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Advisor Resources

You can count on us to be a solutions-minded partner and expert resource.

You can have confidence that you will remain in control of the client relationship and that your clients will be treated with respect and integrity. We are a solutions-minded partner helping you and your client create a charitable gift plan that satisfies. Our role is to provide support and expertise, so we can work entirely in the background or we can attend every meeting with you – it is up to you and your client.

How can I recommend a charitable gift without recommending a specific nonprofit?

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada is a simple solution. A community foundation provides a single, trusted place where clients can address issues they care about while gaining the maximum tax benefit under federal law. We offer many giving options, including the ability to set up a fund in your client’s name. Clients can suggest grants to the nonprofits of their choice at any time or select one or more organizations to give to annually, forever.

Step 1. Call Shari Netzel, Vice President of Donor Relations, (775-333-5499) to confidentially discuss your client’s planned giving opportunities. We are happy to meet with you and your client to help you provide the best possible service.

Shari headshot

Contact Shari Netzel, Vice President of Donor Relations

Email ShariCall 775-333-5499 Ext. 140

Step 2: Sign up for our monthly Advisor Newsletter written for professional advisors. Each month you'll get news and tips from the Community Foundation, private letter rulings, and relevant news from Washington. Our newsletter will keep you informed when legislative or tax changes impact your clients' charitable giving. 

Additional Advisor Resources are Available Here:

Why work with the Community Foundation when your clients are interested in charitable giving?

Because by working together we can make more good happen!

It is easy to help a client set up a charitable fund, and it can be accomplished in less than a day.

  1. Decide what type of contribution the client would like to use to establish the fund. A donor can contribute cash, securities, or other property.
  2. Select a name for the fund. Clients can use their own name, the name of a family member or one they invent.
  3. Designate current fund advisors such as the client and spouse, and successor advisors such as children.
  4. Complete and sign a simple governing document that we will provide and help customize for the donor.

Once a fund is established, donors may:

  • Add to the fund at any time in any dollar amount.
  • Specify how grant disbursements are to be acknowledged: in the name of the fund or anonymously.
  • The donor advisor may recommend distributions from their fund to charities, locally or throughout the United States.

You don’t have to take our word for it!

Check out the members of our Professional Advisor Council. Each of these professionals has worked with us to make their client’s philanthropic goals a reality. Give them a call and they will tell you about their experience working with the Community Foundation.

Professional Advisor Blog

Navigating multiple charitable strategies for ultra high net worth families

November 13, 2024

Charitable giving is always an important strategy to discuss with your clients. Many high-net-worth individuals are philanthropic, of course, and charitable gifts reduce taxable income and avoid estate taxes.

Event Tickets: Beware of the Split

October 14, 2024

This season brings a bevvy of activity including event season, and that means your clients may have questions about the tax deductibility of buying tickets or purchasing a table. Indeed, supporting a charity event is not as straightforward as one might think. The Community Foundation is happy to help your clients support their favorite causes without running afoul of IRS rules.

At a loss for words? Try these tips for starting a charitable giving conversation

October 14, 2024

Did you know that your clients expect you to ask them about charitable giving? “Oh I do that,” you might say to yourself. But don’t be so sure! Clients may have a different impression. The Community Foundation offers simple tips and techniques to help you meet clients’ expectations for including philanthropy in the conversation.

A closer look at gifts of closely-held stock in succession planning

September 16, 2024

Your clients who are business owners and who are also philanthropic will appreciate your suggestions about incorporating charitable giving into their succession plans. In light of recent legal developments and pending tax law changes, more and more financial and estate planning advisors are encouraging their clients to consider implementing gifts of closely-held stock to a fund at the community foundation or other public charity.

Charitable planning can help ease client procrastination

September 16, 2024

Procrastination is a common human reaction to tasks that can seem daunting. Estate planning, tax planning, and financial planning can sometimes fall into this category. Unfortunately, clients who put things off for too long often find miss on opportunities to further their goals. Charitable giving is a “gateway” topic for bigger conversations about essential year-end planning.

Gifts of real estate: Watch every step

August 19, 2024

Gifts of real estate to a fund at the Community Foundation can work wonders for both the charitable causes your client supports as well as the client’s tax situation. Please reach out to us to learn more about each critically important step in the process and how to comply with tax laws.

When less can be more: Charitable giving helps parents pass wealth to children (tax-free)

August 19, 2024

Structuring estate and financial plans to leave just the “right” amount to children can be tough. The Community Foundation can help you incorporate charitable giving into the plans you are developing for parents who want to provide for their kids but don’t want to demotivate children’s own quest for financial independence.

Counting pennies: advising your frugal, charitable clients

August 19, 2024

We’re constantly on the lookout for ways to help your clients who want to leave a bequest to their favorite causes. That’s the case all year round, and especially during national Make-A-Will Month. Now is a great time to evaluate how best to help clients who may lean toward the frugal end of spending practices but who still want to support local charities. 

Gifts of appreciated stock: Picking favorites

July 15, 2024

As an advisor, you’ve certainly experienced clients’ emotions running wild! Confronting mortality, addressing complex family relationships, and discussing money all come with financial planning’s often rocky terrain. The Community Foundation can help when you encounter a charitably-minded client who is devoted to a particular stock and may be reluctant to take the tax-savvy step of giving it to charity.

Advising the charitable millionaire next door

June 17, 2024

As clients’ retirement accounts continue to grow, so does the opportunity for clients (and the community) to benefit from careful and intentional charitable planning. Our team can help you serve clients who may be among the newly-minted “401(k) millionaires” as well as clients who crossed that threshold years ago.

Need-to-know updates on proposed DAF regulations

May 21, 2024

Last November, the Treasury released proposed regulations related to donor-advised funds. Although these proposed regulations are just that–proposed and not final–, in recent weeks the media coverage has gained momentum, especially now that Ways and Means members have weighed in.

Consider other (and typically more tax-savvy) charitable gift options

May 21, 2024

Following every tax season, many advisors share with our team that they wish they’d been aware of the many asset types that make great gifts to a fund at the Community Foundation. We’re happy to provide a convenient list of the wide range of property your clients can deploy to meet their tax goals while also satisfying their charitable goals.

Gifts of appreciated stock: Let the numbers do the talking

April 15, 2024

Examples can help show how giving long-term appreciated assets is often one of the most tax-savvy ways your clients can support their favorite charities.

Donor Advised Funds: Recommended Reading

March 15, 2024

We've rounded up recent developments related to donor-advised funds and offer suggested reading materials to help you stay informed.

Tax return reviews help clients level up charitable giving plans

March 15, 2024

Reviewing tax returns with a client can feel like an administrative task that simply needs to get done. But don’t overlook the value of the review process to point out planning opportunities for this year and beyond, especially related to charitable giving.

Philanthropy keeps your clients sticky

February 12, 2024

Retaining your clients or customers is the key to success regardless of your business or industry. The Community Foundation can help you create opportunities to discuss philanthropy with your clients and their children and grandchildren.

By the numbers: What’s new in 2024

January 12, 2024

You’re no doubt inundated with information about the various IRS thresholds that are subject to adjustment. But have you thought about how each of these thresholds might be connected with your clients’ charitable giving? Here are a few pointers to keep handy as you inform your clients about changes for 2024 and also help them tee up their charitable giving plans for this year.

Charitable giving tips for clients’ golden years

December 04, 2023

Before the clock winds down on 2023 giving opportunities, be sure you’re familiar with the various charitable giving techniques that are most appealing to retirees and the various ways the Community Foundation can help.

Tips for Clients' Year-End Giving

November 16, 2023

Support your clients with their year-end giving by offering strategic advice, exploring diverse fund options, and maximizing tax benefits while supporting local causes that matter.

Charitable planning and women clients: Three mini-case studies

October 11, 2023

A look at the influence of women on spending and philanthropy.

For clients who may sell a business, the time to think charitably is right now

September 08, 2023

The Community Foundation can provide valuable assistance to business owners contemplating a sale by helping them optimize their exit strategy.

Legacy giving: A conversation that’s full of opportunity

August 07, 2023

August is National Make-A-Will Month. This means your clients may be reading articles and hearing about estate planning more this month than usual, which makes the next few weeks a perfect time to prompt your clients to review their estate plans–or get their wills and trusts in order if they haven’t done so yet. 

How “catch-up” contributions can boost clients’ giving

July 13, 2023

Learn the benefits of maximizing IRA contributions and utilizing catch-up contributions to maximize retirement savings and support charitable giving.

Zero Tax Sale

April 12, 2023

Transform your community and eliminate capital gains taxes on sales of appreciated assets by participating in a Zero Tax Sale.

Gifts of Real Estate While Prices Remain High

June 10, 2022

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada has a variety of giving options to help you optimize your philanthropy and minimize your tax burden. Gifts of properties can provide many options to make a transformative charitable gift, often preventing capital gains taxes or creating a lifetime income.

“The Community Foundation has given us the opportunity to support the community where we grew up long after we are gone. This is especially important because we do not have children of our own. The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada has helped ease our concerns about our estate and how it will be distributed”

- Kevin and Anne Marie Melcher, Legacy Society Members