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Charitable giving

Philanthropy is an expression of your values and beliefs. It can take many forms and is always personal. How do you want to give your time, money, resources and skills to impact your community?

What motivates you to give is as important as where you give. We help you and your family unlock your shared values and identify issues that matter most to you. Once you understand your core values, we can help you find organizations and causes that share your vision.

Whatever your resources or objectives may be, we are here to help you define a strategy that meets your philanthropic goals. 

Finding your focus

We offer ongoing guidance and philanthropic consulting to maximize your community impact while also coordinating with your overall financial and estate plans.

Helping you make the most of your giving

Charitable giving strategies can range from single, outright gifts to broader multi-generational trusts. Our wealth planning experts and our philanthropic director work in partnership with you to define, execute and make the most of your giving through custom gifting solutions.

Our philanthropic advisors will help you decide what, when and who to give to in the context of your values and your overall financial picture.

Tax-efficient giving

Our tax laws are designed to support charitable giving. We can help you maximize your benefits, looking at your personal tax situation, the type of assets you may donate, how your gift is structured, the type of charities you want to support and a range of other variables.

By combining our tax and estate planning expertise with our detailed knowledge of you and your family, we’ll help you design a program of charitable giving aimed at acheiving your goals in the most tax-efficient manner possible.

Guidance for the way you give

Our team of experts can guide you in supporting the charitable causes you care about while providing guidance on the most tax-efficient way of supporting them.

  • If you have significant unrealized gains in your investment portfolio or other appreciated assets such as real estate, consider gifting these assets to charity rather than donating cash.
  • Can result in a much larger benefit than selling the assets and donating the proceeds.
  • Through a qualified charitable distribution, you can satisfy your required minimum distributions (RMDs) through gifts to charity. The payment goes direct from your retirement account to the charity. You don’t recognize any income. You receive a full charitable deduction for your RMD.
  • Also consider leaving your retirement accounts to charity at your death. The charity can receive 100% of the account, while other beneficiaries may be required to pay a large portion of the account to taxes.
  • With a donor advised fund, you receive an immediate income tax deduction for your gift then decide later on which charities you want to support.
  • A donor-advised fund can also help you involve your family in your philanthropic efforts.
  • Our Fiduciary Trust International Donor-Advised Fund program can help get you started. 
  • With a charitable remainder trust (CRT), you gift assets to the trust and retain an annuity for life or a period of years before the funds eventually go to charity.
  • You can receive an immediate charitable deduction when you fund a CRT.
  • A CRT is especially impactful when you fund the trust with appreciated assets that you are considering to sell. A CRT allows you to defer the income tax from the sale over the life of the trust.
  • With a charitable lead trust (CLT), you gift assets to the trust, the charity receives an annuity and the balance of the trust goes to your heirs at the end of trust term.
  • If you are actively giving to charity, a CLT can be an effective way to complete your charitable giving while eventually passing assets to your heirs in a tax-efficient way.
  • CLT also can be a great way to minimize estate taxes as part of your estate plan.
  • A private family foundation offers you the opportunity to have your own charitable organization.
  • A foundation can be the means to develop a long-term philanthropic legacy, involving multiple generations.
  • It also can provide you with flexibility to craft your philanthropy to match your desired mix of grant-making, direct charitable work and philanthropic investments.
  • Sometimes the best strategy for an individual or family is keeping it simple. If you have cash available and don’t want to part with your appreciated assets, giving cash outright can be your solution.
  • You receive an immediate tax deduction for your gift and have the highest limits for your charitable deductions.
  • Our philanthropic and tax advisors can help you with cross-border giving strategies and other international philanthropic needs.

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Making the most of your charitable giving

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