Philanthropy and retirement planning: Intertwined in today's market

Greetings from the community foundation!

We hope this newsletter finds you well. 

As global and national events continue to remind us about what’s really important, our board of directors and staff remain deeply and increasingly committed to deploying the power of giving to create positive change in the world. 

Recently, we reflected on a 2017 Forbes post about the important role community foundations play in responding to tragedies and disasters. Still relevant nearly five years later, this article offers a simple review of the ways our community foundation and other community foundations across the country are uniquely qualified to address global issues with local impact, and local issues with global impact, through a combination of deep community knowledge and charitable giving expertise. The short article may also be worth sharing with clients who are building philanthropic legacies now and for their families’ future generations. 

Thank you for trusting the community foundation to help you stay current on legislative changes that impact charitable giving, trends in philanthropy, and planning techniques. We look forward to continuing to help you serve your philanthropic clients by offering solutions to address local, national, and global needs, as well as helping your clients build legacies across generations. 

–Your Community Foundation

Planning for retirement and giving to charity: Intertwined solutions in economically puzzling times  

Retirement planning no doubt is an important discussion topic during client meetings every year. In recent months, though, you may have observed an uptick in clients’ questions about their plans for retirement, perhaps related to:

–Required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) from qualified retirement plans, including questions prompted by media coverage of pending legislation known as SECURE 2.0;

–Stability of retirement investments, a topic that is widely covered in mainstream financial news; and

–Rising interest rates and what that means for retirement, which is also a frequent topic in the media, along with inflation’s impact on retirees.  

Against this backdrop, the issues become particularly complex for philanthropic clients. Here are answers to questions you may be asking:

What’s going on with updates to the charitable giving components proposed in the SECURE 2.0 Act?

Right now, SECURE 2.0 includes a provision that would index the $100,000 Qualified Charitable Distribution (“QCD”) allowance for inflation and also expand the technique to allow for a one-time transfer of $50,000 to a charitable remainder trust or other split-interest vehicle. But those enhancements are not the law, yet. Overall, the legislation appears to stand a good chance of becoming law. Still, a lot can happen as the House and Senate reconcile their respective bills before the legislation heads to President Biden for signature.

So what should I be telling my clients about the potential changes to the Qualified Charitable Distribution rules? Or should I say nothing?

For clients who are seriously considering a QCD, it may be worth mentioning these potential enhancements. But in general, it’s usually more confusing than helpful to bring up pending legislation, no matter how exciting. Instead, consider placing your focus on the QCD rules as they currently stand. The QCD already is a strong planning tool.

When should I reach out to the community foundation for help with QCDs?

The answer is, anytime! The community foundation can help establish a qualifying fund to receive your client’s Qualified Charitable Distribution, regardless of whether the SECURE 2.0 enhancements become law. The recipient fund can’t be a donor-advised fund, but there are other very effective options. 

With interest rates rising, are there particular techniques that I should be discussing with my clients who are planning for retirement and are charitable inclined?

Yes. Now is a good time to consider talking with these clients about charitable gift annuities. A charitable gift annuity, like any other annuity, is a contract. Your client agrees to make an irrevocable transfer of cash or assets to a charitable organization. In return, the charitable organization agrees to pay the client (or the client’s designated beneficiary) a fixed payment for life. Your client is eligible for an immediate income tax deduction for the present value of the future amount passing to charity. 

What if my client needs the tax deduction this year but won’t be retiring for several years? 

Charitable gift annuities offer flexibility, in that your client may choose to structure the contract as a “deferred gift annuity,” meaning that the client starts receiving payments at a future date (or upon a future event such as retirement), rather than immediately while the client's effective income tax rate may still be high. In this way, the charitable gift annuity can be a tax-savvy component of an overall retirement plan.

How do rising interest rates factor in?

Client discussions about charitable gift annuities are especially timely because the American Council on Gift Annuities recently voted to increase the “rate of return assumption” used as guidelines for maximum payout rates. Effective on July 1, 2022, the return assumption will increase from 3.75% to 4.5%. This means that the Council’s suggested payout rates will be going up. That’s good news for a client’s income stream. 

What’s the bottom line on this?

The net-net here is that rising interest rates make the charitable gift annuity an even more attractive tool for clients who want to combine charitable planning with retirement planning. The team at the community foundation can help you evaluate this option to determine if it is a good fit for your client.

Playbook: Helping clients organize their giving through a donor-advised fund

Your clients will arrive in 15 minutes. You’re reviewing the file. Everything is in order. The estate planning documents are up to date, you’re ready to share the latest investment results, and you are prepared to debrief the 2021 tax season and make tax planning recommendations for the remainder of this year. It sounds pretty typical up to this point, right? 

As you continue to scroll through the materials, you see the names of several charitable organizations that your clients have supported every year for at least a decade. Ah ha! This is an opportunity to add even more value to your clients. Easy for a busy advisor to overlook, charitable giving habits are actually an important window into helping a client make planning decisions around their philanthropic intentions.

Here’s a simple playbook to guide you through a client conversation to begin establishing a charitable giving plan using a donor-advised fund at the community foundation.

–Call your clients’ attention to their charitable giving history. They might not even be aware of how much they are giving or how long they’ve been supporting their favorite charities. 

–Gather more information about why the clients support those particular causes. Family tradition? Past involvement as a beneficiary of an organization’s services? Desire to impact a particular area of need? 

–Talk with your clients about their community involvement. Do they serve on any boards of directors? Do they volunteer at local organizations?

–Review any charitable giving provisions in the current will or trust. Are the clients leaving a bequest to favorite charities?   

–Ask your clients if they’ve ever considered organizing their giving through a donor-advised fund. If they are not familiar with donor-advised funds, perhaps offer a quick primer, and certainly offer to introduce the client to a member of the community foundation team.

–Briefly mention that a donor-advised fund can be an effective alternative to a private foundation, thanks to fewer expenses to establish and maintain, maximum tax benefits (higher AGI limitations and fair market valuation for contributing hard-to-value assets), no excise taxes, and confidentiality (including the ability to grant anonymously to charities).

–Also mention that a donor-advised fund at the community foundation is frequently a more effective choice than a donor-advised fund offered through a brokerage firm (such as Fidelity or Schwab). That’s because, at a community foundation, the donor is part of a community of giving and has opportunities to collaborate with other donors who share similar interests. In addition, the donor is supported in strategic grant making, family philanthropy, and opportunities to gain deep knowledge about local issues and nonprofits making a difference. 

Finding the good, giving as a wealth strategy, and an open invitation

It can be hard to see the good in people as heartbreaking exceptions seem to dominate modern life, but it is worth remembering that philanthropy–”love of humanity”--is alive and well. A study at Stanford University indicates that a sense of community and calls to action help align people around common values. Indeed, high-profile examples of philanthropy, from Carnegie Hall to the manatees, help reinforce the notion that people can turn altruism into action through their leadership and financial resources. 

What’s more, nearly two-thirds of high net-worth philanthropists agree that charitable giving is part of their overall wealth strategy, according to a recently-released study by BNY Mellon reporting the results of a survey of individuals with investable assets of at least $5 million. Once again, the takeaway here for advisors is that it is important in any situation to at least ask whether the client would like to incorporate charitable giving into their financial and estate plans. If the answer is yes, the team at the community foundation is just a phone call away to provide guidance and serve as a sounding board. 

Your clients’ charitable intentions, coupled with the community foundation’s ability to structure donor-advised funds and other charitable giving vehicles to meet your clients’ financial and community impact goals, create many opportunities for us to work together. The offer is always open for our team to stop by your office over breakfast, lunch, or even as a midday break to exchange ideas. We’d love to help you help your clients make a difference in our community. 

Understanding the best vehicles for family giving

Beyond the tax deductions: Selecting a vehicle to celebrate and support a family's culture of philanthropy

For many donors, the importance of a multi-generational family philanthropy plan is high on the radar, especially in the wake of 2020’s eye-opening events highlighting the importance of rallying around important social and community priorities.

How do you know when a client’s family is a strong candidate for more formal philanthropic planning, beyond simply budgeting for annual gifts to charity? Watch for these candidates among your client base:

• Families who have started to ask you about multi-generational participation in the family’s favorite causes but do not yet have any formalized plans.

• Families who have publicly demonstrated a long-term charitable commitment to at least three charitable organizations.

• Families who own a multi-generational family business, creating the opportunity for corporate giving and values to serve as inspiration for the family’s charitable plans, even beyond the family’s ownership of the business. 

• Families who have the capacity to give more than $25,000 per year to charity and have expressed or demonstrated enthusiasm and willingness to do so.

• Families in which at least five family members across two or more generations have shown an interest in philanthropy.

A comprehensive philanthropy plan often starts with establishing a structure, typically in the form of either a donor-advised fund or a private foundation. Although there are benefits and advantages of each, the donor-advised fund option has become increasingly popular because of its favorable tax treatment, simplicity of administration, and flexibility. By contrast, private foundations typically appeal to families who want to engage directly in charitable activities, hire family members as employees to operate the foundation’s day-to-day business and receive salaries, run their own grant programs to support individuals, and grant directly to international efforts.  

A common myth, however, is that families who wish to collaborate across generations on grant making and impact are better suited for a private foundation. The reality is that families can work together to determine and execute a philanthropic vision, mission, and grants from the family’s charitable structures, whether a donor-advised fund, private foundation, or both. When a family establishes a donor-advised fund at the community foundation, for example, the community foundation’s professional staff can support the family in areas of expertise well beyond the administrative duties that are built into donor-advised fund services provided through the community foundation. 

Here are examples of comments you may hear from families who may be excellent candidates to work with the community foundation alongside you as their key advisor: 

• “We are interested in engaging the next generation of our family in philanthropic conversations, but we are at a bit of a loss as to how to go about it.” 

• “We are concerned that families today--including our family--are less community centered than they used to be. So we don't want to ignore global issues, but we want to ensure that we make a difference locally. We thought about working with our children and grandchildren on community priorities and deploying philanthropy as a way to communicate our concerns and dreams for the region we all love, but we aren't sure where to find tools and best practices.” 

• “As a member of my family foundation’s so-called 'next generation,' I am worried that our older generation has been directly involved with just a handful of organizations, so they tend to support only those organizations. As younger donors, we aren't necessarily going to want to be directly involved with these particular organizations, and at the same time we don't want to shut off support. We want to respect and engage with our older family members while also charting our own course.” 

• “As a thirty-something, I have a young family and it is really important to me to be able to engage my kids in the family’s philanthropy, working right alongside me, my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and grandparents.”

If you’re hearing these and similar expressions of interest from your clients, please don’t hesitate to reach out. The team at the community foundation is your partner to serve your clients’ philanthropic endeavors.

Unlocking the power of clients' real estate: Why the bargain sale is a must-have in your charitable planning toolkit

Whether a nonprofit’s mission calls for office space, warehouse facilities, or something in between, most charitable enterprises need a physical location to serve their constituents. Unfortunately, nonprofit organizations are frequently left empty handed when they search for competitively-priced commercial property to house their operations.  

Enter the charitable bargain sale, a giving vehicle that allows a donor to facilitate the transfer of much-needed real estate to a favorite charity at a price the charity can afford, while at the same time earning the donor a tax deduction. 

The bargain sale, frequently heralded as the earliest charitable giving vehicle, results in the real estate owner serving in both the role of a seller for the cash portion of the sale to a charity, and also in the role of a donor for the donated portion of the property. 

As is the case with many types of charitable gifts, establishing fair market value of the subject real estate is critical and requires a qualified appraisal that complies with IRS regulations. Establishing the fair market value in turn determines the charitable donation portion, which is the difference between the fair market value and the lower cash amount paid by the charity to the donor/seller.  

A post-pandemic world may create new opportunities for your clients to consider bargain sales of property to charities. Indeed, nearly $430 billion in commercial and multifamily real estate debt is set to mature this year, opening up conversations about what property is really worth and how owners can most efficiently unlock its value. And of course, bargain sales are not limited to commercial property. The U.S. housing market is estimated to have gained more than $2.5 trillion in value in 2020 alone, bringing the total value of housing in the U.S. to over $36 trillion. 

Tax tips: Qualified appraisals, 2020 tax changes, and holiday parties (not)

Last but not least, here are three of our favorite tax tips for March.

• For yet another reminder about the importance of obtaining a qualified appraisal for transactions in order to secure a charitable deduction, as well as evidence that the IRS will continue its scrutiny of conservation easements, see the opinion in Sells v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, a Tax Court decision issued earlier this year. (Bonus: On the positive side for the taxpayer, this ruling is an illustratration of the type of case where the IRS may agree to abate penalties, even those related to the taxpayer’s misvaluation.)

• If you’re having trouble keeping up with changes to the tax laws, you are not alone! If you are a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal, we highly recommend its recently-released tax guide. For a guide that does not require a subscription, Kiplinger offers a helpful summary of the changes effective for tax year 2020.

• Finally, we suggest skimming the examples in Private Letter Ruling 202107012, released on February 19, 2021, as a reminder of what types of activities are deemed to go beyond the Internal Revenue Service’s definition of “charitable and educational” for qualification as an exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). (Hint: Holiday parties, outings to restaurants and bars, car shows, and other social gatherings can tip the scales against exemption, even if those activities are conducted in connection with fundraising and collecting in-kind donations for charitable causes.)

Working hard for the community: Versatile and strong Charitable giving vehicles

Donor-advised funds: Tried and true

Donor-advised funds are a popular charitable giving tool. And right now is a perfect time to evaluate this planning strategy for your clients.

In recent years, donor-advised funds have been one of the fastest-growing philanthropic planning tools in the marketplace. Donor-advised funds are popular because they allow an individual or family to make a tax-deductible transfer that qualifies as a charitable contribution, and then recommend grants to favorite charities from the fund when the time is right. A donor-advised fund operates a lot like a checking account for charity, and it’s established according to IRS guidelines that provide tax advantages for the donor as well as administrative efficiencies.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, giving from donor-advised funds at community foundations is accelerating. This is creating a significant boost for nonprofits and people in need. Indeed, the global healthcare crisis is precisely the reason that many donors established donor-advised funds in the first place: To be ready to give when needs are the highest. 

According to a recent survey conducted by the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative, grants from donor-advised funds among the 64 community foundations surveyed increased nearly 60% in March and Apri 2020 compared with March and April 2019. 

To be sure, donor-advised funds can be an important “lifeline” for community organizations during periods of hardship, as noted by Bruce Hopkins, a University of Kansas School of Law professor. 

Consider working with your clients to activate their existing donor-advised funds or establish new donor-advised funds to help respond to the needs created by Covid-19. A donor-advised fund helps the community right now and also allows your clients and their families to build a nest egg to address our community’s needs during future crises. 

Important reminders: QCDs and CLATs

Our recent communications have highlighted the unique importance of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) and Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts (CLATs) in today’s market conditions. Given the critical needs facing our community right now, the team at the community foundation wants to reiterate the value of these two planning tools. We're inviting you to contact us if you have any questions about how these charitable giving techniques can help you and your clients immediately support people in need. 

In the case of Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts, some experts are heralding a “golden age of CLATs” because of the convergence of historically low interest rates and depressed asset values. The timing may never be better for your clients to use a CLAT to create an income stream to charities, thereby satisfying their current goals for amping up philanthropy in this period of extreme need, and simultaneously establish a future gift to heirs with the trust’s remainder.  

Don’t overlook Qualified Charitable Distributions, either, as a way to meet the urgent needs of the charities your clients want to support. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act waives Required Minimum Distributions for most taxpayers. The provision includes not only distributions from 401(k)s and IRAs, but also defined benefit pension plans and 457 plans. Taxpayers who have reached 70½ years of age still can take advantage of the Qualified Charitable Distribution, enabling a taxpayer to direct up to $100,000 from an IRA to qualified charities. The distribution is not included in taxable income.

Winter is coming: Tax tips and donor-advised funds in the news

Philanthropy in the News: Donor-advised Funds

Donor-advised funds continue to be a hot topic among commentators, including several recent opinion pieces published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Now is an ideal time to remind your clients of the benefits of establishing a donor-advised fund through the community foundation. Donor-advised funds are popular because they allow an individual or family to make a tax-deductible transfer that qualifies as a charitable contribution, and then later recommend gifts to favorite charities from the fund when the time is right. A donor-advised fund operates a lot like a checking account just for charity, except it’s established according to the IRS guidelines that create the tax advantages. Most importantly, however, establishing a donor-advised fund through the community foundation offers the additional benefit of allowing your clients to access the expertise of our team who is dedicated to staying up-to-date with the community's greatest needs and priorities and the causes your clients care about. This means your clients can make a meaningful and lasting difference in your community--an advantage not available through commercial donor-advised fund providers.

Creative Solutions: Answering Clients' Questions About Charities

During the giving season, it is not unusual for a client to ask an advisor about a specific charity in the community. Clients might want to know whether that charity is reputable and effective. That's a tough question to answer! Most attorneys, accountants, and wealth advisors are not in a position to know the ins and outs of how charities in the community are being managed. That’s okay, as long as you have a few  strategies for client conversations when they do arise.

Your responsibility to your clients in today’s social impact culture is to be equipped with at least a minimum level of working knowledge. For example:

Tell your client to consider the source. Your talk track can go something like this: "If it’s a friend, colleague, or a neighbor asking you to support a cause she knows and loves, you can be more confident in your contribution. Ask about the organization to find out whether it’s a fit for you. Don’t worry—you won’t offend your friend by asking questions. Instead, your interest in the cause your friend is marketing will give her a chance to tell the story about how that organization is making a social impact."

If the charity is brand new and not one you’ve heard of, suggest that your client start with something other than money. You can say something like the following: "Giving money to a charity is not the only way to do good. Supporting causes includes a wide range of other activities, such as recycling, volunteering, serving on boards, donating canned goods or clothing, attending community events, marketing a favorite nonprofit, sharing with friends and families in need, purchasing brands that support causes, and caring for your own health and wellness. So, if you are uncomfortable with a monetary contribution, do something else for the charity you’re being asked to support. Volunteer for an hour or two, donate household items, or attend one of the charity’s events by buying a ticket instead of making an outright donation. These activities give you a chance to check things out."

Encourage your client to go online. Here's what you can say: "You should check out the charity online. Giving is big business, and charities today know they need to report compelling information on their websites about the difference they’re making with your dollars. Be sure to look at the charity’s Form 990, too, available through GuideStar.org. The Form 990 is the charity’s tax return, and it will contain important disclosures to provide a glimpse into the financial stability of the organization."

Above all, make it a point to familiarize yourself with the experts in your region. Remember that the community foundation is here for you. Our mission is to increase charitable giving in the community, connect donors to causes, and lead on critical community issues to improve the quality of life in our region, now and in the future. We are integrally involved with nonprofits in the community, and our team knows how to help you help your clients improve the quality of life for everyone.

Tax-Savvy Giving: A Quick Reminder

Year-end is is good time to remind your clients about the benefits of giving shares of highly appreciated stock. Donating long-term appreciated securities, including stock, bonds, and mutual funds, to a fund at the community foundation delivers much greater benefits compared with donating cash, or selling the securities and contributing the after-tax proceeds. The team at the community foundation is here to help you and your clients establish the most tax-savvy giving vehicles, especially at year-end. We encourage you to contact us with all of your clients' year-end charitable giving needs. 

Recipe for success: A bit of caution and all the right tools

Avoiding landmines in charitable planning

A cautionary tale

Donor-advised funds are popular because they allow an individual, family, or business to make a tax-deductible transfer that qualifies as a charitable contribution, and then later recommend gifts to favorite charities from the fund when the time is right. A donor-advised fund operates a lot like a checking account just for charity, except it’s established according to the IRS guidelines that create the tax advantages.

Through a donor-advised fund at the community foundation, your clients not only receive the tax benefits and ease of administration common across all donor-advised fund programs, but they also have access to the deep resources, philanthropy expertise, and community-specific knowledge that only community foundations can deliver. 

Indeed, not all experiences with donor-advised funds are created equal. If you’ve not been keeping up with what’s going on in the legal world of donor-advised funds, you can get up to speed by reading the petition in a case filed in 2018 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. 
 

HOW WE CAN HELP
A community foundation’s sole responsibility is to serve as a steward of philanthropic assets and honor donor intent to achieve positive community change. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you and your clients about our policies, procedures, and safeguards that align with your responsibility to serve your clients.   
 

Don’t let this gotcha get you

Making a gift of alternative assets such as real estate and closely-held business interests is a tax-savvy way for your clients to give to charitable organizations. Highly-appreciated assets can be sold by the charity for 100 cents on the dollar—no capital gains tax applies. That means the charity ends up with more money to work with than your client would have received if the client had sold that same asset on their own.

When it comes time to file the client’s income tax return, though, don’t overlook the importance of filing IRS Form 8283, “Noncash Charitable Contributions.” This is the form that documents the tax basis for the donated assets. Even though the value of the donation for income tax deduction purposes is based on fair market value, not basis, the IRS nevertheless wants to see a paper trail documenting just how highly appreciated the asset really is.   

Failure to file Form 8283 can have devastating tax consequences for the donor. This spring, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the Tax Court’s 2017 decision in RERI Holdings I, LLC, denying the entire charitable income tax deduction--a whopping $33,019,000--because of a missing Form 8283. You’ll note in its decision that the Court of Appeals refused to apply the “substantial compliance” doctrine, which historically has excused taxpayers from failure to comply with formal filing requirements. (Like we said, “gotcha!”) 
 

HOW WE CAN HELP

Our team at the community foundation thinks about charitable giving 24/7. This means we are highly tuned in to filing requirements and other rules that can make or break your clients’ tax planning strategies. We are honored to work alongside you as you structure your clients’ plans to support favorite causes, dotting every “i” and crossing every “t.”
 

Tax reform’s ripple effects

We’ll continue to keep you posted on what’s trending in philanthropy and charitable planning as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 

Last month, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York filed a lawsuit against Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to challenge the new final regulations that place limits on the tax benefits of giving to entities (including some community foundations) in cases where the donors are entitled to local or state tax credits for making the contribution. The regulations are the latest step in a saga that includes workaround legislation enacted in many states to avoid the $10,000 SALT deductions cap. The argument is that the new regulation flies in the face of prior tax policy and “undermines state and local programs designed to promote charitable giving through the use of state and local credits.” The case was filed in the Southern District of New York.
 

Tools in your back pocket

The team at the community foundation understands that it sometimes can be hard to know where to start a conversation with a client about charitable planning. As you ask questions about the causes your clients love and how your clients intend to support the community in their estate plans, you’ll need quick access to a few go-to planning tools to inspire the dialogue. To help you do just that, we’ve assembled this list of a few of our favorite planning tools. 

Qualified Charitable Distributions

Under the now permanent IRA charitable rollover laws, your 70 ½+ clients can direct up to $100,000 annually of required minimum distributions to charitable organizations, avoiding inclusion in taxable income. These distributions are called Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). Although donor-advised funds can’t receive QCDs, there are still plenty of ways our team at the community foundation can help your clients take advantage of this tool for lifetime gifts. Also, your clients can name their donor-advised fund as the beneficiary of a qualified plan, which is still a tax-savvy bequest strategy.  

Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Gift Annuities

They’re back! Tax reform’s elimination of the Pease provision, which limited charitable deductions for high income taxpayers, means your clients can better leverage a single, up front gift to a charitable remainder trust or a charitable gift annuity. 

Bundling . . . or Is It Bunching?

Whether you call it “bundling” or “bunching,” clients who want to maximize their charitable deductions under the new tax laws can benefit from making two or more years’ worth of charitable contributions in a single year. This helps push taxpayers over the itemizing threshold, where they can reap the benefit of deducting the full value of their donations. (Quick stat: Because of tax reform, just 10 percent of taxpayers itemized deductions in 2018, compared with 30% in 2017.) 
 

Reflections on the impact of a do good, feel good moment

Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge, when 17 million people dumped icy water over their heads to raise money for the ALS Association? It may seem like yesterday, but it was actually five years ago this summer that the viral sensation helped raise $115 million in eight weeks for research and patient services. The five-year results are captured in an infographic, which the ALS Association has made available for everyone to share.

HOW WE CAN HELP

When nonprofit organizations launch online fundraisers, they capture a lot of attention. Your clients may ask questions about impact, such as “How do I know the dollars are used wisely?” or “What should I watch out for when I am donating online?” or “Is the expense of viral fundraising campaigns worth the ultimate benefit achieved for the people being served?” The team at the community foundation is your partner. We are here to help you provide thoughtful, helpful answers to your clients' questions. Think of our experts as extensions of your team to help you fulfill your client service role.