As an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, you offer clients valuable knowledge and support. We’re grateful that so many of you regularly reach out to the team at the community foundation when you need a sounding board about how to handle charitable gifts of complex assets such as closely-held stock, or when your client wants to set up donor-advised funds for their children, or when your client is ready to establish a charitable legacy that can improve our region for years to come.

Connect with community experts

But what about when clients ask you for the names of charities in our community that are addressing particular needs, whether the arts, human services, education, green spaces, healthcare, or anything else? Please call us with those questions, too! Our team can offer far more expertise than you and your client will find in an online search. We know the community, we know the charities, and, most importantly, we know the actual people in those organizations who are doing the work every day to make a difference.

Even your clients who’ve already established a donor-advised fund at the community foundation may still have questions from time to time about what’s going on at the organizations they support, or maybe they are looking for new organizations to support as their charitable interests grow and evolve over the years.

The Community Foundation is part of your team

You and your clients might be amazed at the depth and extent of the community foundation’s wraparound philanthropic advisory services provided alongside the nuts and bolts of helping your clients organize their tax-savvy charitable giving. We offer expert guidance on local community needs, in-depth knowledge of nonprofit organizations, and personalized support in developing giving strategies. Our comprehensive approach not only enhances your clients’ giving experience, but it also helps ensure that charitable dollars are used most effectively to address community needs–which is precisely what your clients want.

So the next time your clients (or you!) have questions about charities in our region–or across the country and globe for that matter–reach out to the community foundation at DonorServices@cfsem.org. We’ve got you!

The team at the community foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.