When you work with your clients, you talk to them about their situation today and in the future. At BCF, we also take this approach in our charitable advising. We work with many clients who want to create a giving strategy that supports the causes they care about for years to come.
What most clients do not consider is that they can have a greater impact for generations to come when they diversify the types of gifts that they give. As their advisor, you can help them to have that impact.
Gifts They Can Make Today:
- Cash – The most common gift most people make is cash. It provides an immediate impact, and the giver may be able to deduct the value of the gift from their taxes.
- Securities – Donating stocks and publicly traded securities to BCF is a straightforward process that offers your client numerous tax advantages. We recommend that they prioritize appreciated securities, to receive the added benefit of not having to pay capital gains tax.
- Life Income Gifts – Like commercial annuities, charitable annuities allow a person to receive fixed or variable payments for life and while also receiving tax benefits.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) – If your client is older than 70 ½ years, they can give any amount up to $111,000 (in 2026) to a qualified charity without having to pay income taxes. The withdrawal counts as part of their Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) and reduces their overall taxable income.
Gifts They Can Make in the Future:
- A Bequest in their Will or Trust – This is a simple, effective way to make a future gift to a cause or organization. All your client needs to do is include a sentence in these documents leaving a specific item, amount of money, a gift contingent upon certain events, or a percentage of their estate. BCF works with your client to understand the impact they wish to make with their donation.
- Bank & Brokerage Accounts – Most states (including Maryland) allow a person to designate a beneficiary for these types of accounts through a transfer- or payable-on-death designation.
- Life Insurance, Retirement Plans or IRA Assets – these policies or accounts can be donated, or a nonprofit can be named as a beneficiary.
- Savings Bonds – When a savings bond is left to a nonprofit, the giver does not have to pay income tax on the deferred interest.
- Real Estate – Real estate can be left to a nonprofit organization in a will or trust.
Mixing and Matching
Encourage your clients to consider multiple strategies as they plan their giving. For example, it may make the most sense for them to give using a QCD through their IRA today while they plan to support the causes they care about in perpetuity by assigning a charitable recipient to a life insurance policy. Or, when a client experiences a significant life event that results in a one-time infusion of cash, they may want to use that to establish a donor-advised fund which they can continue to support over several years by donating appreciated securities.
When you and your client identify the most effective giving strategy, BCF is available to provide free philanthropic advising helping clients decide how to direct those gifts. To learn more about any of these options and continue the conversation, reach out to Marie Lilly, Assistant Vice President of Development and Donor Services to schedule a meeting.
