Procrastination is a drain in ways that go far deeper than the incomplete task itself. It seems that the more daunting the task, the harder it is to tackle. This surely is a major reason some of your clients routinely put off important planning discussions. And of course, many of those discussions are tax-sensitive, which means year-end can get very hectic and stressful for clients who wait until the last minute.

As the year begins to wind down, consider tapping into your clients’ philanthropic interests as a catalyst to motivate them to start addressing year-end planning items right now rather than waiting until November or December.

You may discover that the uplifting topic of philanthropy makes it easier to at least start a conversation. Our Development and Donor Services team at the San Antonio Area Foundation is here to help you with that conversation, which can evolve to include not only charitable giving topics, but also other tax-planning topics that need attention. 

Here’s how this could work with a client:

  • Review the charitable components of the client’s estate and financial plans, including provisions in wills and trusts, beneficiary designations, donor-advised funds, prior years’ tax deductions and historical gifts to favorite charities.
  • Reach out to the client to suggest that you meet –or at least jump on a call– to check on 2024 charitable giving plans and other items.
  • Open the conversation by briefly recapping the charitable planning components already in place and the client’s history of giving. Then ask the client about their plans for 2024.
  • As you talk with the client about charitable intentions, bring up various charitable giving tools and opportunities that match those intentions. In each case, use the charitable discussion as a springboard for general tax planning items that should be addressed before year-end.
  • For example, if a client who is over 70 ½ mentions wanting to support a particular need or organization in the community, you can suggest that you loop in the Area Foundation team to potentially establish a field-of-interest or designated fund, which can then receive distributions from the client’s IRA up to $105,000 annually per spouse. This, in turn, opens the door to discuss Required Minimum Distributions and other elements of retirement planning in general.
  • If the client mentions that they are already dreading gathering tax receipts for 2024 charitable donations, suggest that the client consider setting up a donor-advised fund at the Area Foundation to serve as a convenient and rewarding “hub” for charitable giving. Going forward, the client can conduct the bulk of their giving using the donor-advised fund and avoid the mad scramble for receipts.
  • When your client talks about charities they plan to support before year-end, remind your client not to automatically reach for the checkbook. Most of the time, highly appreciated marketable securities (or other long-term assets) are ideal gifts to a client’s fund at the Area Foundation because the client is eligible for a tax deduction at the assets’ fair market value, and the proceeds from the sale of the assets will flow into the client’s fund at the Area Foundation free from capital gains tax. That means more funds are available to support the client’s favorite causes.

The Area Foundation team is here to help you serve your charitable clients every step of the way, every month of the year. We understand that late-December transactions are often unavoidable. The net-net is that we’re happy to work with you according to your clients’ schedules, whether that means getting a jump on a new year and processing stock gifts in February, helping you plan in September for year-end, or preparing fund agreements in December. It’s our pleasure to assist!