November 2025 Professional Advisor News

Right now, many families across our region are facing financial strain, and some of your clients may be asking how they can help. Now and in the future, whenever crises occur, and whether community challenges stem from a government shutdown that interrupts paychecks and services, a natural disaster that disrupts daily life, or ongoing economic pressures, GiveWell Community Foundation is ready to partner with you and your clients to create charitable giving plans that deliver meaningful, lasting impact where it’s needed most.

Here are a few ways our team can help you guide your clients’ philanthropy:

Community insight and expertise. Our staff keeps a close pulse on local nonprofits and the people they serve, especially during times of crisis. When federal benefits are delayed or workers miss paychecks, the burden often falls on frontline charitable organizations that provide food, rent, and utility assistance. The Community Foundation knows which organizations are responding most effectively and how charitable dollars can reach them quickly to provide relief.

Tools for rapid response. Clients who have already established donor-advised funds at the Community Foundation are in a strong position to make a difference right away. These funds can be activated quickly to support trusted, vetted organizations providing emergency services. Our team ensures that grants flow smoothly from donor-advised funds to the nonprofits doing essential work on the ground.

A time-sensitive opportunity. Late 2025 presents both an urgent moment for communities and a timely planning opportunity for taxpayers who itemize deductions. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will introduce tighter charitable deduction limits starting in 2026. That means clients who “bunch” or “front-load” charitable contributions now—such as by opening or adding to a donor-advised fund—may be able to maximize their tax advantages while addressing today’s critical community needs.

Building long-term resilience. Emergencies may vary, but they are rarely far apart. That’s why many donors choose to do more than respond to the crisis of the moment—they also invest in long-term preparedness. The Community Foundation can help your clients support immediate needs through their donor-advised funds and other vehicles while also contributing to dedicated long-term community response funds that ensure help is available the next time a crisis hits.

Now is the moment to act. The overlap of pressing community needs and favorable tax conditions creates a unique opportunity for your clients to make a lasting difference. The Community Foundation is honored to collaborate with you and your charitable clients to strengthen our community—both for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s challenges.

As attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, you are well aware that the last couple months of the year are very busy with clients’ tax planning! It’s also a busy time for charitable giving. An enormous percentage of online giving happens in December. The Community Foundation professional staff is honored to work closely with you and your clients on year-end giving strategies. Here are seven reminders to keep in mind as you work with clients in the busy weeks ahead:

Where have we been? Before launching into year-end plans, encourage clients to reflect on their giving history since January. Often people overlook how much they have already contributed or disregard smaller recurring gifts. Reviewing prior donations helps identify areas of focus, gaps, and opportunities to make intentional year-end gifts that align with personal values.

What are the rules? This is a great time to remind clients that only gifts to qualified 501(c)(3) public charities are tax-deductible. Donors sometimes assume that all community initiatives qualify, so a quick check using IRS tools or call to the Community Foundation can avoid disappointment later.

What assets to give? Remind clients that donating appreciated securities or other long-term assets to their donor-advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation can eliminate capital gains tax while providing a charitable deduction for the fair market value. This strategy is often more tax efficient than selling the assets and donating cash.

When to give? Encourage clients to act early when transferring non-cash gifts, or really any gift, to their donor-advised or other type of fund at the Community Foundation. Stock transfers, complex assets, and donor-advised fund contributions can take extra time to process before year-end. Initiating those steps well before December 31 helps ensure the gift counts for the current tax year.

Who is giving? For clients who are age 70½ or older, be sure to evaluate the possibility of Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs, up to $108,000 per taxpayer in 2025, which can reduce taxable income. These gifts must go directly from the IRA to a qualified charitable organization, including certain types of funds at the Community Foundation (excluding donor-advised funds).

How much to give? Talk with clients about using their donor-advised funds to potentially “front-load” or “bunch” charitable contributions into 2025 to maximize tax benefits in light of new laws that will kick in next year.

Why give? Encourage clients to think beyond tax savings. The most meaningful charitable plans grow out of purpose and connection, not just deductions. The professional staff at the Community Foundation can help your clients make a big difference in the causes that matter most to them. Our team can also help clients involve family members in their philanthropy and help clients align charitable giving with broader long term legacy goals.

Where to give? Remind clients that local expertise matters. Working through the Community Foundation helps ensure that clients’ generosity benefits the community they care about. Our team is deeply rooted in the community and keeps a finger on the pulse of how nonprofits in our region are improving the quality of life for everyone. We are always happy to be a sounding board!

We look forward to working with you and your clients!

We talk with many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors who tell us that it can be hard to know if a client is charitably inclined. What’s also challenging is that it’s tough to know exactly how to engage a charitable client in a conversation and how that conversation might unfold.

We understand! It is often tough to visualize how these conversations can flow, especially in a vacuum. Let’s review a hypothetical case study to shed light on a few tips.

When estate planning attorney Sarah Johnson met her long-time client, James Patel, to discuss his upcoming retirement, philanthropy wasn’t on his mind. James, an engineer and unmarried father of three, described himself as “comfortable but not rich.” His goals were straightforward: reduce taxes, simplify his finances, and leave enough to his children to ensure that they will be taken care of but not so much that they aren’t motivated to become independent.

As Sarah reviewed James’s prior tax returns, she realized James had been quietly philanthropic for years—donating to his local food pantry, sponsoring youth sports, volunteering at a literacy nonprofit, and even serving on a board. James had never labeled it “philanthropy,” but his actions fit the true definition: one who makes an active effort to promote human welfare.

Sarah explained that philanthropy isn’t reserved for the ultra-wealthy. Anyone can make a difference in the causes they care about. This was a surprise to James because he’d been reading with interest stories about so-called “mega-donors” and hadn’t realized that he could make a big difference on a scale that is right for him. Inspired, James decided to formalize his giving in a way that was both strategic and tax-efficient.

Sarah reached out to arrange a meeting for her and James at the Community Foundation’s office, so he could see that it’s a well-established institution led by a staff of professionals. The Community Foundation team suggested, as a starting point, that James set up a donor-advised fund. The donor-advised fund allowed James to better organize his charitable giving, receive an immediate tax deduction, and plan future giving to the organizations he has supported for years. The donor-advised fund also created a structure for James to involve his children in shared decisions about which causes to fund. As James put it, “This isn’t about how much I can give, but how thoughtfully I can give.”

By the end of the year, James had contributed appreciated stock to his donor-advised fund, avoiding capital gains tax and freeing up more resources for the causes he cared about. He began thinking more broadly about how he could use his philanthropic fund to support not only the causes that had been his favorites over the years, but also how he could expand his community impact by supporting disaster relief, local education programs, and initiatives recommended by the Community Foundation professional staff as particularly important to the future of the community.

With the donor-advised fund up and running, James and Sarah deepened the conversation with the Community Foundation to explore how James might update his estate plan to include a bequest to the donor-advised fund, complemented by a bequest to the Community Foundation itself to support its mission across generations. Specifically, the team recommended that James make these bequests through a beneficiary designation on his IRA. James had not realized that his children would get hit with so much income tax if they were named as the beneficiary of his IRA. James worked with Sarah to ensure that the other assets in James’s estate plan could fund the amounts James intended to leave to his children so that taxes were minimized.

The takeaway here is that James’s simple lifelong habits of giving back sparked a comprehensive charitable giving plan, including a meaningful legacy plan, that blended purpose and practicality thanks to the tools and services available at the Community Foundation. If you find yourself in a similar position to Sarah as you advise a client like James, please reach out to the professional staff at the Community Foundation. We are happy to help!