Working with Attorneys and Accountants

The Community Foundation is the simplest, cheapest and most tax-efficient tool for giving.

If you have a client that is thinking of creating a private foundation, a Donor Advised Fund at the Door County Community Foundation is probably a better alternative. Consider the differences:

The Community Foundation is also an excellent tool for facilitating giving through estate plans.

Your clients can give cash, appreciated stocks, or other assets. Some of the most tax-efficient asset types to give through your will come from your client’s retirement plan accounts, since heirs would be taxed on the income in respect of the decedent (IRD). Your clients can choose to give a stated dollar amount, a specific property, a percentage of your estate, the remainder after distributions to other beneficiaries, or you can make your gift contingent on certain events.

Using the Community Foundation as an estate planning tool is easy.

• Your client determines the type of Fund you would like to establish with their gift – be it a Donor Advised Fund (to be advised by your heirs), a Scholarship Fund, a Non-Profit Endowment, or a Community Impact Fund. Your client’s gift can also be split between several different kinds of Fund.
• Your client includes their Fund at the Door County Community Foundation in their will as a bequest. Or they name their Fund as a beneficiary of their trust, retirement account, or other investment.
• Upon their death, we set up a special fund in your client’s name, in the name of their family, or in honor of any person or organization your client’s choose.
• Your client’s charitable gift is excluded from their assets for estate tax purposes.

We handle all the administrative details and distribute the assets to charity per your client’s instructions – or by working with their heirs.

Your client’s gift can be placed into an endowment that is invested over time. Earnings from your client’s Fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your client’s gift – and all future earnings from their gift – can become a permanent source of community capital, giving back literally forever.

And while we may be the Door County Community Foundation, but our family of donors have favorite charities across the nation. As a result, we make distributions to charities in virtually every state in the union.

Please contact the Door County Community Foundation to learn more. The Community Foundation is regularly asked to attend joint meetings with attorneys, accountants and investment professionals all of whom are serving the same client. We’d be honored to serve your clients as their philanthropic advisor.