The Giving Conversation

A Financial Professional’s Guide to Talking with Clients about Charitable Giving

Charitable giving can be a hard subject to bring up. It’s personal. You don’t want to presume a client has the means or the inclination, and you don’t want to seem like you’re steering their generosity. So many of us wait, hoping the client raises it first.

Often they do, just not in those words. A client mentions a cause they care about, asks what to do with a stock that’s outperformed, or wonders aloud what they’d like to leave behind. Those are giving conversations. Most clients want to give well and aren’t sure what that looks like, and helping them figure it out is where their financial plan and their values meet.

This guide is meant to help you have those conversations. We’ll cover how to open the topic, some methods clients can use to give, and when to bring in a specialist. This guide draws on what the Foundation Source talked about at our Annual Summer Conference, and the resources they’ve shared with us.

Why Giving Belongs in the Plan

Charitable giving is often treated as something that happens outside the financial plan, a personal decision clients make on their own. But how a client gives affects nearly everything you help them manage. It affects their tax picture, their estate, the assets they hold, and the legacy they want their family to carry forward.

That makes giving a planning conversation. When you bring it up proactively, you help clients give in a way that fits the rest of their lives, and you show them you’re thinking about the whole picture.

A few moments when the topic tends to surface naturally:

• Year-end, when clients are thinking about gains, taxes, and the causes they support
• A liquidity event, such as the sale of a business or a large bonus
• A highly appreciated position, especially one the client is reluctant to sell
• A life transition, including retirement, inheritance, or the loss of a loved one
• Estate planning reviews, when legacy is already on the table

Opening the Conversation

You don’t need to be a philanthropy expert to start. You need a few good questions and a willingness to listen. Consider:

1. “What causes or organizations matter most to you?” Start with values, not vehicles. Most clients already give; they just haven’t thought of it as part of their plan.
2. “How involved do you want to be?” Some clients want to write a check and move on. Others want to research grantees, set priorities, and see results. This answer, more than any other, points toward the right structure.
3. “Is this something you’d like your family to be part of?” Giving can be a way to pass on values, not just assets. Clients with children or grandchildren often light up at this question.
4. “How do you feel about giving publicly versus privately?” Some clients want recognition. Many would rather remain anonymous. The vehicle they choose affects what is possible.
5. “How far into the future are you thinking?” A one-time gift, a few years of giving, or something designed to outlast them? Time horizon shapes everything that follows.

Keep notes. These answers become the foundation for recommendations later, and they’re worth revisiting as the client’s life changes.

The Main Ways Clients Give

Most charitable giving falls into one of a few categories. Each has its place.

Direct gifts. Cash or appreciated assets given straight to a charity. Simple, immediate, and right for many clients, especially for smaller or one-time gifts.

Donor-advised funds (DAFs). A giving account housed within a public charity, which may be sponsored by a community foundation, financial institution, or university. The client contributes, receives a deduction, and recommends grants over time. DAFs are easy to set up and administer, and they’re a popular way to “bunch” several years of giving into one tax year.

Private foundations. A separate legal entity the client creates and controls, with its own board, bylaws, and governance. Foundations offer the most control and flexibility, including the ability to make grants to individuals, run charitable programs, and involve family across generations. They also carry more administrative and filing responsibility, which is where a partner like Foundation Source comes in.

Other tools worth knowing: Qualified charitable distributions from IRAs for clients over 70½, charitable trusts, and gifts of appreciated securities each solve specific problems. They’re beyond the scope of this guide, but worth raising with a client’s tax and legal advisors when the situation fits.

A Note on Year-End

If you’re reading this in the fourth quarter, a few things are worth keeping in mind:

• Gifts must be completed by December 31 to count for the current tax year. Appreciated securities and more complex assets can take time to transfer, so start early.
• Clients considering a private foundation can establish one relatively quickly with the right support, but the window narrows as the year closes.
• Year-end giving conversations pair naturally with tax-loss harvesting conversations. Both are about looking at the whole picture before the calendar turns.

As always, IPI financial professionals don’t provide tax or legal advice. Encourage clients to involve their tax and legal advisors as part of any giving decision.

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About Foundation Source

Foundation Source is the nation’s largest provider of private foundation management services. For more than two decades, they’ve supported individuals, families, and financial professionals in establishing and running foundations of every size, providing the administration, compliance, tax filing, grant processing, and technology a foundation needs to operate smoothly.

What they don’t do is just as important. Foundation Source doesn’t manage or custody assets and doesn’t provide legal counsel. That means they work alongside you as a partner. You remain the client’s financial professional, and they handle the operational side of the foundation.

Your Contact at Foundation Source

Reach out to [email protected] or call 800.839.0054 with questions about a specific client situation, to request client-facing materials, or to arrange an introduction for a client who’s ready to explore a foundation.

Resources

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Disclosure TBD – This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. IPI Wealth Management and its financial professionals do not provide legal or tax advice. Clients should consult their own legal and tax professionals before making charitable giving decisions. Tax rules are subject to change.