Commonwealth Financial Network
employees and urge clients to participate. Or offer employees a volunteer time off (VTO) day, so you can all roll up your sleeves and pitch in for a good cause. 3. Serve on a charity board. There’s no better way to support a cause you believe in than to become an integral part of the organization. By serving on a board, you can bring the skills, experience, or subject-matter expertise that the organization desperately needs. Donating time or money to a cause over an extended period may lead to a board position. You can also check out BoardStrong.org and search for board openings at organizations that resonate with you. 4. Establish your own vehicle for giving back. If you want more control over how your contributions are used, consider setting up your own fund or organization. There are two ways you can do this: • Create a donor-advised fund (DAF). This option is a relatively simple, flexible, and tax- efficient way to support your favorite charity. You contribute cash, securities, or other assets to an account, invest the funds for tax-free growth, and direct grants to the charity of your choice. Note that you may not solicit client donations to a DAF. • Set up a 501(c)(3) organization. Public charities and private foundations are two tax-exempt organizations established for charitable purposes. While these options may provide a wider range of giving options, they are much more complex. For starters, they are legal entities, so they require extensive paperwork and costs to establish and maintain. In addition, public charities require one-third of funding to come from public donations. But with the right amount of time and effort involved, these options could help achieve sizable fundraising goals for construction projects or funding research.
Helping Others While Helping Yourself Giving Tuesday was created as a way to encourage people to do good. And while your main reason for creating a giving-back strategy should be to help those in need, your practice can also benefit from your generosity. It can improve your brand image, engage clients and staff, and let prospects know you care about more than just your business. If you’re ready to pay it forward by giving back, there’s no better time to start than now. Commonwealth Financial Network® does not provide legal or tax advice. You should consult a legal or tax professional regarding your individual situation. Please consult your member firm’s policies and obtain prior approval for any marketing ideas or other strategies discussed in this post.
J oni Youngwirth is the executive director of Commonwealth Cares, our charitable Joni Youngwirth Executive Director, Commonwealth Cares
foundation. Prior to taking on this role, she spent 22 years leading our Practice Management offering, which has grown to provide increasingly sophisticated services and programs to help advisors adopt best practices as small business owners. During that time, she was a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences and was published in numerous industry trades.
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