Making A Difference: Organizations Report Impact of 2023-24 Community Foundation Grants

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From meals for the elderly to new downtown art, healthy pets and an insulated emergency shelter, 12 area nonprofits benefited from a total of $159,516 awarded from seven endowed funds managed by The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham.

Grant applications for the 2024-25 cycle are in the review process, with awardees to be announced in November.

A new safe floor for Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative

With a new “sprung subfloor” funded by a $17,814 grant from the Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts, dancers at the Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative are reaching new heights. Since 2014, they’ve been dancing carefully on marble, wood, and concrete floors. But with the new surface, instructors have been able to incorporate jumps in movement training. This in turn has expanded class offerings and diversified performances. The cooperative can host workshops on injury prevention and bring in specialists like dance physical therapists to use the space for a safe dance practice. The floor has helped the company grow beyond its former numbers, and to open its doors to guest choreographers such as Beau Harman, a New York City-based artist who has worked with JMU dancers. “We are excited to see what this small-but-mighty space will continue to offer our community,” said cooperative partner Lara Mack.

Horses helping caregivers

Cross Keys Equine Therapy used their $10,000 award from the Alvin J. Baird Jr. Program Endowment to develop a curriculum for a special training program to equip parents, grandparents and other caregivers for recognition of and response to traumatic stress reactions in the children they are caring for. The organization hosted monthly groups that met five or six times, and plans to host another six-week group this fall. Feedback was positive and individual caregivers expressed gratitude for the information and the unique context of learning from and with horses.

Virginia Quilt Museum invites visitors to a hands-on exhibit.

A multi-purpose space for quilt museum

The Virginia Quilt Museum invested almost $17,000 in Earlynn J. Miller funding to transform the lower level of the museum into a space for hands-on activities, classes and programs. The space also provides for artists and scholars-in-residence with a research center and a permanent exhibition. Wall repairs, drywall, painting, technology equipment, signage and furniture were among the expenses covered.

Ballet’s costumes remain pristine

Rockingham Ballet Theater fundraised for years to purchase new costumes for the annual production of “The Nutcracker.” A new climate-controlled space funded by a $875 grant from the Valley Arts & Culture Fund has helped extend the life of these expensive and beautiful gems, bringing years of pleasure to local dancers – and area audiences.

Meals on Wheels provides a month of fresh food for seniors

A Community Endowment Fund grant of $11,273 to Valley Program for Aging Services provided 935 meals for adults age 60 and older in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, equal to one month of meals for 47 individuals.

Meals are prepared by A Bowl of Good using locally sourced fresh fruits and vegetables when available. Milk is purchased from Mt. Crawford Creamery. All meals meet one-third of the daily nutrition requirements for older adults. The balance of grant funding – approximately $4,200 –  helped with costs of other items: food trays, hot and cold insulated containers, delivery costs, staff time, and related expenses.

Blue Ridge Free Clinic sees increased need

Blue Ridge Free Clinic received $34,592 from the Alvin V. Baird, Jr. Program Endowment Fund, which benefits nonprofit organizations serving unmet healthcare needs among local populations. The grant aided the clinic in serving 611 individual patients with 1,400 medical appointments. For 356 patients, a social worker provided consultation and resource navigation. The grant helped to pay for a contracted social worker, transportation, facility maintenance, interpreters, medication and supplies.

Funds help treat wildlife

A staff member aids a box turtle at the Virginia Wildlife Center.

About 12 percent of the sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife treated at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro come from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Nearly 900 animals were treated thanks to 2023 funding, more than $11,700 from the Hildred Neff Memorial Fund.

The Center’s treatment averages $179 per patient [2023 treatment costs]. This includes salaries and benefits for the wildlife medical care team, including veterinarians, licensed veterinary technicians, and wildlife rehabilitators, as well as food, medicine, medical and laboratory supplies, equipment costs, and more.

Saving one (of nine) lives

Cat’s Cradle staff heard plenty of thanks from the 250 cat owners aided in covering veterinary bills with $5,700 from the Hildred Neff Memorial Fund. In response to community need, the organization has expanded its pet retention program for clients needing financial assistance. The program funds veterinary bills and short-term costs of medical supplies to keep pets healthy and with their families rather than in the local public shelter. 

Anicira helps area pets

Mavin, Charlie, Toby and their owners will be forever grateful for Anicira’s Operation Free Pet Healthcare. Maven survived a life-threatening urinary blockage, Charlie endured surgery to remove a painful mass, and Toby had a major dental procedure. These are just a few of the dogs and cats aided by the Hildred Neff Memorial Fund, which supports agencies providing for the needs of domestic and wild animals. The $5,727 grant provided medical, surgical, and dental care to 80 pets, resulting in saved lives, reduced suffering, and the preservation of the bond between families and their beloved pets.

Emergency shelter protected from temperature change

The Salvation Army’s 28-bed emergency shelter needed an upgrade to the skirting and an access opening – to the tune of more than $13,000. The work was the final task left over from a successful 2022 renovation.

The Janet Sohn Endowed Fund, which awards funds to organizations that Janet supported during her lifetime, helped fund the work. In 2022, the shelter served 310 individuals and family members with basic and intensive case management, access to health and nutritional programs, and other community connections.

Artist Gemma Amendola’s window decal brightens West Water Street.

Three new installations and children’s “wild” paintings brighten downtown

Oasis Fine Art & Craft utilized an award from the Valley Arts & Culture Fund to fund three different projects. Local artist Gemma Amendola designed a window decal and banner for Beyond Restaurant. Oasis also framed two community mosaics, one constructed at the Farmer’s Market and a second mosaic featuring a family of ducks located on Water Street.

More than 300 area elementary students “captured” wild and wonderful animals in paint during a series of workshops. Oasis artists led the sessions, where children were taught the elements of line, shape, color and texture, and then practiced drawing real or imagined animals. Forty artworks were selected for an exhibit at Massanutten Regional Library. Funding from the Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts helped with the purchase of supplies, printing and the exhibit installation. The Explore More Discovery Museum hosted the field trips, and the project also involved Any Given Child Shenandoah Valley.

Making the arts accessible through events and a new website

Nearly $21,000 from the Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts, honoring the late dance professor, helped Arts Council of the Valley increase opportunities for local residents to enjoy, learn and experience the arts.

Building on the first year’s success of the community theater program ACT ONE, Arts Council of the Valley has expanded exploration of the performing and visual arts through the addition of free master classes for adults, providing welcoming, low-stress introductions for individuals who may not have outlets for artistic expression. Master classes for adults have drawn 115 participants to eight sessions.

Thirty scholarships of $299 each helped economically disadvantaged students attend summer theater camps, with each camp ending in a performance showcase.

Day of the Arts, on May 4, 2024, celebrated the vital role performing and visual arts play in our community, with some 950 people attending. The $6,000 grant supported workshops, lectures, performances, art materials; and the work of an exhibition curator.

The organization is undergoing a new website design, slated for a fall 2024 launch. Much of the work has been donated by local branding, web and marketing agency Estland, with the remainder of the costs financed through a grant from the Mary Spitzer Etter Endowed Fund. The new site will be “fresh, engaging, easy to navigate, and fully ADA-compliant,” says ACV Executive Director Jenny Burden. “The website will provide a more accessible, positive experience for online visitors, making it easier for them to connect with arts opportunities.”

 

Scholarships on WSVA: Why and How to Start One with Ann and Lauren

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The Community Foundation’s scholarship program was September’s focus with WSVA host Jim Britt. Ann Siciliano, director of programs services, and Lauren Jefferson, director of marketing and programs, talked about the rewards of starting a scholarship and how the funding can impact local residents, as well as donors.

The foundation offers 25 scholarships funding students in a variety of fields and interests, with several more in the process of development. In 2024, more than $265,000 was awarded to 44 recipients.

LISTEN TO THE 15-MINUTE SHOW.

“We have scholarships for athletes, for students from different high schools, for students pursuing career paths in education and music, and for first generation students,” Siciliano said, adding that those are just a sample of the offerings.

About half the scholarships memorialize the life and legacy of a loved one – a situation which Jefferson says “can help with grieving and healing.” She speaks from experience: Two years ago, before joining the foundation, she helped to found a vocational education scholarship to commemorate her husband. The Ronnie Brunk Memorial Scholarship is available to adults pursuing specific courses at Massanutten Technical Center.

“Call us and talk to us, and tell us your dreams and your vision and we’ll work with you,” Siciliano said, emphasizing that families can be as involved as they’d like in the creation process and the ongoing awarding process.

Visit the foundation’s scholarship page.

Donor-advised fund fees decrease

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Donor-advised fund fees at The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have been lowered to 1 percent, fulfilling a promise to donors made in 2013.

That was the year that fees were increased – to 1.25 percent – to accommodate for necessary investments in technology, cybersecurity, and staffing.

That change nearly 11 years ago was made with great reluctance, says Executive Director Revlan Hill. “At the same time as we were experiencing growth with our donors, we also had challenges in the market and with major rising operational costs. The problem was actually one a growing foundation wants to have. We raised the fees with the promise that we would return it to the lower rate as soon as possible.”

The lower fee of 1% allows for “more dollars to support nonprofit organizations as recommended by the donor,” Hill said.

It’s also a sign that the foundation is carrying more assets, building on a solid financial footing, and continuing to grow at a healthy rate.

The current fee structure helps to cover administrative costs of the donation and grants processing, annual audits, preparation of tax returns, insurance and other operating expenses – all of which are required to exceptional services TCFHR donors have come to expect.

“Fulfilling this promise is a sign of our thriving and our commitment to excellent management,” Hill said. “We’re grateful to the generosity and trust of donors, the partnership of professional advisors, and the wisdom of staff and our board which made this possible.”

Summer reading that’s worth a forward

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Summer reading that’s worth a forward

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 may be a better fit for families 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.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Philanthropy: It’s not one size fits all

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Philanthropy: It’s not one size fits all

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!

 

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Up in the air: Charitable planning in a shifting tax landscape

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Up in the air: Charitable planning in a shifting tax landscape 

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 might consider updating their estate plans to increase a bequest to a donor-advised or other fund at community foundations. 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.

 

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Planning for a sunset: Lock in a higher exemption, unlock a legacy

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Planning for a sunset: Lock in a higher exemption, unlock a legacy

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.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

 

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Mixing business and charity: Keep it ethical, legal, and transparent

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Mixing business and charity: Keep it ethical, legal, and transparent

Your clients who are corporate executives have likely wondered at some point about the benefits of aligning their companies with philanthropy, whether specific causes or particular organizations.

In general, a community engagement strategy can be good for business, if well-executed. For example, almost half of consumers view a brand favorably when the brand supports a charitable cause. Community engagement programs can help with employee retention, too.

But what are the risks involved in mixing business with charity?

In the spirit of aligning doing good with doing well, some companies would love to set up their own nonprofit organizations as “charitable arms” of their enterprises. Corporate leadership may like the idea of efficiency, control, and tight alignment between the company’s offerings and the charity’s mission. For example, a company that makes swimming pools might think it’s a great idea to set up a charity to build swimming pools at community centers to give more kids access to water sports. The company would like to donate tax-deductible dollars to the charity and ask its suppliers and customers to do the same. The company’s executives would serve on the board of the charity, and the charity would purchase swimming pools from the company to carry out its mission.

Is this a good idea?

No. This strategy plays fast and loose with the rules. Beyond setting up an obvious conflict of interest, this practice would mean that a company effectively would be using charitable funds to benefit itself. This is not a “charitable purpose” in the eyes of the IRS and could result in the loss of the charity’s tax exemption. Plus, if the news got out about this structure, the company could suffer reputational damage.

The company, its executives, and the community are all better off if the company pursues more transparent and ethical charitable strategies such as establishing a corporate fund at The Community Foundation, setting up a volunteer program for employees, establishing a matching gifts program, or aligning with wholly-independent charities on cause-related marketing partnerships.

Reach out to The Community Foundation to learn more about effective corporate philanthropy strategies. We are here to help as you work with your clients to achieve their charitable goals both at home and in the workplace.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

 

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Gifts of appreciated stock: Picking favorites

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Gifts of appreciated stock: Picking favorites

You’re well aware that donating highly-appreciated stock to a fund at The Community Foundation offers significant advantages for your clients over making cash gifts. Communicating this benefit, however, can be challenging when clients have emotional attachments to their shares.

How can you overcome this hurdle and help optimize your clients’ charitable giving strategies?

Start by understanding the reasons a client might be reluctant to part with certain stocks in the first place:

–Legacy: “These shares have been in my family for generations.”
–Professional: “I worked at this company for decades; it’s the source of my wealth.”
–Simple preference: “I just love this stock.”

Emotional ties like these can create psychological barriers to effective charitable planning. There is, however, a potential solution that can satisfy both your clients’ emotional needs and their philanthropic goals: The client donates shares of the highly-appreciated, emotionally significant stock to their fund at The Community Foundation, and then the client purchases shares of the same stock in their personal investment portfolio.

Here’s why this can be such an effective strategy:

–Maximize tax deductions: Publicly-traded securities are typically deductible at fair market value (and the tax savings could potentially help fund the repurchase).
–Reset cost basis: This transaction effectively resets the cost basis of the stock in the client’s personal portfolio to its current market price, potentially reducing future capital gains taxes.
–Emotional satisfaction: Clients can support charities while maintaining their shareholder status in the company they like.
–Community impact: The Community Foundation can sell the donated shares tax-free, thereby maximizing the proceeds flowing into the client’s fund, and the fund in turn can be used to support the client’s favorite causes.

As you share this strategy with a client, be sure to acknowledge the emotional value of the stock and emphasize the client’s opportunity to maintain ownership in the company. Building on this, you can show the client how the tax benefits of giving stock allow the client to make an even bigger difference than if they’d given cash instead.

As always, The Community Foundation can help you assist your clients with selecting the best assets to give to charity, evaluate tax implications of various giving strategies, and structure gifts to achieve strong community benefit. We look forward to a conversation!

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

 

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

Legal developments: We’re watching!

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Legal developments: We’re watching! 

As your go-to resource for charitable giving techniques, The Community Foundation team pays close attention to best practices in addressing the broad range of your clients’ charitable intentions to support both near-term and long-term community needs. This includes tracking legal developments that may impact philanthropy broadly, impact specific giving vehicles, and everything in between.

For example, we pay attention to the IRS’s plan to increase audits of wealthy taxpayers so that our team is better positioned to help you and your clients understand the requirements of valuing gifts to charity. And we’re gearing up to help you and your clients incorporate charitable giving vehicles as a way to blunt the potential impact of the anticipated estate tax exemption sunset. And we’re watching the IRS scrutinize aggressive techniques using annuities inside charitable lead trusts. And so much more.

Another issue we’re watching closely is the latest news on the IRS’s proposed regulations of donor-advised funds. We’ve studied the transcript from the public hearings in early May, and it was inspiring to see so many community foundation leaders share their recommendations urging that any new regulations not disrupt the positive and productive working relationships between community foundations and advisors who are helping their clients achieve philanthropic goals. At this point, no one can predict what will happen with the proposed regulations–whether and how they will be revised or when they might become effective, if ever. As always, our team is staying on top of the issues. We’ll keep you informed.

Of course, a donor-advised fund is just one of many types of funds your clients can establish at The Community Foundation. We offer donor-advised funds, endowment funds, field-of-interest funds, scholarship funds, designated funds, and a wide range of planned giving and legacy options for clients who want to invest in the community’s long-term needs.

The donor-advised fund is popular because it allows your client to make a tax-deductible transfer of cash or marketable securities that is immediately eligible for a charitable deduction. Then, the client can recommend gifts to favorite charities from the fund to meet community needs as they emerge.

What’s especially rewarding for our team is to work with you and your clients to explore a diversified portfolio of giving vehicles. It’s possible that a client’s portfolio would include a donor-advised fund, and perhaps also one or more of a variety of other tools, such as a bequest, unrestricted gift, charitable trust, and endowment gift. Above all, we are confident in our ability to continue to work collaboratively with you and other advisors for years to come to help fulfill your clients’ philanthropic wishes. Thank you for the opportunity to work together! Give us a call at 540-432-3863.

 

This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.