Most financial planners I know do not bring the charitable gift into discussions with clients about their estate plan. It’s usually about the children and the family in financial terms, but rarely are the family values that most people cherish discussed. The reasoning is fairly sound, from the financial planner’s point of view — “I’m an expert in financial matters, not values, and I don’t know where to go once I open the discussion about values.” Fair enough, but now these values can make a difference in how you set up their estate plans, so isn’t it about time to either gain some knowledge or bring in someone who can help create a space for such a discussion?

An example: You’ve got a client — man and woman in their 60′s — who want to leave a sizeable portion of their estate to their grandchildren. No, their child’s not a spendthrift, but they didn’t want to complicate one generation’s tax consequences, so with your help, they set up a trust for the grandkids with a very reputable bank. It was easy because there weren’t estate taxes to get in the way of a straight transfer. Now there are, so what can you do?

When you sit down with them, ask them the questions you might not have asked before (and which they didn’t express to you the first time) — “Do you have any charities you care about?” They might say ”Yes!” So, now what?

Well, you can set up that trust with the charity as a charitable lead trust, and get some money up front to the charity (very much needed these days) while getting some great tax benefits for your client while still transferring the funds to the grandkids some time in the future. And you can still keep it managed by the very reputable bank you set it up with the first time (I make no comment about banks right now, they’ve got enough people shooting at them).

But you can do a bit more, and make your clients even happier, by suggesting to the charity – if they can wait for a bigger bang down the road —  that they take the income from the lead trust and set up a fund in the family’s name. The income from that fund, which will grow over the next decade by the infusion of new income every year, can be directed to specific programs the family cares about or to the charity’s general fund.

Not all charities can set up such funds, for lots of reasons, size and sophistication of the board being among them, but working with the right counselors, you can find a charity that will set up a fund within its endowment for the first charity, and use the income from the charitable lead trust to initially start the fund and keep it growing. Some of these second charities — usually community foundations, but there are others as well — may provide some sort of match to establish such secondary funds for other charities, so your client’s can have a double (triple!) win.

This is just one example, but there are a number of others that make sense for all kinds of financial planning clients right now. Charitable gift and estate planning requires some expertise, and there are some excellent ones to talk to. Some have ties to specific charities, some do not. Just make sure they can work with you to walk you and your clients through any difficulties or roadblocks. 

It’s time to start these dialogues now, even in tough times, because changes are coming fast. Better to open the discussion with clients now then have them turn to you and say, “How come you didn’t talk to me when this was beginning?” 

To kick off this blog, below is a compendium of responses to Philanthropy Day 2007 and some ideas about what should be included in our upcoming 2008 Philanthropy Day Conference, to be held at the Marriott in Trumbull on Thursday, November 13.

A beginners track – something for the newcomer to the field, so that other tracks can be more advanced.

A “buy one, get one ½ off” for any organization that brings both a managing director/executive director and a development person (or even a Board member and a development person.

That all presenters receive an outline of the presentations by their fellow facilitators – confirm stats, not overlap but rather enhance one another.

Have presentations run 1 1/4 hours – more time to cover material.

Sessions should be rated for basic-midlevel-high level.

Better track program descriptions prior to the event – and softer seats!

Should have tracks for basic and experts in fundraising

Invite high school and college organizations’ members to attend, and match them to tables of mutual interests and a mentor to each attendee to introduce and develop knowledge. Encourage parents/grandparents to get involved and plan accordingly.

Hold a high school/middle school poster contest, where students won based on their portraits of what philanthropy accomplishes in the world. The posters can line the room for all to see with ribbons or awards. Honorees can choose one to take home.

Penelope Burke was memorable!! The gentleman from Iona College was very good, too.

Four ideas: A donor newsletter workshop – what to include, how to say it;

A session on growing your annual appeal; donor cultivation and stewardship ideas; and special events – creating a buzz.

What I liked about the 2007 PDay was the a.m speaker (Penelope Burke); networking during lunch; the major gift track. What I would like to see for 2008 PD are great speakers for tracks and not venders/consultants who just want to promote their products/services.

I like the idea of the event having a theme.

We should have an all-day track with special registration for execs and board members about execs and board members!

Panels should open the program or be created for special pieces of the program – a dynamic facilitator is needed.

Collaborations for organizations and partnerships – a “speed dating” session – how do you partner, the logistics.

And here are some suggested speakers from some of you out there – Any others?

BJ Bischoff, performance improvement consulting (Indianapolis)

Paulette Maehar, President and CEO of AFP International (Virginia)

Marilyn Price, President of MPPI, entertainer, educator and professional development consultant (Chicago)

Kent Rhodes, Organizational Change and Organizational Leadership, Pepperdine University (Los Angeles)

Adrian Sargent, Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising, Indiana University (Bloomington)

Jane Wales, Vice President of Philanthropy and Society and Executive Director of the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program, The Aspen Institute (Denver)