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.
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).
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.
Whether you are an estate planning attorney, financial advisor, or accountant, you’ve probably seen an uptick in client questions about tax deductions–and tax rules in general–over the last few years. Tax law changes at the end of 2017 have caused a lot of ongoing taxpayer confusion.
Although a donor-advised fund, which is becoming a more and more popular charitable planning tool, can be established through a national financial institution, YouthBridge Community Foundation offers its donor-advised fund holders much broader services, more personal attention, and deeper connections to the nonprofits whose work is essential to effecting positive community change.
Women’s spending power has been in the news over the last several weeks as Taylor Swift’s and Beyonce’s tours continue to break records and the Barbie movie still looms large. As you’ve worked with female clients over the years, you’ve likely noticed a few trends…
By August 2022, markets were down 12% for the year and inflation was up 8.3% year-over-year. Perhaps consequently, but then unknown, annual charitable giving was on its way to a rare (fourth time in 40 years) year-over year decline of some 4% according to Giving USA. Certainly this decline was due in part to donors not wanting to give stock at depressed values. You likely even discussed this with your clients!
While it all sounds good, business brokers will tell you that many business owners fail to optimize—and they sometimes even compromise—the value of their business’s proceeds by rushing the process, hastily determining an asking price, or not fully assessing the value of their business to a potential buyer. In their haste, owners often miss strategies that can deliver an improved post-sale result and a true reward for their years of work.
Sadly, rarely does a month go by without the news of another disaster or humanitarian tragedy. Most recently, the Maui fires and Hurricane Idalia are making the headlines–and also generating widespread charitable support. Indeed, many of your clients are no doubt supporting relief efforts through monetary donations.
Emojis are fun, but . . . Words matter, and apparently, emojis do, too. At least in Canada, where a judge recently ruled that a thumbs-up emoji within a text message qualified as acceptance of a contract despite the sender’s alternate intentions stated later—and at an … More →
August is National Make-A-Will Month. This means your clients may be reading articles and hearing about estate planning more this month than usual, which makes the next few weeks an especially good time to prompt your clients to review their estate plans–or get their wills and … More →
Instilling the idea of charitable giving in children and grandchildren at first blush may appear to be easy, but where to begin, and how to make it ongoing? More and more, wealth advisors are being asked by their clients to weigh in on strategies for fostering a family’s financial values, which frequently include charitable giving traditions.
At YouthBridge Community Foundation, we regularly work with legal, financial, and tax advisors like you to help clients reach their charitable goals. As a professional who regularly works with charitable clients, you are no doubt well aware of the tremendous benefits to both clients and charities when a client names a charity, such as a fund at YouthBridge, as the beneficiary of an IRA or other qualified retirement plan.
Giving is down, but the total amount–nearly $500 billion—is still impressive, NIL collectives: DOA?, and Even more reasons to talk about philanthropy with your clients
News about the capabilities of artificial intelligence has skyrocketed over the last few months. As attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors, no doubt you are watching these developments closely, both because of the potential legal issues involved and also because of the ways AI can enhance your work.
Proposed legislation known as the Charitable Act appears to be gaining momentum. The bill calls for making available a “below the line” deduction to taxpayers who do not itemize on their tax return.
Differing views within families is nothing new; differing views about nearly anything and everything is centuries old. For generations and generations, common topics of disagreement have included popular culture, politics, religion and parenting, just to name a few. Frequently outranking all is money—how it’s made, spent or saved—or not.
As your philanthropic clients can likely attest, the going has been rough for many of the nonprofit organizations they support. Turbulent economic conditions, concerns about inflation, and challenges in the banking sector are just a few of the factors that are causing donors to be more financially conservative and perhaps begin to evaluate whether to keep their charitable giving at the levels of years past.