If you’re not talking about charitable giving with your high net-worth clients, 2024 is the year to start doing it! Recent studies show that 85.1% of affluent households give to charity. Certainly many of your clients are among them. Take a few minutes this month to scan your client list for three common scenarios and related opportunities for charitable giving solutions.
YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis has been busy! As the new year begins and we dive into goals and plans for 2024, we want to take a moment to celebrate the growth and successes of last year. More than simply celebrating, we want to examine those successes to determine not only how to recreate them, but how to build upon them.
The gifts Americans give to charity every year provide critical support for more than a million organizations that are helping sustain the quality of life in our communities. Philanthropy equates to 2% of GDP–that’s a little more than the home health care services sector! And, trust is growing as a must-have prerequisite before your clients decide to give to an organization, increasing from 63.9% to 69.9% between December 2021 and December 2022.
2023 was a busy year! We understand that charitable giving topics may not always be at the top of your reading list. That’s why we’re here! The team at YouthBridge Community Foundation is committed to keeping you up-to-date on what you need to know. Here’s a recap of five key developments last year that are most certainly worth keeping an eye on in 2024.
The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis Receives YouthBridge Heritage Grant • Restore Orphan Fund Meets at YouthBridge Offices • Order Giving Cards by December 12 • YEP STL grant applications open • P64 Entrepreneurial Scholarship Fund Awardees • Capacity Building Grants Awarded• A Changing of the Guard • Reminder for Donor-Advised Fundholders • IRA Charitable Rollover for 2023 • By the numbers: What’s around the corner in 2024 • Charitable giving tips for clients’ golden years • Philanthropy keeps your clients sticky
Gateway Children’s Charity (GCC) raises funds to make high-impact, tangible investments in early childhood programs that support children living in underserved St. Louis communities.
Only in the world of YouthBridge Community Foundation would it seem commonplace to host a board meeting for an organization whose members live across the country – and who have never met in person! Restore Orphan Fund (ROF) members recently took advantage of YouthBridge’s invitation to visit St. Louis to meet each other and meet the YouthBridge staff, while bringing a little joy to the lives of area children living in foster care.
Working with The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, a 2023 recipient of a Heritage Grant, is one example of YouthBridge’s commitment to older youth. According to The Scholarship Foundation Executive Director, Faith Sandler, the agency has benefited from donor-designated gifts from YouthBridge fundholders over the years. Now as a Heritage Grant recipient, The Scholarship Foundation is honored to be “selected based on what [they] do rather than who [they] know.”
Here are a few pointers to keep handy as you inform your clients about changes for 2024 and also help them tee up their charitable giving plans for the coming year.
Regardless of your business or industry, retaining your clients or customers is a key to success. And as the saying goes, it’s easier and less costly to retain or get more work from a current client than it is to find a new client.
The rising popularity of the Qualified Charitable Deduction appears to be inspiring an increasing number of retirees to re-evaluate their charitable giving plans. Before the clock winds down on 2023 giving opportunities, be sure you’re familiar with the various charitable giving techniques that are most appealing to retirees and the various ways YouthBridge Community Foundation can help.
Gateway Children’s Charity, a Successful YouthBridge Partnership • CASA of St. Louis Receives YouthBridge Heritage Grant • Give the Gift of Giving • Youth Entrepreneurship Grant Award • Tips for clients’ year-end giving • Life insurance: A key charitable planning tool for certain clients • Philanthropy tips and trends
Heritage Grants awarded by YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis are inspired by fundholders with big hearts who care about the financial sustainability of the nonprofits they love. After careful research and much consideration, YouthBridge determined that CASA of St. Louis fit the Heritage Grant requirements perfectly this year.
Gateway Children Children’s Charity’s mission to raise “funds to make high-impact, tangible investments in early childhood programs that support children living in underserved St. Louis communities” aligns perfectly with the mission of YouthBridge Community Foundation. The two organizations understand that young people need access to resources and supportive environments to thrive – and their grant programs increase access to these critical supports.
Many eyes are on the Charitable Act, which, if passed, would allow for deductible charitable contributions that exceed the standard deduction. The Charitable Act proposes to restore the pandemic-era “universal charitable deduction” and raise the cap from $300 for individuals ($600 for joint filers) to approximately $4,600 for individuals ($9,200 for joint filers).
YouthBridge Community Foundation has awarded a $30,000 Youth Entrepreneurship grant to Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). The Youth Entrepreneurship Grant is designed to support capacity building for youth entrepreneurship programs and organizations in the greater St. Louis Area.
Year-end giving makes up a significant portion of total revenue for most charitable organizations. Research even shows that a whopping 25% of online giving occurs in December! What this means is that there’s a pretty good chance your clients are already considering end-of-year gifts to support causes they care about, are being asked by at least one nonprofit for an end-of-year gift, or both.
As an advisor, you often talk with your clients about life insurance–how much is enough and which policies are best suited for a client’s particular situation. As you counsel your clients about risk management and the role of life insurance in their estate plans, don’t forget that life insurance can be an effective charitable giving tool in some situations.
Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois – Entrepreneurs of the Future • Generate Health – Uplifting Thriving Black Families • Now Accepting Scholarship Applications • Infrastructure Grant OpportunityHeritage Grants Awarded • Congratulations to the 2023 Gateway Children’s Charity grantees • Clients want to know: What’s deductible and what’s not? • Spotting opportunity • Charitable planning and women clients: Three mini-case studies
The Girl Scout mission to “build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place” is a tall order. It requires passion, dedication, a fierce belief in girls’ abilities, and of course, financial resources to support programming that nurtures these traits.