November 7, 2022
Giving appreciated stock to charitable organizations is certainly a highly-effective tax strategy. During years when highly-appreciated stock is in short supply, however, implementing this strategy may be easier said than done.
This is when donor advised funds come in especially handy. Now is the time to discuss charitable giving with those clients who regularly added to their donor advised funds throughout the market’s long bull run. If these clients intend to ride out today’s market conditions in their personal portfolios, this year’s bear market doesn’t mean the clients’ year-end charitable giving has to take a hit. These clients can use their donor advised funds to support their favorite organizations, sometimes even at levels consistent with prior years.
Related, now is a good time for clients to evaluate the asset allocation in their donor advised funds. The Community Foundation is happy to assist your clients with assessing cash positions in their donor advised funds as a potential source of year-end giving.
Similarly, for some clients, this may be a year to consider contributing cash to a donor advised fund instead of donating highly-appreciated stock (which has been the go-to gift for so many of the last several years). Gifts of cash could reduce the burden on a client’s personal stock positions that may have fallen in value dramatically, giving these positions more time to recover value and, at some point in the future, be contributed to a donor advised fund at a higher value (thereby resulting in a higher tax deduction for the client).
Now may also be a good time for clients to consider using their cryptocurrency in creative ways to meet their charitable giving goals. Clients holding cryptocurrency may have come to the conclusion that it does not necessarily provide the protection against inflation they thought it would. A client could, for instance, sell their cryptocurrency at a loss and contribute the cash to their donor advised fund. Then, the client can keep an eye on the cryptocurrency market and decide when–or whether–to wade back in.
Finally, consider encouraging your clients who’ve not yet established donor-advised funds at the Community Foundation to consider doing so now. Not only does a donor advised fund help organize charitable giving, but over the long term it can also protect a client’s ability to support favorite charitable organizations even when market conditions are rough.
The team at the Community Foundation of New Jersey is always happy to help your clients maximize both the philanthropic and financial elements of their charitable giving strategies. We look forward to hearing from you.