5 ways to maximize your client's year-end giving

Professional advisors play a crucial role in guiding their clients toward maximizing their year-end charitable giving. Here are five ways your clients can leave a lasting impact through their philanthropy, including a popular tax strategy––bunching donations.

1. DONATE STOCK 

Donating stock instead of cash to Stark Community Foundation can be a tax-smart move. When your client donates stock or other appreciated securities they have owned for longer than a year, they are exempt from paying capital gains tax. Plus, they may be able to receive a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the donation up to the amount allowed by the IRS. 

2. GIVE NOW, DECIDE LATER 

When a client opens a Donor Advised Fund at Stark Community Foundation, they receive an immediate tax deduction and have the flexibility to give back to nonprofits when the time is right for them. Their fund also will grow tax-free through wise investing, allowing them to give more as their fund grows. Donor Advised Funds are easy to create, tax-deductible and have no start-up costs. 

3. DONATE FROM AN IRA 

Your client can make a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from their IRA directly to Stark Community Foundation tax-free. While RMDs can't support Donor Advised Funds or Supporting Foundations, this may be an opportune time for your client to support their favorite charities or areas of interest with a rollover to one of the Foundation's five other types of funds. 

4. BUNCH DONATIONS 

A popular giving strategy national and local experts recommend is charitable bunching, which is essentially bunching multiple years’ worth of donations into one calendar year to receive maximum tax benefits. 

5. HONOR A LOVED ONE 

A meaningful way for people to show they care is to honor a family member or close friend by supporting a cause they hold close to their heart, such as education, the arts, mental health or the environment.