Donor Advised Funds are charitable-giving vehicles that provide simple, tax-smart and meaningful ways to help your client manage their charitable giving. Your clients can enjoy immediate and maximum tax advantages, make grants on a flexible timetable, build their charitable legacy, and increase philanthropic funds for future grantmaking. Here is how it works for your clients:

  • Establish the Fund: Contribute a wide range of assets.
  • Enjoy immediate and maximum tax benefits.
  • Invest the Assets: Your clients trust you to manage their charitable assets on your investment platform.
  • Recommend Grants: By using this simple tool Donors can recommend grants on a flexible timetable.
  • Leave a Legacy: Donors can use this tool to teach and pass on family values and to prepare their heirs, and to become successful, responsible and caring adults.

Donor Benefits

The program provides numerous benefits for the donor

  • Tax wise: Your clients enjoy the maximum income tax deduction, avoid capital gains and estate taxes, assets grow tax-free.
  • Simple and fast: Simple and fast solution that enables your clients to manage their charitable giving, similar to a private foundation (with significant advantages).
  • Efficient: The fund handles oversight and administration including, gift acceptance, grant processing, recordkeeping, compliance and tax reporting.
  • Private: Your clients decide whether to keep their charitable giving private or allow it to be acknowledged.
  • Flexible: Many funds accept a wide variety of assets including closely held stock, real estate, life insurance policies, and other assets.

Identifying Client Opportunities

A Donor Advised Fund can be a solution for a client who:

  • Is experiencing an extraordinarily high income year.
  • Will be selling a highly appreciated asset in the near future (closely held stock, real estate).
  • Wants to support several charities through one substantial gift.
  • Wants maximum flexibility to change the charitable beneficiaries over time.
  • Wants to involve a spouse, children and grandchildren in charitable giving.
  • Makes cash gifts to numerous charities, but would benefit by giving appreciated assets.
  • Experiences fluctuating income but wants to maintain a steady level of giving.
  • Is concerned about the complexity of a private foundation and lack of privacy.
  • Wants to support a charity but is not confident with the organization’s investment management capability.
  • Wants to keep his or her charitable giving confidential.
  • Wishes to support a particular charity but wants to ensure that the gift is used as he or she intended.

Importantly, you keep your client relationship as trusted advisor and work as always – in a brokerage relationship or a managed account relationship.

As pioneer of the national advisor-managed donor advised fund program, iGiftFund is committed to helping you build this unique aspect of your wealth management practice with a range of experience, flexibility, and personalization that cannot be found elsewhere.

About the Author

Phil Tobin, one of the true pioneers in the development of donor advised funds, is Chairman/President of the Hudson, Ohio based iGiftFund. iGiftFund is a national, independent, advisor-managed sponsor of donor advised funds.

His 33 years of experience with donor advised funds is arguably the longest in the industry. Throughout this time, Phil has helped donors and their financial advisors establish over $4 billion in donor funds on virtually all custodial platforms. Contact Phil Tobin by calling 800-810-0366 or [email protected]

About iGiftFund

An IRS-recognized, independent, public charity that sponsors donor advised funds, iGiftFund’s mission is to inspire donors to create, preserve and distribute their philanthropic legacy and to make a truly remarkable impact on the lives of others, including the donor. Our commitment to simplicity, accessibility and affordability is our hallmark, distinguishing us from the large commercial and charity-based DAF sponsors. Based in Hudson, Ohio iGiftFund works nationally with donors and with financial advisors on their familiar investment platform in open architecture. Funds start at $5,000.