There was a lot of charitable giving in the U.S. before the federal income tax (1913) and a federal income tax charitable deduction (1917) came along. Example: As a young person, I made great use of a public library in Aurora, Illinois—one of the many such libraries funded by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie funded these libraries …Read More
Getting donors to say “yes” often involves working with their professional advisors—attorneys, accountants, financial planners, trust officers, insurance agents, bankers, etc. Planned giving officers may be more knowledgeable about sophisticated charitable planning than professionals who only occasionally encounter charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities or the use of charitable techniques in estate and generation-skipping transfers. …Read More
If an individual wants to give LLC units to your organization, be careful! Potential problems lie ahead for both the donor and your organization. Here’s why, by way of an example. Suppose the gift is of 10% of all the outstanding LLC units. It’s necessary to analyze the gift on two levels. First level: Donor …Read More
Thanksgiving celebrations and GivingTuesday are over, but the most generous time of year is just beginning! That’s right, the month of December is traditionally a time for giving to friends, family and favorite charitable organizations. Giving this time of year is embedded in many cultures and religions, and according to scientific studies, charitable giving makes …Read More
The SECURE Act dramatically reduced the deferral period of retirement plan benefits for a non-spousal beneficiary from their lifetime to 10 years. All benefits must be paid at the end of 10 years from the date of death of the account owner. However, no distributions are required until the 10th year; therefore, the beneficiary, if …Read More
If you’ve followed our blog or read our newsletter, Give & Take, you know we stress the importance of thanking your donors. As our founder Robert F. Sharpe Sr. often taught clients, when a donor puts you in their estate plan, they are elevating you to the status of family, and they should be treated …Read More
LLC means “limited liability company.” So what? LLCs play an important role in charitable gift planning. A charity may want to establish an LLC to receive gifts of real estate, for example. A donor may want to follow Mark Zuckerberg’s lead and create an LLC as a vehicle for making charitable gifts. An individual may …Read More
Notwithstanding the possible disruption to the world of donor advised funds from a potential trial in Fairbairn v. Fidelity Charitable Fund,1 a recently decided tax court case affirmed the longstanding rules governing gifts of appreciated stock to donor advised funds. In Jon Dickinson, Et Ux (2020) TC Memo 2020-18, the Dickinsons donated shares of their …Read More
In my experience, planned giving is affected by some things and not others. Interest rates: The biggest influence on how gifts are made is interest rates. For example, low interest rates provide an incentive to set up gift annuities. High interest rates (traditionally associated with high inflation) provide a disincentive to set up fixed payment …Read More
In my blog post of May 27th (An Era of Heightened Scrutiny Arising for Donor Advised Funds?), I noted the case of the Fairbairns versus Fidelity Investments Charitable Fund (Fidelity). Their complaint alleged Fidelity failed to follow their investment recommendation on a liquidating strategy of a $100 million gift of lightly traded stock representing 10% …Read More