An Older, Wiser CFoPC Roadmap for Charitable Giving
The Community Foundation of Pulaski County (CFoPC) considers it a great honor to work with you to achieve your charitable goals. Your gifts to the CFoPC immediately impact our entire community and help make for a brighter future for everyone who lives in Pulaski County!
The CFoPC enjoys every minute of helping individuals, families, and businesses support our important community causes. If you’ve not yet established a fund at the CFoPC but are considering doing so, we look forward to helping you explore the various options.
As your home for charitable giving, the CFoPC keeps you informed of the latest developments and trends in philanthropy. In this three-part blog series, Philanthropy Matters, we cover several topics—retirement, tax tips, and life insurance—that are of particular importance to you and other CFoPC donors and fund holders.
Doubling down and doing MORE good!
As people approach retirement, many often wonder how to get more involved in the community. It is normal for those nearing retirement to evaluate how charitable giving plays a bigger role than it did during one’s working years. If you’ve found that you have more time, more money, or both—now that work and raising children are in the rear view mirror—be sure you’re familiar with the charitable giving techniques that are most appealing, and the various ways the CFoPC can help.
Here are four signals that it may be time to update your philanthropy strategies with the help of the CFoPC team:
You’re feeling more connected to local issues. Retirees often feel a greater connection to their community and favorite charities than people who are not retired. Whether it’s because annual income and corresponding giving capacity are more predictable, or because you have more time, getting involved with favorite charities can help you stay active and even avoid loneliness. The team at the CFoPC stays in close contact with the many nonprofit organizations in our region, and we are happy to serve as a sounding board as you ramp up your involvement.
You may be less likely to itemize deductions. Many retirees apply the standard deduction on their income tax returns because they don’t have many expenses that qualify for itemization, such as business expenses and mortgage interest deductions. Now is a good time to evaluate with your tax advisor whether itemizing deductions in certain years could be beneficial. Through your fund at the CFoPC, you may be able to concentrate charitable contributions to your donor-advised fund in particular tax years to trigger itemized deductions. This is called “bunching,” and a donor-advised fund, for example, can help you take advantage of itemizing tax deductions while still allowing you to provide steady support to nonprofits out of that fund in years that follow the itemizing year.
You are more interested in involving your children and grandchildren in your philanthropy. The CFoPC is happy to help you fulfill your desire to stay connected with children and grandchildren, including formalizing roles for family members as advisors and successor advisors of your donor-advised fund, or involving younger family members in site visits and other educational programs. The CFoPC offers many ways to structure philanthropic priorities for generational wealth as well as create positive, authentic communication channels across an extended family.
You are ready to start making Qualified Charitable Distributions. If you are at least age 70½, you can direct a tax-free distribution (up to $105,000 per spouse in 2024 and $108,000 in 2025) from an IRA to a qualified charity such as a field-of-interest or designated fund at the community foundation. If you must take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is especially beneficial. This is because the distribution to charity counts toward RMDs and therefore never lands in your taxable income.
If these ideas capture your attention, please reach out! The CFoPC is happy to help you build a roadmap for your charitable giving, and you might be amazed at how much “doing good” you can weave into your golden years! We are here to help you make the most of your giving, no matter what causes you choose to support. We look forward to collaborating to make your retirement years fulfilling and rewarding for you and the people—and Pulaski County community—you love!