Charitable Planning Reading Roundup

1. Generous Tech: Tech Millionaires are Turning to Donor Advised Funds to Save on Taxes While Giving to Charity. (CNBC) A wave of newly wealthy tech employees is using donor advised funds to contribute appreciated company stock, potentially avoiding capital gains taxes, securing charitable deductions, and giving themselves time to decide which nonprofits to support. The trend is a good reminder for advisors that IPOs and other liquidity events can create significant charitable opportunities–and that the best results often come when charitable planning begins before the transaction. This is why it is crucial to reach out to the Foundation team when clients start talking about an exit, even if the exit is years away.
2. Philanthropy Beyond DAFs: Philanthropic Planning is Wealth Management’s Next Competitive Frontier, Beyond DAFs. (InvestmentNews) Donor advised funds are important tools, but they are not the whole philanthropic toolbox. This article explores why high-net-worth clients increasingly expect wealth advisors to help them consider a broader range of charitable structures and how that expertise can help advisors strengthen relationships not only with clients, but also with the next generation. Remember, the Foundation offers a wide range of fund types and charitable planning structures to help your clients establish a lifetime and legacy giving plan tailored to their financial and charitable goals.
3. Donor Advised Fund Insights: Five Core Truths About Donor Advised Funds. (WealthManagement.com) This article takes on some common misconceptions about donor advised funds, highlighting their usefulness for coordinating charitable giving and facilitating complex gifts, their significant grantmaking to charities, and their increasingly important role in charitable and succession planning. For advisors, the takeaway is that donor advised funds have become an increasingly important part of the philanthropic landscape–and understanding how they actually work can help clients make better charitable planning decisions. And of course the Foundation offers donor advised funds as part of its broad menu of giving vehicles.
4. Even More Donor Advised Fund Insights: Donor Advised Fund Strategies For 2026. (Financial Advisor Magazine) This article looks at donor advised funds through a 2026 planning lens, including how advisors can use donor advised funds as part of broader tax and charitable strategies rather than simply as repositories for year-end gifts. The bigger opportunity is to help clients coordinate the timing, assets, and ultimate purpose of their charitable giving with the rest of their financial plans. The Foundation team plays an important role at the table to help you help your clients navigate the many components of charitable giving.
5. Big Givers: Chickens, Pigs Could Be Big Winners from AI’s $300 Billion Philanthropy Wave. (Forbes) The AI boom is creating a new class of young, newly wealthy donors–and potentially an enormous new pool of charitable capital. This fascinating article explores how some of these donors are gravitating toward measurable, evidence-driven causes such as farm-animal welfare, illustrating both how sudden wealth can reshape philanthropy and why advisors working with newly wealthy clients have an opportunity to help turn rapidly created fortunes into intentional charitable plans. The Foundation’s deep knowledge of local needs and nonprofits is an invaluable resource to you and your clients whether they are younger, older, newly wealthy, or well-established.
6. More Big Giving: Most Billionaires Practice “Slow Philanthropy”. MacKenzie Scott is a Major Exception. (Fortune) Why do people with enormous charitable capacity sometimes give relatively little of their wealth away each year? This article explores “slow philanthropy” and contrasts it with MacKenzie Scott’s faster, trust-based approach to giving. It raises an interesting issue for advisors–sometimes effective charitable planning is not only about choosing the right structure or maximizing tax benefits, but also about helping clients feel comfortable putting charitable resources to work. The Foundation is happy to serve as your sounding board to develop a charitable plan that is designed to achieve the community impact a particular client envisions.
7. Celebrating a Life of Giving: Dolly Parton’s Other Legacy: A Fortune Given Away, Dollar by Dollar. (New York Times) Dolly Parton’s philanthropy was unusually practical and personal, directing her wealth toward needs she understood firsthand–from childhood literacy and disaster relief in Tennessee to wildlife conservation and COVID-19 vaccine research. Her approach emphasized simple, direct action and trust in recipients–all of which are inspirational and aspirational to our Foundation team and the advisors and donors we work with!
8. IRS Has Its Eyes on Assets: IRS Eyes Charitable Donation Abuse in New Audits, Tax Pros Say. (Bloomberg Law) The IRS is taking a closer look at charitable contributions of hard-to-value assets, including privately held business interests and art, with tax professionals reporting particular scrutiny of valuation, qualified appraisals, and substantiation requirements. For advisors, this is an important reminder that complex charitable gifts require careful planning and documentation–and that bringing the Foundation into the conversation early can help address the charitable side of the transaction before the client takes action.
9. Exits and Opportunities: How Advanced Charitable Exit Planning Drives AUM Growth. (Financial Advisor Magazine) Business exits can be important charitable planning moments, particularly when advisors raise the subject before a transaction is already underway. This article explores how strategies involving charitable trusts, donor advised funds, and gifts of business interests can help address a business owner’s tax and philanthropic objectives while also helping advisors deepen relationships and potentially retain more assets under management after the sale. As always, reach out to the Foundation as early as possible!
10. The Checkbook (Cringe) Lives On: Retirees Over 70/5 Send $111,000 a Year from an IRA to Charity Tax-Free. The Average One Donates from Checking Instead. (24/7 Wall St.) Many charitably inclined retirees are still giving from their checking accounts even though a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) may offer a more tax-efficient route for eligible IRA owners. The article is a useful reminder that advisors can add value simply by asking how a client is making charitable gifts–sometimes changing the asset or account used to make the same gift can produce a very different tax result. The Foundation can help your clients explore eligible ways to make QCD gifts, including, where appropriate, gifts to designated, field of interest, and unrestricted funds. Remember that QCDs cannot be made to donor advised funds.

What’s the takeaway here? Charitable planning opportunities are showing up everywhere! Just as important, the articles reinforce that good charitable planning is about more than finding a tax break or selecting a giving vehicle; it is about helping clients make thoughtful decisions about what to give, when to give it, and what they hope their generosity will accomplish.

Originally published in “The Giving Edge: Charitable Trends & Insights for Professional Advisors”. Sign up on LinkedIn to receive monthly emails!