That’s why we welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your client(s). Here are a few insights into what those meetings are all about.

You can expect personal, dedicated service. Unlike financial institutions' donor advised fund platforms, where access to a dedicated donor services team can be rare, our staff is here to help you and your client every step of the way along their charitable giving journey. Our team is happy to take a meeting with you and your client(s) to assess their current situation and determine the best charitable tax strategy for them. This includes evaluating the best assets to give to a fund or funds at the community foundation, including publicly-traded stock and even other noncash assets such as real estate or closely-held stock.

We care about your client's intentions for their fund. We wants to understand the areas of interest that are a priority for your client, whether that’s the arts, health care, social services, the environment, education, community development, or something else. We also want to understand the role they envision for successor advisors, such as children, who will make decisions about the fund when the client is no longer living or able to manage the fund themselves.

We will help your client establish additional funds to meet their goals. Sometimes when we are working with a fundholder to understand the intentions for a donor advised fund, we discover that it’s worth adding one or more additional funds to complement the donor advised fund structure already in place. For example, some fundholders decide to also establish a designated fund for a particular nonprofit organization or an unrestricted fund to support the community foundation’s mission in perpetuity. Many times, fundholders decide to make recurring contributions over time to multiple funds at the Foundation to achieve their various philanthropy goals.

We make the paperwork a breeze. Our paperwork to establish a fund is straightforward and not at all cumbersome. We prepare simple documentation to capture your client's wishes, collect important contact information, and address the vision for your client's fund or funds both during and after their lifetime.

We’re always here to strategize about giving options. As you periodically review your client's assets and financial situation, keep an eye out for appreciated assets that could be ideal to give to their fund or funds at the community foundation because of the potential capital gains tax savings. We can work with you on contributions of a wide variety of assets to help your client achieve your tax and estate planning goals. We are happy to go over the appraisal and documentation requirements for gifts of nonmarketable assets such as closely-held stock and real estate.

We’ll let you know about educational opportunities and gatherings with other fundholders. During our meeting, we’ll share a calendar of upcoming events and ways your client can learn more about the causes you care about and what’s going on in the community overall. Our team is here to help your client stay up-to-date and on the various ways they can support the community by working with the community foundation and partnering with other fundholders.

If you would like us to join a meeting with your client, please reach out to us at donorservices@greaterworcester.org or 508-755-0980. We look forward to working with you!