stantial investment , it may make sense to confer with a charitable giving specialist . These experts can provide helpful benchmarks and illuminate trends to shape your clients ’ decisions ; they can offer technical guidance for vehicles and tax considerations ; and they can give you and your clients access to a broader network of philanthropic advisors . These skills will improve your clients ’ experience and reflect well on your practice in a variety of ways . Even clients who have had foundations , charitable trusts or donor-advised funds in place for years may have concerns and challenges that need attention and support . In particular , an experienced philanthropic consultant can offer support and insights to clients who want to increase the funding in a charitable vehicle , engage younger generations in making charitable gifts or address succession issues within a foundation ’ s board .
If you think only about charitable planning in isolation , that ’ s a missed opportunity for both you and your clients .
Leaving The Dots Unconnected
When clients come to you for charitable giving support , it signals two important things — they trust you and expect to benefit from having more centralized oversight over a larger piece of their portfolio . They ’ re giving you the opportunity to look across their investment accounts , estate plan , tax strategies , insurance policies , budgets and other areas to ensure there is alignment and efficiency wherever possible . When asked , you can point out any opportunities they might have to strengthen their portfolios , reduce their fees , increase their tax deductions or simply eliminate redundancies . You will thus get them better results and help them better understand how all the different pieces of their financial plan work together . But if you think only about charitable planning in isolation , that ’ s a missed opportunity for both you and your clients .
HANNAH SHAW GROVE is chief marketing officer at Foundation Source , the nation ’ s largest provider of support services to private and family foundations .
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