Our Family Tree
Learn about the generous donors who have established charitable funds through Stark Community Foundation.
A handful of topics have caught our attention lately: charitable giving in an election year, the rise of rounding up at the register and legal pitfalls for nonprofits.
While charitable giving historically has been resilient in the midst of elections, it’s worth bearing in mind that some sources predict that political donations will eat into your clients’ budgets for charitable gifts. As you talk with clients about their philanthropy plans for 2024, you might pass along these trends so your clients can factor into their target gift amounts the potentially greater demand for funding community organizations. This is also a good time to remind clients that political donations are not tax deductible. This may seem elementary, but it still confuses some people who don’t track the rules closely.
Although the majority of your clients’ charitable giving is likely strategic, including giving through a Donor Advised Fund or another type of fund offered through Stark Community Foundation, there are exceptions in any household. One of those exceptions for many of your clients may be a form of giving called “checkout charity.” The spare change really does add up–to the tune of $749 million nationwide in 2022 alone!
As you counsel your clients who are on the boards of nonprofit organizations or even lead them, be aware of a handful of legal issues that are surfacing as areas of concern. These include the always-relevant topics of employees versus independent contractors and unrelated business activities, as well as emerging issues related to artificial intelligence.