client get comfortable with pursuing their charitable objectives while remaining secure in the knowledge that their financial plan is on track.
 
Whether clients choose to give to charity or not depends on a lot of factors. Here are a few themes to keep in mind as you work with clients who skew toward the more frugal end of spending practices, especially during national Make-A-Will month when estate planning may be top of mind.
 
Stay within budget. A client’s fear of running out of money may be preventing them from investing more meaningfully in the causes they care about. When savings-minded clients express charitable intentions, you can certainly guide the conversation toward showing them that their assets, income sources, expenses, and long-term projections are in good shape and leave them plenty of room to make charitable donations. When you lay out the big picture, even your historically cautious clients may see that they truly have more flexibility than they realize.
 
Every gift counts. Some clients who watch every penny are concerned that giving modestly doesn’t really rise to the level of “philanthropist” and might not make a difference. These clients may not realize that everyone can make a difference through small gifts, large gifts, and everything in between. The Community Foundation team is happy to help your clients get started with charitable giving at a level that makes the most sense for them, whether that’s setting up a donor-advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation, arranging for a bequest to a fund, or, for your clients who are 70 ½ and older, structuring a gift from an IRA to a designated fund to support a favorite nonprofit. 
 
Bang for the buck. The team at the Community Foundation can help show your clients how gifts of highly-appreciated stock to a fund at the Community Foundation can avoid capital gains taxes, thereby freeing up more resources to support favorite charities than if the client had sold stock, paid the tax, and then given the proceeds to charity. Our team can also help identify meaningful giving opportunities based on each client’s budget and areas of interest. 
 
See results. By activating philanthropy plans during their lifetimes, your clients can experience the joy of giving and witness tangible returns on their investments. The Community Foundation team can arrange for a client to meet with nonprofit leaders and hear first hand the impact their money is making to improve peoples’ lives. This real-time feedback also allows your client and the Community Foundation team to adjust giving strategies to more closely align with your client’s evolving intentions. 
 
We look forward to working with you and your clients. Philanthropy is meant to be fun and rewarding for everyone involved. Our team is here to help make that happen! 
​
The team at the Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.  

The team at the Community Foundation is committed to sharing tips and insights that can help you get more satisfaction from your charitable giving and in turn make an even bigger difference in the causes you care about.
 
Here are three recommendations: 
 
Strive for energetic effectiveness. Whether a gift to charity is $25, $2500, or $25 million, it’s cause for celebration. Philanthropic support of all shapes and sizes can make a difference. What’s even better, though, is to apply discipline to those dollars so that the strategy matches the enthusiasm. Certainly media-based philanthropy efforts are effective to raise the overall awareness about charitable giving, but awareness is just the beginning. At the Community Foundation, our team is dedicated to helping you apply your charitable passions to make a meaningful impact, especially by helping you address root causes with your giving, above and beyond providing immediate relief to those in need.
 
Give from the heart. A recent Rolling Stone article illustrates how philanthropy can shape leaders by instilling values of empathy and responsibility. The author shares a heartwarming perspective based on participating in charitable activities as a child to rally around a sister with Down Syndrome. This makes such an important point: When your philanthropic efforts mean a lot to you, you’re more likely to stay engaged for the long term, resulting in significant cumulative community return on your personal investments. It’s really inspiring to see charitable individuals view their contributions as part of their personal and professional development.
 
Get your kids involved. The Community Foundation is always striving to offer ways for fund holders to involve their children and grandchildren in charitable giving. This is really important in light of the decline in charitable giving, especially among younger generations, which is becoming a significant concern. We encourage you to explore the factors behind this trend and reach out to the Community Foundation to discuss potential solutions and ways you can help. 
 
Thank you for your commitment to philanthropy! If you’re already a fund holder, we are grateful that you’ve made the choice to organize your giving by working with the Community Foundation. If you’re considering getting started, we’d love the opportunity to work together.
 
​The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. ​

August is national Make-A-Will month and a great time to check in on key components of your estate plan. The reality, as we know, is that all property remaining at death has to go somewhere. And as heartbreaking as it may be for parents of grown children, it’s usually a mistake to assume that you should automatically leave the family home to children in your will or trust. Indeed, your children may not be nearly as attached to your things as you are, and the reality is that they may not want any of them–including the house. 
 
But don’t let this get you down. When one door closes, another door opens. It may be time to explore giving your personal residence to charity. The Community Foundation can help! 
 
Reach out anytime to discuss the possibilities with the Community Foundation team. As we begin the conversation, we’ll evaluate which type of gift format might be a good fit for your situation. For example: 
 

• You can certainly deed your house to the Community Foundation outright. This might be a solid option if you are planning to sell the house in the near future to downsize or move to a retirement community. This is an especially good option if you do not need to rely on the sale proceeds to fund either your next move or your ongoing living expenses. And, if the total value of all your assets is in a range where you could be subject to estate tax, transferring your house to the Community Foundation takes the home’s value out of your estate, tax free, because of the charitable deduction. The Community Foundation will likely list the property shortly after you make the gift. Then, the proceeds from the sale will flow into your donor-advised or other type of fund to help you fulfill your charitable goals.   

 

• If you’re hoping to get a little money from the sale of your residence, but you don’t need the full amount of its value, you can explore what’s known as a “bargain sale.” This transaction allows you to sell the property to the Community Foundation at a price below market value, allowing you to receive some income while still making a charitable contribution.

 

• Another option is to transfer your residence using a “charitable remainder trust.” You’d transfer title to the property to the trust, and the trust would provide you with income for the rest of your life (or a term of years). Any remaining value would flow to your fund at the Community Foundation to support the causes you care about. You’d also be eligible for an up front income tax deduction based on the present value of the amount projected to pass to your charitable fund in the future. 

 
If you’re interested in giving your residence to your fund at the Community Foundation, our team will work closely with you and your advisors to carefully evaluate the opportunities and walk through all of the steps in the process. For example, it’s important to look at factors such as valuation (which must be documented with a qualified appraisal), whether there’s a mortgage on the property that would make a gift more challenging, how long you’ve held the property and your cost basis, and ensuring that a sale is not already formally or informally in the works.
 
You’ve spent years making your house a home. We look forward to exploring the possibilities for extending the joy your personal residence brings to you and your family by transforming the property into a source for community benefit. 

​The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. ​

​If you’ve already established a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation, you can understand why it’s become such a popular tool to organize your family’s giving and serve as a springboard for so many other ways to make a difference in our region. 
 
Recently, we’ve talked with a lot of donors who work with the Community Foundation in a variety of ways, such as regularly contributing to a favorite organization’s endowment fund, supporting the Community Foundation’s operating endowment, making distributions from an IRA to a designated fund, or attending community foundation events to rally around important community priorities. Interestingly, we are discovering that some of these donors also have established a donor-advised fund at a national financial institution and in many cases did not realize that they could have set up their donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation. 
 
It’s time to set the record straight! 
 
For starters, the Community Foundation offers donor-advised fund holders the same tax and administrative benefits as a national financial institution, including:

• Online access to the donor-advised fund to view balances, contributions, and grants
• Simple process for requesting grants to favorite charities
• Streamlined tax reporting, often represented by just one letter to provide to an accountant at tax time, even when the donor-advised fund is used to support dozens of individual charities throughout the year
• All back-office administration, tax receipts, recordkeeping, and other requirements for the donor-advised fund’s 501(c)(3) status
• Favorable tax-deductibility of contributions to the fund

 
Unlike standard national financial institutions’ donor-advised funds, though, the Community Foundation offers high-level, customized services to its donor-advised fund holders, including:

• Concierge-level service by knowledgeable staff to structure estate gifts to charities and accept gifts of appreciated stock or complex assets such as real estate or closely-held stock
• In-house experts who have a finger on the pulse of community needs, the strengths of specific nonprofits, and how to structure grant making for the highest possible community benefit
• Opportunities to collaborate with other donors who care about similar issues and forums to tap into local and national subject matter experts
• Opportunities to go deep into specific issue areas, both through education and hands-on involvement
• Assistance with structuring and measuring the impact of grants 
• Family philanthropy and corporate giving services to foster a well-rounded, holistic approach to philanthropy 
• Administrative fees that are reinvested into the Community Foundation, itself a nonprofit, to help support operations, grow its mission, and help even more donors support the causes they care about
• Hands-on assistance from local experts who understand both local and distant needs, and welcome the opportunity to research and identify causes aligned with donors’ goals and priorities 
• Staff members who live in the community they serve and often personally know the leaders and staff of grantee organizations and regularly hear about their needs first-hand

 
If you’ve established a donor-advised fund at a national financial institution, we’d love to chat about moving it over to the Community Foundation. At the Community Foundation, your hard-earned assets receive the attention they deserve as you and your family strive to make a difference in the causes you care about the most. 

The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. 

​Charitable giving traditions are a big part of many peoples’ lives. The ways philanthropic values translate into action and behavior, however, vary widely from person to person. And that’s a good thing! When you align your charitable giving activities with your own personality and the ways you like to do good, you’ll enjoy it a lot more and as a result, you’ll be more likely to get even more involved with your favorite causes. 
 
Indeed, your choice of the causes you support may be based on personal experiences or even how you view your character. You may also find that philanthropy fosters personal growth and self-discovery. Some people find that getting involved in the community creates opportunities for networking and building relationships based on shared values and goals.

That’s why it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone likes to “do good” in exactly the same way. To figure out what mix of charitable activities might best suit your personality, consider reflecting on whether you tend toward an ”investor,” “connector” or “activator” profile.

Here’s what it might look like to be an “investor” type of philanthropist:

• You like to get involved in community activities where you can act independently, rather than scheduling dedicated time.
• You may feel that you often have more money than time.
• You’re happy to write a check or purchase a product that supports a cause.

If you tend toward the “connector” type, this may describe your preferences:

• You like community activities where you can collaborate with friends and family.
• You enjoy the opportunity to meet people who care about a variety of causes, not necessarily a specific charity. 
• You like attending charities’ fundraising events, and you might even regularly promote your favorite causes on social media.

If you’re an “activator” type, here’s what that could look like:

• Your philanthropic passion lies with one or two specific causes.
• You like the idea of playing a small part in “changing the world” and impacting a single issue that could potentially benefit society on a broad scale. 
• You might enjoy serving on charities’ boards of directors.

Whatever your personality type, the Community Foundation can help! Whether it’s setting up a donor-advised fund to organize your giving, working with you and your advisors to establish a legacy bequest, or getting your family and friends involved in site visits to favorite charities, we’re here for you! 

The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. 

​Every week, the team at the Community Foundation works with a wide range of charitably-minded individuals and families who are either already working with the Community Foundation or are considering establishing a donor-advised or other type of fund to organize their giving. We also talk with attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors as they work alongside charitably-minded clients. Indeed, many advisors are telling us that they’re taking advantage of summer’s slower pace to get a jump on 2024 tax planning and estate plan updates.

As you work with your advisors over the next few months, be sure to let them know that the Community Foundation can serve as the hub of your family’s philanthropy by administering a wide range of charitable giving vehicles, including:

• Donor-advised funds, which are frequently a better fit for your family than a private foundation
• Field-of-interest funds and designated funds, which enable you to support specific causes and organizations and, if you are 70 ½ or older, can receive a tax-savvy “Qualified Charitable Distribution” from your IRA
• Bequests and other legacy gifts to help ensure that the causes you’ve supported during your lifetime can continue to benefit from your generosity for years to come
• Unrestricted gifts to support the Community Foundation’s work to grow philanthropy and improve the quality of life in our region across generations, especially as community needs evolve

 
Along these lines, some of you have requested that we provide a reading list to pass along to your advisors to help them stay up-to-date on legal and tax issues impacting charitable giving. Here are a few suggestions you could forward to your advisors (or simply forward this email):
 

• For advisors working with clients who support higher education, it’s important to stay on top of the tax treatment of NIL collectives. The team at the Community Foundation is happy to talk with your advisors about what’s going on here and how they can follow best practices. 

 

• It’s becoming more and more popular for philanthropists to explore giving cryptocurrency to charitable causes. Encourage your advisors to reach out to the team at the Community Foundation as they encounter this issue with clients. 

 

• A focus on donor intent is especially important as cautionary tales emerge in case law. The Community Foundation is committed to helping advisors help their clients achieve charitable goals. Our knowledgeable staff and independent board of directors are dedicated to carrying out donors’ philanthropic wishes. 

 
As always, please let us know if you’d like our team to be part of a conversation with your advisors. We welcome the opportunity to serve as the go-to charitable giving resource as you build a comprehensive financial and estate plan that includes philanthropy.

The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. 

It’s an election year, which means you may have more questions than answers as you work with your advisors to build out your financial and estate plans. In particular, the looming sunset of key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 has created a tremendous amount of ambiguity. 

For many taxpayers, the potential sunset of the TCJA’s higher estate tax exemption is top of mind. Unless Congress intervenes, the exemption is set to fall after December 31, 2025 from roughly $27 million per couple to approximately $14 million per couple (depending on inflation adjustments).

No one has a crystal ball, and it is impossible at this point to know whether or when you should implement planning strategies to address potential changes in the law. Nevertheless, if you are among those who would be affected by the estate tax exemption’s precipitous drop, it’s important to know that charitable strategies can fit nicely into a gifting plan that would help offset the sunset’s impact.
 
If you’re a business owner, for example, you could explore launching a gifting program now to transfer shares of the business not only to your heirs to take advantage of the higher exemption, but also to a donor-advised or other fund at the Community Foundation. With these gifts, you could reduce the value of your taxable estate while also executing a business transition and philanthropy plan that aligns with your overall intentions regardless of the tax laws. 
 
Along those lines, some families may decide to lean into annual exclusion gifts ($18,000 per gifting spouse per recipient in 2024) to family members and other individuals to reduce taxable estates without eating into the lifetime gift and estate tax exemptions. 
 
If you’re considering ramping up your annual exclusion gifts, you might consider adopting a parallel strategy for charitable gifts. Gifts to charities are deductible for gift and estate tax purposes (as well as for income tax purposes) and therefore will also reduce the value of your taxable estate without using your exemption. Some philanthropists report that they like the idea of making annual exclusion gifts to family members, and, while they’re at it, making stock gifts of an equal amount into a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation. 
 
Given the uncertainty about what might happen with the estate tax exemption, some people are updating their estate plans to increase a bequest to a donor-advised or other fund at the Community Foundation. This would help blunt the impact of estate taxes, and the bequest can be adjusted during lifetime as planning goals and estate tax laws evolve. 

The Community Foundation is here for you! Our team is happy to help you navigate the opportunities and pitfalls presented by potential changes in the tax law. It is our pleasure to work with you and your family to maximize your charitable goals.

The team at the Community Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation. 

​Without legislation to prevent it, the sunsetting of current estate tax laws at the end of 2025 will dramatically reduce the federal estate tax exemption from $13.61 million per person in 2024 to approximately $7 million in 2026 (this includes adjustments for inflation). This change would affect many high net-worth individuals and families, likely exposing many more estates to federal estate taxes.
 
It is impossible to predict whether or not legislation will prevent the sunset. Even so, it is important for advisors to prepare for client discussions and start considering estate planning strategies now, especially techniques that incorporate multi-generational gifts and charitable planning.
 
Indeed, for a client who is charitably-inclined, making larger lifetime gifts to charity and arranging for charitable bequests will help reduce the client’s taxable estate because of the charitable estate and gift tax deduction. Donor-advised, field-of-interest, designated, unrestricted, and endowment funds at the Community Foundation are flexible and effective charitable recipients of both lifetime and estate gifts. 
 
For some clients, you may wish to begin exploring a comprehensive, multi-generational wealth transfer plan, potentially using key tax-planning vehicles:
 
Charitable lead trust
Charitable lead trusts (CLTs) may be particularly effective in the current environment. These trusts can provide income to your client’s fund at the Community Foundation for a set period of time, with the remaining assets passing to family members. Right now, the higher exemption allows for potentially significant initial funding of such trusts. This is because the value of the remainder interest counts toward the client’s estate and gift tax exemption.
 
Generation-skipping trust
A generation-skipping trust is an irrevocable trust that can benefit a client’s grandchildren and later generations. This trust utilizes a client’s generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption (which parallels the estate and gift tax exemption). This type of trust could allow a client to take advantage of the higher exemption before it potentially decreases in 2026. It is possible under some states’ laws for these trusts to go on for many generations in a “dynasty” format, such that each generation benefits from the trust’s income (and potentially principal for health and education) without the trust’s assets being included in the beneficiaries’ estates for estate tax purposes. 
 
Multi-generational fund at the Community Foundation
Alongside a charitable lead trust or generation-skipping trust, or as a standalone, a client can establish a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation that can function much like a family foundation, with successive generations serving as advisors, or the Community Foundation stepping in after the first or second generation, to recommend grants from the fund to carry on a tradition of supporting the causes that have been most important to the client during the client’s lifetime. 
 
The team at the Community Foundation looks forward to working with you to achieve your clients’ long-term charitable goals, even in the midst of uncertainty concerning the estate tax laws.

The team at the Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.