You’ve probably read the statistics that the majority of heirs are likely to fire their parents’ advisors. Naturally, whether you are an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, you’d like to avoid that outcome! But how?

Retaining clients across generations

Retaining clients across generations can be tricky. Unless a client wants you to share details about estate and financial plans, it’s critical to respect the duty to keep those details confidential. This, in turn, creates barriers to your ability to reach out proactively to get to know the children and grandchildren of your clients.

This is where philanthropy comes in. Even clients who are not comfortable including the next generation in conversations about comprehensive wealth transfer plans are frequently very open to including children and grandchildren in conversations about the charitable giving components of that wealth transfer plan. Indeed, many clients see philanthropy as an important vehicle for passing down family values and traditions.

What this means for you, then, is that you have a real opportunity to proactively suggest that your clients develop philanthropy plans–with your help–and actively engage children and grandchildren in doing so. This opens the door for you to build strong relationships over time with the next generation. When the parents pass away, you’ll already have strong ties to the rest of the family and you’re much more likely to retain the business.

Here’s how the Community Foundation can help:

• Encourage your clients to consider working with the Community Foundation to establish easy-to-understand charitable giving tools, such as a family donor-advised fund, field-of-interest fund, or designated fund.
• Suggest that your clients take advantage of the Community Foundation’s services for families, which include researching family members’ favorite causes, arranging site visits at local charities, and offering educational sessions about the basics of charitable giving and what’s going on in the community.
• Share with your clients and their children materials provided by the Community Foundation describing tax-savvy charitable giving, including the benefits of giving highly-appreciated stock instead of cash to a fund at the community foundation to avoid capital gains taxes.
• Ask the Community Foundation to help facilitate family discussions so that all family members see how they can support causes that have been important to their parents and grandparents over the years as well as causes that are contemporary, relatable, or meaningful to them.

While any conversation with a client’s child or grandchild can increase the likelihood of retaining the family as a client across generations, the topic of philanthropy is an especially effective tool to create a common bond that keeps the family from becoming your former client.

We look forward to helping you build strong relationships for years to come!