Worth a read: Moving from charitable transactions to charitable strategy
At Akron Community Foundation, our team keeps an eye out for helpful sources and reading material to help you more easily stay up-to-date on trends and techniques for advising your charitable clients.
Four recent articles make a common point: the most effective charitable planning rarely happens in response to a single tax event. Instead, it grows out of ongoing conversations about a client's values, family, financial goals and legacy.
This article encourages advisors to move beyond treating charitable gifts as one-off transactions and instead help clients develop a coordinated philanthropic strategy across tax planning, estate planning, wealth transfer and family dynamics.
When Clients Ask About Their Tax Bill, the Answer Might Be Philanthropy (Advisor Perspectives)
The focus of this article is that major tax events — such as business sales, retirement plan distributions, or highly appreciated assets — often create ideal opportunities to discuss charitable giving. Even though the transactional elements might spark a conversation, substantive charitable planning goes far beyond a single transaction and is most effective when it becomes part of a broader financial planning conversation.
Purpose-Driven Wealth Starts with Asking the Right "Why" (InvestmentNews)
This article outlines why technical expertise is important, but meaningful planning begins by understanding what clients hope to accomplish with their wealth. That's why advisors should add deeper questions about values, purpose and legacy, which naturally leads to conversations about intentional charitable planning and stronger long-term client relationships.
The High-Net-Worth Want Philanthropy Guidance (Financial Advisor Magazine)
The article reports that high-net-worth clients increasingly expect their financial advisors to provide philanthropic guidance as part of comprehensive wealth planning. In other words, this creates a big opportunity for advisors who are proactively talking about charitable giving with their clients.
If you skim these articles you will see immediately that a pattern is emerging! Clients don't simply want to save taxes — they want their wealth to reflect what matters most to them. The team at the community foundation is here as a sounding board to help you begin charitable planning conversations early. Please reach out anytime!
For more information about how we can help you serve your philanthropic clients, contact Laura Lederer. We're always available to answer your questions about philanthropy or to schedule a personal consultation with you and your clients – all at no cost.
This content is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.