By Marianne Requarth, Director, Development
Before starting my job as director of development for The Dayton Foundation last fall, I spent nearly 20 years as a nonprofit fundraiser for a variety of organizations in our community. In that capacity, I often worked closely with the Foundation, which gave me a strong understanding of the services it offers to donors, corporations, nonprofit organizations and financial advisors. I have learned, however, that despite a long working relationship with The Dayton Foundation, there was a lot about its services I didn’t know prior to joining the Foundation.
This is a common theme we encounter when meeting with advisors. You may understand the good work the Foundation and its more than 4,100 donors are carrying out in the community, but maybe you aren’t aware of our wide variety of charitable giving services. Read below to learn more about the some of the lesser-known ways we help you help your clients.
- We keep advisors “in the loop.” The Dayton Foundation understands your needs, as well as the needs of your clients. We work to keep you engaged with clients you have referred to us in every possible way. This may include managing your clients’ current and deferred donated assets if they exceed $250,000. This allows you to continue providing trusted, reliable guidance to your clients and stay informed on their charitable objectives, all while maintaining your book of business.
- The Dayton Foundation offers a unique alternative to establishing a private foundation. Our Family Foundation PlusSM is a more economical, less burdensome option than establishing a private foundation for clients looking for a lasting charitable giving vehicle. The benefits of this donor-advised fund include no start-up expenses; no separate accounting, legal fees or annual 990 filings; more favorable tax treatment; and more! You also have the added support of the Foundation’s experienced staff, including grantmaking, investment, administration and charitable-gift expertise, to help your clients at a fraction of the cost of administering a private foundation.
- We help your clients make the most of their traditional IRA qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). By working with The Dayton Foundation to take advantage of a traditional IRA QCD, your clients may transfer up to $105,000 to a 501(c)(3) public charity and not have it show in their income for tax purposes, resulting in substantial tax savings. A married couple with two separate IRAs may take up to $210,000 tax free annually. Individuals may elect to begin taking QCDs as early as age 70 1/2.
We offer an array of charitable giving vehicles, such as Designated, Scholarship, Field-of-Interest and Discretionary Funds, to help your clients simplify their giving and gain significant tax savings when distributing their QCDs. Please note that donor-advised funds are not considered to be QCDs, so transfers may not be made to a supporting organization, private foundation or Donor-Advised Fund, including a Charitable Checking Account.SM - By partnering with us, advisors have access to our staff’s expertise and the community’s central resource on charitable giving services. From running free charitable giving illustrations for your clients to hosting lunch and learns, or even vetting nonprofit organizations to ensure your clients are giving safely, advisors regularly tell us working with the Foundation helps them to serve their clients better. They appreciate having access to our staff’s financial planning and development expertise, free of cost, to help structure their clients’ current and planned charitable giving.
Want to learn about more the services The Dayton Foundation offers? Visit the Professional Advisor Resources section of our new website, or contact me, Nakia Lipscomb or Michelle Lovely at (937) 222-0410. We would be happy to share more insights on how we help you help others.