Client conversations:

Leaving a legacy

Discussing how charitable giving fits into a client’s plan can be a valuable discussion in the estate planning process. Raising the topic of charitable giving during conversations with clients can not only help you get to know them better by hearing about causes dear to them, but can also help them think through their priorities and consider different options.

The act of leaving a charitable legacy after death can offer the tangible benefit of the income tax savings to the client’s loved ones, especially when working with tax-deferred assets such as retirement accounts. Naming a charity also provides an intangible benefit to those loved ones in watching the client’s legacy continue to nourish those causes that the client found meaningful. Selecting KZCF when designating estate gifts can be a particularly meaningful way to leave their legacy.

As a community foundation, KZCF offers clients expertise and flexibility including the ability to:

• Name an existing fund of their choice, trusting KZCF to serve that cause well over time.
• Select a donor-advised fund, allowing loved ones to be engaged in the charitable process and craft how a legacy continues after death.
• Establish an endowed fund that can allow that gift to continue into perpetuity.

Community funds cultivate a wide variety of funds and programs focusing on the needs of the community and supporting those who your clients have lived and worked alongside for years. Any of these options can also be engaged during a client’s lifetime, allowing them to witness the impact of a gift and further inspire future charitable gifts.

Lifetime charitable giving can play a meaningful role in an estate plan as well. Income tax benefits result not only for those clients who itemize their deductions but also for those donating appreciated securities, as well as those who make qualified charitable distributions directly from their IRA to the charity.

These lifetime gifts can be an opportunity to start or significantly contribute to a fund or cause, to play a part in its growth and strengthen the meaning and impact of a gift after death.

A properly planned gift to a charity such as KZCF not only provides a financial benefit to our community and your client or loved ones but leaves a legacy of caring to comfort those closest to them.