As professional advisors, we are carefully trained in, and often most comfortable with, the left-brained logistical side of our work. In my field, we ensure that each of our client’s assets is correctly titled to avoid probate and craft dynasty trusts that will protect their children’s inheritance and transfer wealth down through the generations. But how much training do we have and how much time do we devote to the softer, right-brained conversations about legacy?
What do you want your wealth to achieve for your family? How much is enough to leave your heirs? How much is too much? What impact could your wealth make in your community?
When a client is interested in being intentional with their legacy, when they hope to create a change in their community that will live on after they’re gone, the next question is invariably: How? Philanthropy is like most things in life. If you want to make an impact, you need to be strategic.
When it comes to philanthropy, however, many of even our most successful clients react in the moment. If a charity asks for support, then they write a check. Pretty soon those checks are spreading far and wide across a range of charities and span a variety of issues. This type of giving, jokingly referred to as “peanut butter philanthropy,” is when a client spreads their time, money, or energy too thin to be truly effective. It springs from a wonderful impulse, but it may quickly leave the client frustrated and unsatisfied because it may not create enduring change.
Legacy requires a strategic plan, and that’s where the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties shines.
The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that leads philanthropy by providing charitable expertise and technical strategies to increase charitable options and their impact on behalf of individuals, family foundations, and corporations.
Partnering several clients with the Community Foundation, I have experienced first-hand the tremendous value their advisors add to the conversation. After first focusing a client’s charitable interest on one or more core issues and educating the client on the most efficient charities in those spaces, they can then outline an array of vehicles and techniques to suit the client’s charitable intent and even tax goals.
For example, a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) could facilitate the “bunching” of a client’s charitable donations into a single year to maximize the use of the charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes, which might otherwise be lost if the client did not previously have enough charitable donations in a single year to itemize their deductions.
In addition, a properly structured endowment fund managed by the Community Foundation could live on long after a client’s passing and continue to support their chosen causes for generations to come. With these and many more techniques in their tool belt, the advisors at the Community Foundation can craft a comprehensive charitable plan for your clients to ignite the joy of giving during their lifetimes and ensure their ability pass on not only their valuables, but also their values.
Bill Gates is often quoted as saying, “Effective philanthropy requires a lot of time and creativity – the same kind of focus and skills that building a business requires.”
Many of our clients don’t have that time and creativity in their busy lives. But they do have the heart for change. And if a door opens in our client conference to a deeper conversation about legacy, that’s where the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties comes in. As a specialist in the field of strategic philanthropy, the Community Foundation can help your clients develop a charitable plan to maximize the reach of their philanthropy and create an enduring legacy of positive change for their families and our collective community.
Kristin L. Snyder, J.D., LL.M. is an attorney at the law firm of Snyder & Snyder, P.A., where she devotes her practice exclusively to estate planning matters. She is currently pursuing a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (C.A.P.) degree to further her interest in family legacy and charitable planning and her volunteer work on the Philanthropic Advisory Council of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
