Do you know how to help your clients
with year-end giving?

The end of the year is one of the busiest times for professional advisors meeting with their clients. A recent article in The Foundation Center’s Philanthropy News Digest cites a Schwab Charitable study. The study finds that while eight out of 10 professional advisors speak with their clients about charitable giving, one third of advisors lack confidence in their abilities to do so. As clients approach you for estate and tax planning advice at year’s end, know that the staff at Silicon Valley Community Foundation can help provide information you need to be a more effective charitable giving resource for your clients.

Here are some questions you might ask your clients to get the conversation started:

• What do you value most about money?
• Where do you volunteer? 
• What charitable causes do you support?
• Does your family have a charitable giving plan?
• Do you know about the tax benefits of charitable giving?
• How would you like to see your community in the future?
• Are you interested in leaving a legacy for yourself and/or your family in your community?

The community foundation is a resource for you and can provide information and advice based on your clients’ unique circumstances. Clients interested in charitable giving in order to receive year-end tax advantages may consider the following gift and fund options:

Gifts we accept:

• Highly appreciated stock
• Real estate
• Planned gifts such as bequests, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and more
• IRA rollovers to the community foundation’s Community Endowment Fund, to a permanent named endowment or to create a designated fund benefitting a specific nonprofit organization
• Cash
• Wire

Funds we offer:

• Donor advised funds allow fund advisors maximum ease and flexibility to support the causes they care about most
• Corporate advised funds provide an efficient way for companies to facilitate charitable giving
• Committee advised funds are advised by a group of investors support like causes
• Field of interest funds support a broad charitable purpose in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, such as the arts or health care
• Named endowed funds support the strongest causes in Silicon Valley in perpetuity and are named for those who establish them
• Scholarship funds enable students to realize their educational goals

Services we provide:

• A donor engagement team providing personal customer service, charitable planning and education opportunities for fund advisors
• A secure online resource for fund advisors to access their fund information 24/7, advise their charitable grants online and learn about opportunities to give to community programs relevant to their areas of interest
• World-class investment returns on charitable funds to maximize fund advisors’ impact in their philanthropy
• Decreasing administrative work for fund advisors by processing grant letters and checks from funds and investing fund assets

To help your clients as they explore their charitable planning, see our forms for creating or managing charitable funds.

In order to have your client’s gift accepted and/or fund established by year-end, please refer to our year-end giving and grantmaking calendar for important dates and information.

Our team is available to answer your questions about the community foundation and its services. Please contact our professional advisors’ hotline with any questions at 650.450.5517 or email us at donate@siliconvalleycf.org.