Tools for Professional Advisors

Professional Advisors find themselves incorporating charitable giving as an integral component in their financial and estate planning activities. The Community Foundation can help support you and your clients at every step in the charitable giving process. We can help you identify your clients’ charitable giving interests and motivations, match personal charitable interests with tax planning needs, create and implement charitable plans that are integrated into major business, personal and financial decisions, and provide information on programs that make a difference in the areas your clients care about most.

Click here to learn more about Giving Advice on Charitable Giving.

A good Professional Advisor can help clients realize personal charitable objectives. Significant giving opportunities often arise when clients are making major business, personal, and financial decisions.

Click here to review Tools for Giving.

For more information on establishing a Fund, click here for the Guidelines for Donor-Advised Funds.

As Professional Advisors know, legacy giving does not require a large income or vast estate. Legacy giving only requires a thoughtful intention to make a difference by identifying a charitable organization in your client’s will or estate plan.

Click here for more information on How to Leave a Legacy and suggested language for bequests.

How can a Professional Advisor recommend charitable giving without recommending a particular charity? It’s a delicate dilemma. Professional Advisors are often want to discuss the many benefits of charitable giving but want to avoid recommending specific charitable causes or organizations. A community foundation is a single, trusted vehicle clients can use to address the issues they care about most, while gaining maximum tax benefit under state and federal law. Community foundations offer a variety of giving options — including the ability to set up a charitable fund in your client’s name.

Click here to see if Giving Through a Community Foundation is right for your clients.

How do you make a Planned Gift with the Community Foundation? Whether you’re a donor or a professional advisor working with a client, it’s easy to partner with the Community Foundation to make a charitable gift through an estate plan. Here’s how we can work together to become your Philanthropic Partner (including our guiding principles, step-by-step process, and FAQs for donors and professional advisors):

Whether you are a

Donor

Professional Advisor

working with a Donor, the

Community

Foundation of the Florida Keys

is your partner in philanthropy ensuring strategic, effective and

efficient charitable giving.

If you

’

re an individual

Donor

who wants to make a charitable gift through your estate plan,

’

ll partner with you to meet your personal charitable goals

–

whatever they may be

If you

’

re an

Attorney

CPA

Financial Manager

Estate Planner,

Professional

Advisor

working with a client who wants to make a charitable gift through a will, bequest, trust or

estate plan,

’

ll partner with you to meet your clients

’

needs

These are the

guiding principles

we follow:

Organization

Accountability

Objectivity

Pro

Activity

Education

Partnership

Transparency

Your Philanthropic Partner

We help review and organize donors

’

giving history and paperwork,

discuss philanthropic goals, and help develop an organized giving plan

for the future.

We help donors put their plans into action and ensure that their

charitable wishes are fulfilled now and for the future

We put the donors

’

interests first to develop a plan without a personal

agenda or proprietary product.

We act as a fiduciary on donors

’

behalf, disclosing all fees and

compensation in advance, managing all reporting, and adhering to best

practices and accepted national standards.

We work to achieve the best possible charitable goals and fulfill donors

’

wishes within whatever time frame they want

We develop an action plan for giving that is pro

active and ready to

implement when donors are in transition or in the midst of a life

situation

We provide information and experience about opportunities, needs in

the community, and options available to meet donors

’

particular needs

and situations.

’

re here to help. There are more online tools for donors and professional advisors at

www.cffk.org

292

1502 or email

jmccomb@cffk.org

to get started.

Whether you

’

re a

donor

professional advisor

working with a client, it

’

s easy to partner with

the Community Foundation to make a charitable gift through an estate plan.

How to Make A Planned Gift

How to make an unrestricted gift

If you want your gift to go to CFFK to be used

at its discretion:

Simply name

“

The Community Foundation of the Florida Keys

”

(CFFK

) as the

beneficiary in your will or estate plan in whatever amount you feel appropriate.

How to make a gift to an existing fund

If you want your gift to go into an

existing Fund at the Community Foundation

(for example

“

The Florida Keys Future

Fund

”):

Please

name that specific Fund in your will or estate plan

with a designated

amount. For example:

“

To the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys for

further credit to the Florida Keys Future Fund.

”

(Visit

cffk.org

for a complete list

of existing funds.)

How to create an Endowment

If you want your gift to be used to

create an

Endowment

to distribute a percentage of its earnings annually for a specific Field of

Interest(s) and/or to specific organizations you want to support other than CFFK:

Please

contact CFFK and we will meet with you to execute a separate document

called a Fund Agreement,

which outlines the specific amounts, recipients and

purposes in order to accomplish your charitable wishes. Donors may make

changes to the Fund Agreement at any time in the future without any additional

expense.

’

re here to help. There are more online tools for donors and professional advisors at

www.cffk.org

292

1502 or email

jmccomb@cffk.org

to get started.

All Donors notifying us of their intent to make a gift to the Community Foundation through their will or

estate plans automatically become honored members of CFFK

’

Legacy Society.

Donors

What if I already have a will? Can I make a

bequest to CFFK or set up an Endowment?

Absolutely. Your attorney or professional advisor

can write a codicil to your existing will that includes

as part of your estate plan a gift to CFFK or a

designated organization, or the establishment of an

Endowment at CFFK.

If I establish an Endowment at CFFK, who

will make decisions about grants after I am

gone?

The CFFK Grant Committee will make grants on your

behalf in accordance with the provisions in your Fund

Agreement.

Can I name someone other than CFFK to

make grants on my behalf?

Yes. Fund Agreements include a provision to name

a Fund Advisor to make grants on your behalf.

What if I only want the Endowment I establish

to exist for a certain period of time after I

’

gone?

If you don

’

t want your Endowment to go on in

perpetuity, you can specify the period of time of ten

years or more.

What if I want to make a one

time gift directly

to an organization in my estate plan?

CFFK is here to help donors continue their ongoing

philanthropic wishes for the future. If you want to

make a one

time, direct support grant to a specific

organization, your attorney or professional advisor

can name that organization in your will as part of your

bequest.

What if the organization or cause I want to

support ceases to exist?

If an organization or cause no longer exists, CFFK will

find another similar nonprofit organization or one with

a like cause to support that meets the intent of your

charitable goals.

Professional Advisors

How does CFFK assist professional advisors?

We work through you. You stay in control of your client relationships

—

we provide support, information, and expertise related to charitable

giving options, either through you or directly with your client if they

choose.

What does CFFK provide?

We are knowledgeable about our community and its needs

—

including

arts and culture, environment, health and human services, education,

and more. We can help your clients learn more about local nonprofits

and how to make a difference in the areas they care about most. By

partnering with us, you help your clients increase their current income,

increase their beneficiaries

’

inheritance, and leave a legacy in the

community.

’

m not sure if I should talk to my clients about charitable

giving?

Some advisors are reluctant to begin a charitable giving conversation

with their client, concerned about appearing to make judgments. How-

ever, by not talking about charitable giving, a significant opportunity

may be lost for your client and the community. In fact, studies suggest

that as many as 70 percent of individuals expect their professional ad-

visors to bring up the subject, and assume charitable giving is not an

option if the subject is not raised.

How can I recommend charitable giving without recom-

mending specific causes or organizations?

Professional advisors are faced with a delicate dilemma: you want to

discuss the benefits of charitable giving with your clients, but you want

to avoid recommending specific organizations. Fortunately, there

’

s a

simple solution. Talk to your clients about giving through the Communi-

ty Foundation of the Florida Keys. Our staff is knowledgeable regarding

local nonprofits and the needs of our community.

Our staff will meet

with you and your clients to help determine the options for giving which

best fit their unique interests

What is the advantage of setting up an Endowment at CFFK

over setting up a private foundation?

Our staff can help establish an Endowment in a matter of days and

then handles all administrative details and reporting, saving both time

and money. There are numerous tax advantages to establishing an

Endowment at the Community Foundation. Our staff

’

s expertise with

the local nonprofits and community needs is also a significant ad-

vantage for grant making.

What if my clients want to keep their charitable giving

private?

The Community Foundation respects requests for anonymity. If your

clients wish to remain anonymous, we will honor their wishes and they

may designate their gift accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

’

re here to help. There are more online tools for donors and professional advisors at

www.cffk.org

292

1502 or email

jmccomb@cffk.org

to get started.

MY FUND