The YouthBridge Think Big for Kids grant truly lives up to its name, providing grants designed to stimulate innovative thinking and fund big ideas from nonprofits that serve children and youth in our community.
Well before 2025 made way for 2026, you were no doubt already tracking the various IRS thresholds that are subject to adjustment, as well as the new tax laws’ impact on planning techniques. But have you thought about how each of these thresholds might relate to your clients’ charitable giving?
For many CPAs, estate planning attorneys, and financial advisors, the end of 2025 brought a whirlwind of charitable planning activity among high-earner clients. That’s because many taxpayers wanted to maximize the tax benefits of their charitable donations before…
If you know the basics of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) but have a hard time envisioning exactly what to say and do when they come up in a client conversation, you are not alone! Whether you are an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, at some point you will find yourself in the middle of a QCD conversation.
As you counsel clients through year-end tax planning, YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis encourages you to remind them that 2025 presents a critical window of opportunity for charitable giving before major provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) take effect on January 1, 2026. The new law could significantly reshape the tax treatment of charitable contributions in ways that may reduce the tax value of gifts made after this year.
Retaining clients is a cornerstone of long-term business success, no matter the profession or industry. As the saying goes, keeping an existing client—and earning additional work from that client—is far easier and more cost-effective than securing a new client. For professionals who work in estate, tax, and financial planning, this principle becomes especially important during one of the most delicate stages of engagement: the period following a client’s death.
The team at YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis is honored to work with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to help clients turn generosity into lasting impact. Of course, as you work with your charitable clients, you routinely determine the best way to incorporate philanthropic intentions into wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations. But how frequently do you document clients’ charitable intentions explicitly as part of incapacity planning?
Partnership in Action: YouthBridge Heritage Grant Supports Christian Activity Center • Agency Fundholder Spotlight: Lutheran Elementary School Association (LESA) • Progress 64 West and YouthBridge Award P64 Entrepreneurial Scholarships • Gateway Children’s Charity Invests in the Future of St. Louis Children • 2025 action required: Last call for current tax rules • A key to client retention: Consider charitable planning • Planning for clients’ incapacity: Why charitable intentions matter
YouthBridge’s Heritage Grant reflects our deep commitment to partnering with donors. This $75,000 unrestricted award recognizes child and youth serving nonprofits that have earned sustained fundholder support. Recipients demonstrate both a strong organizational foundation and a clear vision for expanding their capacity and impact. Previous grants from the Wayne C. Kaufmann Charitable Foundation, administered by YouthBridge, positioned the Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis (CAC) to receive a Heritage Grant this fall.
Partnership in Action: Donors Supporting Marygrove Through YouthBridge • Agency Fundholder Spotlight: The Child Advocacy Center of Northeast MO • Rebuilding Hope: YouthBridge Renews $250K Impact Investment in North City Revitalization • Donor-advised funds: Flexible, tax-friendly, and just the beginning • Bread and butter strategy: QCDs for clients 70½ and older • Rare but powerful charitable exits: Know it when you see it
If you partner with YouthBridge—through a Donor Advised Fund, Endowment, or other charitable vehicle—you pay a modest fund fee. But here’s the best part: 100% of those fund fees go right back into the community through our Discretionary Grant Program, supporting vetted, high-performing nonprofits and helping them strengthen operations and expand their impact.
As attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, you’ve no doubt noticed that financial publications’ coverage of donor-advised funds is increasing. This is no surprise, considering that these popular vehicles can help your clients achieve both their financial and philanthropic goals.
Provisions enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) are prompting renewed focus on strategies that merge tax efficiency with meaningful community impact. Among the most powerful tools in this space for clients age 70½ and older is the Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD.
If your client base includes business owners, you’re no doubt at least generally aware of the benefits of giving closely-held business interests to charity. Beyond that, though, the details may get fuzzy. The key is to be able to recognize the opportunity so you can reach out to YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis team to help you make the most of it for your client.
Caritas • Agency Funholder Spotlight: Giant Steps of Saint Louis • 501(c)(3) Essentials: Powering Nonprofits for Early Childhood Success • From Training to Impact: Fundholders Lead the Way • Trick or Treat…How about Trick or TREE! • Now Accepting Scholarship Applications • Two reasons to celebrate charitable giving • Three clients. Three solutions. One common theme. • Inherited IRAs: A charitable solution?
For many attorneys, financial advisors, and CPAs, estate planning is part of your client conversations every single month, week, and day of the year. You never hesitate to remind clients to update their wills, trusts, and financial plans as circumstances change in their lives.
We’ve rounded the corner into the fourth quarter! As the calendar year draws to a close, you’re likely well aware that charitable giving is not only important to your clients first and foremost as an act of generosity, but also as a powerful tool in tax planning.
Remember the good old days when your clients could withdraw the money they inherited in their parents’ IRAs over the course of their lifetimes, thereby deferring the income tax for as long as possible? This so-called “stretch IRA” was largely eliminated by the SECURE Act of 2019, requiring most non-spouse beneficiaries to withdraw the entire inherited IRA within 10 years, rather than stretching withdrawals over their lifetime.
Through a Partnership or Merger Grant, YouthBridge Community Foundation of Greater St. Louis made it possible for Caritas Family Solutions and Human Support Services (HSS) to merge—strengthening the safety net for families across Southern Illinois.
Endowment Power: Securing Camp Rainbow’s Future • Supporting St. Louis Tornado Relief with Compassion and Strategy • Agency Fundholder Spotlight: Camp Rainbow • Student Leadership Opportunity • Now Accepting Scholarship Applications • Heritage Grant Awardees • TBFK Grant Awardee • Barbara Carswell Moderates Powerful Dialogue on Community Investment • Barbara Carswell Shares Philanthropic Insights at AFP Conference • YouthBridge Board Expands with Inspiring New Member: Brennan Connor • One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Three big picture pointers • Tongue twister: OBBBA, IRAs, QCDs, and FAQs • Floor to ceiling: Four factors that will influence corporate giving now and later