CATEGORY

Grantmaking and Gift Planning

Charitable Remainder Trust
Grantmaking and Gift Planning

Charitable Remainder Trusts 101

What is a Charitable Remainder Trust? The Charitable Remainder Trust (“CRT”) is a trust set up to generate revenue for a beneficiary while also ensuring

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What is an Endowment
Grantmaking and Gift Planning

What is an Endowment?

Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th ed., defines an endowment as: A gift of money or property to an institution (such as a university) for a specific

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Giving Tuesday
Grantmaking and Gift Planning

Get Ready for Giving Tuesday

What is Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is celebrated the week after Thanksgiving and has become a time for Americans to share their good fortune by

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What Donors Need to Know About Donor Advised Funds

A virtual bench trial that began on October 19 may soon further define the contours of control issues surrounding donor-advised funds. The case, Fairbairn et al. v. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, centers on a feud between donors Emily and Malcolm Fairbairn and Fidelity Investment’s Charitable Branch.

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The Tainted Donor Dilemma

The tainted donor dilemma is nothing new; nonprofits have long wrestled with the ethical and reputational implications of receiving questionable characters’ gifts.  But with the explosion of real-time mass communication and social media, stories of wrongdoing are quickly amplified and can quickly sink a person–and everything and everyone with whom they are associated.

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make a difference by giving
Fundraising Regulation

Black Lives Matter; Make a Difference By Giving

AdHoc said it best: For everyone that is feeling outraged by the multiple lives that have been lost at the hands of the police, we’d encourage you to channel that anger into action. For some, that action looks like self-education and awareness, or protesting, or speaking out amongst their friends and community. Another consideration may be giving to one of several organizations working diligently in the fight against systemic racism and violence. 

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Not every contribution to a charity qualifies for a charitable deduction.
Grantmaking and Gift Planning

Gifts That Do Not Qualify for the Charitable Deduction

Not every contribution to a charity qualifies for a charitable deduction. Charities that misunderstand the rules can lead donors astray when they offer tax receipts for non-deductible gifts inadvertently damaging donor relationships.

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Donations Benefitting Individuals
Grantmaking and Gift Planning

Donations Benefiting Individuals

Donors wishing to help the victims of a tragedy, a serious illness, or other major hardship are often surprised to learn that gifts earmarked for specific individuals are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. This rule catches many donors off guard as it is not intuitive that gifts made to individuals who are clearly in need would not be considered charitable.

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