February 19, 2025

Scott Witzig

Incentives, three mini case studies, supporting local needs, and wildfire relief

February 19, 2025

Scott Witzig

Hello from the Morton Community Foundation!

We hope all is well as 2025 gets fully underway. Our team is happy that so many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors have already reached out to ask questions about charitable planning techniques that could be a good fit for your clients. It is our honor to be your first call when the topic of philanthropy arises.

Here’s what’s been trending with advisors recently.

We shared this with you last month, but it’s worth saying again…There may have never been a more advantageous time for your clients to make an impact with their donation to the MCF. Not only will your clients personally benefit from some impressive tax benefits, and matching funds from the Phil and Barbara Kuhl Grow the MCF Matching Fund, but they will be growing an endowment fund that provides an annual source of revenue for their favorite charity or cause. Check out the incentives that are available…Your clients may be able to layer some or all the benefits! Read More
As tax time approaches, you may encounter one or more of three scenarios related to the timing of IRA distributions, business succession planning, and opportunities to give appreciated stock. Check out the Morton Community Foundation’s tips captured in our popular “if this, then that” mini case study format. Read More
Local issues are top of mind for many of your clients. The Morton Community Foundation is uniquely positioned to help your clients make the biggest difference in the areas of our community’s greatest needs while also helping your clients support the full range of their charitable interests. Read More
The aftermath of wildfires in Southern California is heartbreaking, to say the least. The Morton Community Foundation is here to help you and your clients navigate the options for effective and trusted ways to provide financial support. Read More

It is our honor and pleasure to work with you and your clients. Thank you for partnering with the Morton Community Foundation. We wish you all the best in the coming weeks!

Your Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Roecker, Administrative Manager

THIS MONTH’S TRENDING TOPICS…

2025…Big incentives for starting or growing an endowment fund at the Morton Community Foundation

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the Morton Community Foundation (MCF) is introducing four significant giving incentives for 2025, designed to amplify donors’ impact on the community. These opportunities include the Phil and Barbara Kuhl Grow-the-MCF Matching Gifts Fund, offering a $0.50 match per dollar for donations between $5,000 and $20,000 to new or existing endowment funds. Additionally, the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act of 2025 provides a 25% state tax credit on contributions to qualified endowment funds. Caterpillar employees and retirees can further enhance their gifts through the Caterpillar Foundation’s 1:1 matching program, and donating appreciated stock offers substantial tax benefits. These initiatives not only provide personal financial advantages but also ensure sustained support for cherished local causes.

Phil and Barbara Kuhl Grow-the-MCF Matching Gifts Fund

The Kuhl Fund matches donations to new or existing endowment funds at MCF:

$0.50 match per dollar on single gifts of $5,000 to $20,000. (Example: $5,000 donation = $2,500 match; $20,000 or more donation = $10,000 match.)
Eligible Funds: Endowment funds only (non-endowed funds do not qualify). Match does not qualify when establishing a new endowed Scholarship fund.
Matching Cap: $100,000 in matching funds is available for 2025…first come, first served.

Click here for full guidelines

Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act of 2025

Through this program:

Donors to qualified endowment funds held at qualified community foundations can receive a 25% Illinois state tax credit on contributions.
Tax credits are capped at $100,000 per donor annually (up to $400,000 in donations).
$5 million in tax credits are available statewide for 2025, with 25% reserved for contributions of $25,000 or less.
MCF can receive up to $3 million in qualified contributions.
Act quickly—credits are first-come, first-served.

Click here for more information

Caterpillar Employees & Retirees – Matching Gifts Program from the Caterpillar Foundation

The Caterpillar Foundation offers a year-round Matching Gifts Program that matches employee and U.S. retiree donations to eligible charities on a 1:1 basis, up to $10,000 per participant annually.

This means that if you are a Caterpillar employee or retiree, your donation to the Morton Community Foundation can be doubled, significantly enhancing your contribution to the community.

Click here for more information

Stock Gifting is the Most Tax-Friendly Way to Support the Mission of the Morton Community Foundation and/or it’s Many Endowment Funds

Donating appreciated stock offers unmatched tax benefits, such as avoiding capital gains tax on the appreciated value while deducting the full fair market value of stock held for more than 12 months.

For example, if you purchased Apple stock 10 years ago at $20 per share, a gift of 100 shares now worth $20,000 would have cost you just $2,000. You avoid taxes on $18,000 in gains and can deduct the full $20,000 as a charitable deduction for tax purposes.

Stock donations are easy, take minutes online, and are completely free for you and your advisor. Learn more on our website, or call for a no obligation discussion.

Click here for more information

“If this, then that”: Scenarios to consider as tax time approaches

As attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, you are well aware that you have clients’ attention when tax season rolls around. This makes it a great time to cover tax planning strategies for the current year and beyond. To help incorporate charitable giving topics into your tax season client conversations, we’ve put together tips to address three scenarios where the Morton Community Foundation can assist your efforts.

Evaluate QCDs sooner rather than later.

If: Your client missed the 2024 deadline for a Qualified Charitable Distribution.

Then: Make sure the client took an RMD for 2024 (if required to do so). Start planning now for 2025 QCDs, paying very close attention to the required process. QCDs are an excellent tool for your clients who’ve reached the age of 70 ½ to give to a designated, field-of-interest, or unrestricted fund (donor-advised funds are not eligible), but if the client waits until the last minute at year-end, there might not be time for the transaction to be completed by December 31 as required. Plus, QCDs executed early in the year can help avoid negative effects of the "first-dollars-out rule” so that the QCD can count towards your client’s 2025 RMD.

Watch for charitable giving opportunities in business succession planning.

If: Your client is beginning to consider exit strategies for a closely-held business.

Then: Reach out to the Morton Community Foundation right away. Gifts of closely-held stock to a charitable fund can be a very useful component of a business succession plan. That’s because a client can gift shares of the business, which in turn means that no capital gains tax will apply to the gifted portion when the business eventually sells. The proceeds of the gifted shares flow into the fund to be used for your client’s charitable priorities. Keep in mind that timing is crucial; if a deal is in the works at the time the shares are transferred to the charitable fund, the charitable deduction is in jeopardy.

Consider gifts of appreciated stock early in the year.

If: Your client’s stock portfolio made big gains last year.

Then: Evaluate whether it might be wise to make gifts of appreciated stock to a fund at the Morton Community Foundation early in the year, rather than waiting until the end of the year. If certain stock positions are high right now, it’s worth considering whether a gift in the very near future could be a good move to maximize charitable dollars. As a reminder, gifts of stock to a public charity are eligible for a charitable deduction in the amount of the stock’s fair market value at the time of transfer. And, when the stock is sold so that its proceeds can be deployed to further your client’s charitable goals, no capital gains tax will apply.

Our goal is to be your go-to sounding board for any client situation where charitable giving is an option. Please reach out anytime you and a client are discussing philanthropy. In most cases, the Morton Community Foundation can help. Even if our tools are not a fit, we will point you in the right direction!

For clients who love local causes, the Morton Community Foundation is the place

Most of your philanthropic clients likely support a wide variety of charities year after year. The causes they support represent a range of motivations, including personal experience, a role as a volunteer or board member, family tradition, or alignment with values and community priorities.

Many of the charitable organizations your clients support are local. That’s important to note because it means that your clients are especially well-positioned to lean into the Morton Community Foundation’s unique position as the hub for charitable giving and local knowledge. Here are three reasons that matters:

Clients can tap into the team’s knowledge about specific organizations, including financial information, data about the impact of a charity’s programs, and observations of an organization’s areas of greatest need.
Clients can choose from a variety of fund types depending on what they’d like to achieve. A designated fund, for example, allows your client to set aside tax-deductible dollars that are dedicated to supporting a specific organization. Through the Morton Community Foundation’s services, funds are distributed over time to the charity while the assets remaining in the fund are protected from the charity’s creditors. Another example is an unrestricted fund, which leverages the Morton Community Foundation’s extensive research about the needs of the community and the nonprofit programs that are addressing those needs.
Clients can work with the Morton Community Foundation to leave a bequest to an endowment fund to support community needs for generations to come. As a perpetual organization, the Morton Community Foundation ensures that charitable giving stays strong in our region to address important needs as they evolve over time.

Of course, if your client establishes a donor-advised fund at the Morton Community Foundation, the fund can support local causes as well as causes across the country. As the hub for your clients’ charitable giving, our tools and our team are dedicated to helping your clients achieve their charitable goals both near and far. Working with the local community foundation, no matter what a particular client’s charitable priorities may be, is itself a strong show of support for philanthropy right here in our community.

Wise giving: Advising clients on supporting fire relief efforts

In the wake of the devastating California wildfires that have ravaged communities around Los Angeles, many of your clients are understandably eager to provide assistance to those affected. This may be particularly true for your clients who are corporate executives and want their companies to participate in a meaningful way. Before your clients rush to donate, encourage them to consult the Morton Community Foundation. Here’s why:

Local expertise, networked nationally

Community foundations have unparalleled local knowledge and also frequently collaborate with other community foundations across the country, especially on disaster relief initiatives. This means that our team addresses local disasters when they occur here, and we also coordinate with community foundations in affected areas when disasters occur elsewhere. Our team can guide your clients toward the most effective and impactful ways to contribute to address gaps and avoid duplication of effort.

Fraud avoidance

Our team can help your clients navigate the complex landscape of disaster relief organizations and initiatives. With numerous GoFundMe campaigns and charitable organizations emerging in response to the wildfires, it can be challenging for your clients to discern which efforts are legitimate and most effective. We can provide vetted information about reputable organizations and initiatives, helping your clients make informed decisions about where to direct their support.

Best practices for tax planning

As always, our team is here to offer suggestions for tax-efficient giving strategies. For instance, we can help you and your clients learn more about qualified disaster relief payments under Internal Revenue Code Section 139, which offers significant tax advantages for both donors and recipients. These payments are not considered gross income for the recipient and are tax-deductible for the donor, making them an attractive option for clients looking to maximize the impact of their contributions.

Long-term strategies

We’ll help your clients think strategically about long-term recovery efforts. While immediate relief is crucial, the recovery process from such devastating wildfires will take years. Our team can advise your clients on how to structure donations to support both immediate needs and long-term rebuilding efforts, ensuring that support continues even after the initial media attention has faded.

As always, our team helps your clients ensure that their contributions are not only generous but also strategic and impactful. We’ll collaborate with our community foundation colleagues in affected communities to support a journey of recovery and resilience.

The team at the Morton Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.

January 17, 2025

Scott Witzig

MCF's Special Edition - Professional Advisor E-Newsletter

January 17, 2025

Scott Witzig

Morton Community Foundation (MCF) is excited to announce four major giving incentives for 2025, the year of our 25th Anniversary, that help donors make an even greater impact in the community.

There may have never been a more advantageous time for your clients to make an impact with their donation to the MCF. Not only will they personally benefit from some impressive matching funds and tax benefits, but they will be growing an endowment fund that provides an annual source of revenue for their favorite charity or cause. Check out these incentives. Your client(s) may be able to layer some or all of the benefits below!

1) Phil and Barbara Kuhl Grow-the-MCF Matching Gifts Fund

The Kuhl Fund matches donations to both new and existing endowment funds at MCF:

• $0.50 match per dollar on single gifts of $5,000 to $20,000. (Example: $5,000 donation = $2,500 match; $20,000 or more donation = $10,000 match.)

• Eligible Funds: Endowment funds only (non-endowed funds do not qualify). Match does not qualify when establishing a new endowed Scholarship fund.

• Matching Cap: $100,000 in matching funds is available for 2025—first come, first served.

Kuhl Fund Guidelines

2) illinois gives act tax credit

Through this program:

•. Donors to qualified Non-DAF endowment funds can receive a 25% Illinois state tax credit on contributions.

• Tax credits are capped at $100,000 per donor annually (up to $400,000 in donations).

• $5 million in tax credits are available statewide for 2025, with 25% reserved for contributions of $25,000 or less.

• MCF can receive up to $3 million in qualified contributions.

Act quickly—credits are first-come, first-served.

illinois gives info

3) CATERPILLAR EMPLOYEES/RETIREES QUALIFY FOR MATCH

The Caterpillar Foundation offers a year-round Matching Gifts Program that matches employee and U.S. retiree donations to eligible charities on a 1:1 basis, up to $10,000 per participant annually.

This means that if you are a Caterpillar employee or retiree, your donation to the Morton Community Foundation can be doubled, significantly enhancing your contribution to the community.

caterpillar foundation

4) Stock gifting is the most tax-friendly way to support the MCF’s mission

Donating appreciated stock offers unmatched tax benefits, such as avoiding capital gains tax on the appreciated value while deducting the full fair market value of stock held for more than 12 months. For example, if you purchased Apple stock 10 years ago at $20 per share, a gift of 100 shares now worth $20,000 would have cost you just $2,000. You avoid taxes on $18,000 in gains and can deduct the full $20,000 as a charitable deduction for tax purposes. Stock donations are easy, take minutes online, and are completely free for you and your advisor. Learn more on our website, or call for a no obligation discussion.

Donating Stock

As always, the Morton Community Foundation is here to help. Please reach out to our team to learn more about how your clients can make the biggest difference with their charitable dollars, and how the Morton Community Foundation can help you ensure that your clients are able to fully carry out their charitable wishes for 2025. Scott Witzig, Executive Director: Phone: 309.291.0434, TEXT, or Email: switzig@mortoncommunityfoundation.org

January 3, 2025

Scott Witzig

We’re here for you.

January 3, 2025

Scott Witzig

Updates from The Morton Community Foundation for January 2025

We hope your 2025 is off to a good start!

What a wonderful year-end to 2024, full of many opportunities to work with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to help ensure that clients’ charitable giving goals and tax-planning goals were achieved. We are honored to be your first call when the topic of charitable giving pops up in a client meeting.

Here’s what’s trending to kick off the new year and your work with clients who’ve made philanthropy an integral part of their lives:

What a year it will be for Illinois donors where tax policy is concerned! The new Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act went into effect as of January 1, 2025. We’ll keep you updated on any developments regarding the tax credit that could impact the charitable strategies you recommend to clients. In the meantime, the MCF is happy to share an overview based on what we know now. READ MORE
Budgeting is always a hot topic early in the year when it comes to all things money-related, and charitable giving is no exception. The Morton Community Foundation offers tips to help your clients think about adopting a year-long plan for charitable giving that can alleviate stress on both of you. READ MORE
Every attorney, CPA, and financial advisor wants clients to be happy! Did you know that talking about charitable giving can help make that happen? Consider the team at the Morton Community Foundation to be an extension of your team to help structure charitable giving plans that meet your clients’ philanthropic goals, giving everyone a lot to smile about. READ MORE

As always, it is our honor and pleasure to work with you and your clients. Thank you for partnering with the Morton Community Foundation. Happy New Year!

Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Sifting through it: What’s on the legislative menu that could impact charitable giving?

We all know that the new year and a new administration brings lots of potential change. So what is going on that you need to know about to serve your charitable clients?

At the top of the list of issues we’re watching is the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act. Effective for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2025, the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who make a qualified contribution to a permanent endowment fund during the taxable year. The endowment funds provide charitable grants exclusively for the benefit of residents of the State or charities and charitable projects located in the State. (35 ILCS 60/170)

Eligible endowment funds must be held by Qualified Community Foundations (QCFs) who must be approved by the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) before accepting contributions eligible for income tax credits or issuing Certificates of Receipts (CORs) to donors. QCFs are community foundations that are authorized to receive charitable contributions and meet the standards established by Community Foundations National Standards. QCFs are registered with IDOR as non-profit organizations. The Morton Community Foundation is Accredited for National Standards, applied for QCF status with IDOR, and has received QCF status.

Specific details about the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Program are described on the Illinois Revenue website. However, for a quick overview about how to apply and receive an Illinois Gives tax credit, follow these steps.

The donor must first set up a MyTax Illinois account for themselves. Apply to make a contribution to a QCF through MyTax Illinois.
Receive a Contribution Authorization Certificate (CAC) from IDOR through MyTax Illinois.
Make the contributions to the QCF within 10 business days after receiving the CAC.
After receiving the contribution, the QCF will confirm receipt within 30 business days and a COR will be created and issued to you through MyTax Illinois.
After receiving a COR, you may claim the credit on your income tax return.

More on the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act on the IDOR website HERE.

Another important issue we’re watching is what might happen with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. As a quick refresher, the TCJA introduced several changes that significantly impacted charitable giving in the United States. These changes are set to expire at the end of 2025, and their potential extension factors into charitable planning techniques.

You’ll no doubt recall that the TCJA lowered individual income tax rates across the board, which in turn decreased the tax savings for each dollar donated, making charitable contributions slightly less attractive from a tax perspective. What’s more, TCJA provisions nearly doubled the standard deduction. (In 2025, the standard deduction is $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for a married couple filing jointly.) This increase led to a dramatic reduction in the number of taxpayers who itemized their deductions. As a result, fewer taxpayers could claim charitable deductions, potentially discouraging giving among those who previously itemized. Indeed, research estimated that U.S. charitable giving fell by about $20 billion in 2018, the first year the TCJA was in effect.

In addition, the TCJA roughly doubled the estate tax exemption, which has reached $13.99 million per person for 2025. The higher exemption has diluted purely tax-driven motivations for charitable giving among your wealthy clients. With fewer estates subject to tax, many advisors are working with a smaller pool of clients for whom charitable bequests are a useful technique for reducing taxable estates.

Naturally, tax policy plays a role in your clients’ charitable giving behaviors, and certainly the giving behaviors following TCJA reflected tax policy’s influence. Nevertheless, studies have shown that most donors are motivated by factors other than saving taxes. Reasons for giving include a sense of duty to give back to society, a desire to tackle inequality, personal passion for specific charitable causes, religious beliefs, and dedication to supporting those less fortunate. Your clients who give to charity benefit emotionally from their gifts, and of course they like knowing that they are helping others and strengthening community ties. While tax benefits certainly are part of a client’s decision-making process, they’re likely a secondary consideration rather than the primary reason for giving. Indeed, even with tax benefits, your client will always end up with less money after making a charitable contribution, signaling that financial gain is not the main driver of philanthropy. Keep this in mind as tax developments unfold.

Despite the many unknowns, what we do know is that something will happen in 2025 that influences charitable planning. Although TJCA provisions are set to expire at the end of 2025, it’s too soon to determine exactly how you should advise your clients about their charitable planning strategies. Note three potential outcomes of tax policy developments this year:

If lawmakers extend the current TJCA provisions, existing patterns of charitable giving are likely to continue, with a potentially continued reduction in overall donations due to the higher standard deduction and estate tax incentives that motivate only ultra-affluent clients.
If the TCJA’s provisions expire without replacement, and the tax code reverts back to pre-TJCA rules, it could lead to an increase in charitable giving as more taxpayers return to itemizing deductions and face higher marginal tax rates. Plus, a lower estate tax exemption would create a strong incentive for more of your clients to pursue lifetime and legacy gifts to charity to reduce taxable estates.
New tax legislation could introduce different incentives for charitable giving. For example, the proposed Charitable Act aims to create a universal charitable deduction, which could encourage giving across all income levels. For an uplifting read that includes compelling points about the role of the nonprofit sector and the history of charitable giving, check out this letter that was issued late last year to congressional leaders urging them to enact a charitable deduction for taxpayers who do not itemize.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, please reach out to strategize about individual client situations. The team at the Morton Community Foundation is here to help you structure charitable plans to empower clients to achieve their philanthropic goals, with or without a tax deduction.

Playing the long game: Encouraging your clients to plan ahead in 2025

Your clients (and you!) may still be recovering from a hectic end to 2024, but don’t let that stop you from helping families get a jump on their charitable planning for 2025.

As compelling as year-end giving may be, perhaps even more compelling are the reasons for planning and launching a charitable giving strategy early in the year–even in January. Benefits of a year-long giving strategy include:

Helping nonprofit organizations meet their budgets all year long, which can save them from worrying as much about whether constituents’ ongoing needs can be addressed.
Leveraging employer matching gifts programs early in the year when dollars are available and there is plenty of time to process the paperwork.
Increasing predictability of cash flow and therefore being proactive, not reactive, in supporting the causes your clients love. Your clients might even consider setting up automatic contributions to their donor-advised or other types of funds at the Morton Community Foundation to formalize this component as part of an ongoing plan.
Taking advantage of plenty of time to learn more about the charities a client plans to support so that a client can be an even more informed and impactful donor, including fully utilizing the Morton Community Foundation’s expertise and resources.
Giving the client (and you) time to include children and grandchildren in the charitable giving conversation and tax-planning structures as a learning experience for the whole family.
If your client is over 70 ½, being able to avoid the year-end scramble to process a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from an IRA directly to an eligible charity, such as an unrestricted or field-of-interest fund at the Morton Community Foundation, by executing a QCD in the first quarter.
Leaving enough time to explore options for more complex giving techniques, such as gifts of closely-held business interests or charitable remainder trusts, that might provide tax benefits as well as meet a client’s charitable goals, rather than waiting until the last minute when it may be hard for everyone to coordinate calendars.

As always, the Morton Community Foundation is here to help. Please reach out to our team to learn more about how your clients can make the biggest difference with their charitable dollars, and how the Morton Community Foundation can help you ensure that your clients are able to fully carry out their charitable wishes for 2025.

Want happy clients? Talk about charitable giving.

Over the years, more than a handful of attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors have shared with the Morton Community Foundation that their happiest clients seem to be those who’ve incorporated charitable giving into their estate and financial plans. Whether or not you believe this phenomenon is a “chicken or the egg” dilemma, it’s hard to dispute that philanthropy offers both emotional and rational upsides to your clients. Advisors who lean into these benefits stand a strong chance of being viewed by their clients as effective, impactful, and delivering well-rounded services to improve clients’ lives and give them peace of mind.

Despite these advantages, many advisors lack confidence in discussing philanthropy with clients. A survey found that only 5% of advisors felt "very confident" in this area, with 72% not including philanthropy in their initial fact-finding conversation with clients. This gap represents a significant opportunity for advisors to enhance their services and strengthen client relationships through philanthropic discussions.

Keeping clients loyal and engaged with your services is just one of many reasons to talk with clients about charitable giving. A recent Wall Street Journal article sheds light on the ways charitable giving can have positive effects on both mental and physical health.

Notably, the article makes these points:

Donating to charity can lead to improved mood, lower blood pressure, and potentially a longer life.
The act of giving may trigger a release of serotonin and dopamine, hormones associated with happiness, while reducing cortisol levels.
Brain scientists and economists have conducted studies supporting these health benefits of charitable acts.
Research suggests that the positive feelings associated with giving may contribute to these health improvements.

The article implies that engaging in charitable activities could be a way to enhance overall well-being, suggesting that generosity might have tangible benefits beyond just helping others.

Of course, not every client will have exactly the same experience with charitable giving, and of course, charitable giving is above all primarily motivated by a client’s desire to help others rather than solely for personal benefit. Still, it’s critical for advisors to be aware of the unique role charitable giving can play in a client’s life.

The Morton Community Foundation is here for you! Please reach out anytime you are working with a client who is charitably-inclined. Our highly-trained, professional staff can help navigate both the tax planning complexities as well as the emotional side of giving to ensure that your clients achieve their financial goals as well as their goals for making a difference.

December 17, 2024

Scott Witzig

Your next tax planning move (Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act), FAQs for QCDs, and a cheat sheet

December 17, 2024

Scott Witzig

Merry Christmas from the Morton Community Foundation!

We appreciate the opportunity to work with so many of you as you build meaningful and tax-savvy charitable giving plans for your clients. The Morton Community Foundation is here to be your first call anytime the topic of philanthropy pops up in your conversations.

As always, we’re committed to keeping you up-to-date on tax and legal developments related to charitable giving so that you can be even more confident in your recommendations to clients. Here are three topics that are rising to the top of the list as 2024 slips away into 2025:

Income tax and estate tax planning: What’s your next move? All eyes are on what might happen with Federal tax laws under the incoming administration. Many advisors and their clients have found themselves in an uncomfortable state of limbo. Diving deeper into your clients’ charitable planning strategies is a good use of your time right now, especially revisiting the advantages of naming a fund at the Morton Community Foundation as the beneficiary of an IRA.
For your Illinois clients, Public Act 103-0592 created the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act (35 ILCS 60/170). The Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act allows a 25% income tax credit for taxpayers who make authorized contributions to permanent endowment funds held by Qualified Community Foundations (QCFs). READ MORE
QCDs: $105,000, $108,000, and more things to smile about. Qualified Charitable Distributions, or “QCDs,” continue to be popular among those who are 70 ½ and older. But do you still scratch your head just a little when you hear about QCDs? We get it–there are a lot of moving parts. To make it easier, the Morton Community Foundation has put together a punch list of FAQs. READ MORE
If this, then that: Your charitable planning cheat sheet. Do you ever wish you could skim a “charitable giving cheat sheet” to quickly determine which charitable planning tools at the Morton Community Foundation might be a good fit for a particular client? We’ve got you! Check out three examples of “if this, then that” recommendations for charitable giving. READ MORE

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! We wish you all the best for the season and look forward to your emails, phone calls, and questions about charitable giving techniques during this busy time of year.

Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Income Tax and Estate tax planning: What’s your next move?

As attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, you’re very aware of potentially significant upcoming changes to the tax laws that could impact your high net-worth clients. Whether or not a post-election Congress takes action to prevent the estate tax exemption sunset at the end of 2025 will potentially affect the way you design your clients’ wealth transfer strategies.

During this phase of uncertainty, it may be useful to reflect on historical estate tax changes to see how similar situations have been resolved in the past, while at the same time taking a practical approach and advising clients that, while commentators may speculate, it is still impossible to accurately predict what might happen. Estate taxes certainly will continue to be on the minds of leaders in the charitable sector for many months to come.

As you and other tax planning professionals watch and wait, it is important to keep charitable planning high on your list of strategies that could help blunt the impact of a lower estate tax exemption if the sunset were to occur. That’s because gifts to charities are deductible from a client’s taxable estate. Even during this era of uncertainty, be sure to keep in mind an important planning technique for your charitably-inclined clients that delivers multiple tax benefits and offers some degree of flexibility: Naming a charity, such as a fund at the Morton Community Foundation, as the beneficiary of an IRA or other qualified retirement plan.

Here’s why this is such a powerful technique, especially now:

Income tax savings. When your client designates a fund at the Morton Community Foundation as the beneficiary of an IRA, the fund receives the assets without having to pay income taxes. This is because charities are tax-exempt entities, allowing them to receive funds from qualified retirement accounts tax-free after your client’s death. This is not the case with qualified retirement plans flowing to heirs; the income tax hit can be significant.

Estate tax deduction: Naming a charity as a beneficiary of a retirement plan results in an estate tax charitable deduction, which reduces any applicable federal estate taxes. This means that the full value of the IRA can flow into your client’s fund at the Morton Community Foundation free from the estate tax burden.

Flexibility. Clients can revise IRA beneficiary designations anytime during their lifetimes. So, as the end of 2025 draws closer, a client can update an IRA beneficiary designation to name a fund at the Morton Community Foundation, which would protect against a drop in the estate tax exemption. If the sunset does not occur, the client could of course revise the beneficiary designation to leave a greater portion of retirement plan assets to heirs. Remember, though, that the income tax hit will still apply to proceeds flowing to heirs. That’s why many of your charitable clients will choose to leave IRAs to their funds at the Morton Community Foundation even if the estate tax exemption does not sunset. And, of course, many clients truly want to leave a legacy and would love to incorporate charitable giving into their estate plans regardless of what happens with the tax laws. As tax and estate planning advisor, it is your responsibility–and opportunity–to help clients achieve their philanthropic wishes.

Please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation to dive deeper into the ways you can help your clients fulfill their charitable goals, especially during this time when future tax laws are up in the air. We are here to help!

QCDs: $105,000, $108,000, and more things to smile about

As you and other attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors put the finishing touches on implementing clients’ year-end charitable giving plans, you may have a moment when it hits you: “Wait, how exactly does a Qualified Charitable Distribution work?”

That’s a great question, and you are not alone if you’re asking. Even though QCDs are well-covered in financial media, they’re complex enough that it’s hard to remember the nuances when you’re hit with a situation where a client might benefit.

The Morton Community Foundation is here for you! Please reach out with any of your charitable giving questions, including the most common questions about QCDs:

“Is an IRA the only eligible source for Qualified Charitable Distributions?”

Short answer: Almost.

Long answer: An individual can make a Qualified Charitable Distribution directly to an eligible charity from a traditional IRA or an inherited IRA. If the individual’s employer is no longer contributing to a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan or a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA, the individual may use those accounts as well. In theory, a Roth IRA could be used to make a QCD, but it is rarely advantageous to do that because Roth IRA distributions are already tax-free.

“What is the difference between a QCD and an RMD?”

Short answer: Quite a bit! But a QCD can count toward an RMD.

Long answer: Everyone must start taking Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”) from their qualified retirement plans, including IRAs, when they reach the age of 73. RMDs are taxable income. The Qualified Charitable Distribution, by contrast, is a distribution directly from certain types of retirement plans (such as IRAs) to certain types of charities. A QCD can count toward the taxpayer’s RMD for that year. And because the QCD goes directly to charity, the taxpayer is not taxed on that distribution.

“Can a taxpayer make a Qualified Charitable Distribution even if the taxpayer is not yet required to take Required Minimum Distributions?”

Short answer: Yes–within a very narrow age window.

Long answer: RMDs and QCDs are both distributions that impact retirement-age taxpayers, and it would seem logical that the age thresholds would be the same. Under the SECURE Act, though, the required date for starting RMDs shifted from 70 ½ to 72 and is now up to 73 (which is better for taxpayers who want to delay taxable income). A corresponding shift was not made to the eligible age for executing QCDs; that age is still 70 ½ (which benefits taxpayers who wish to access IRA funds to make charitable gifts even before they are required to take RMDs).

“Can my client direct a QCD to a fund at the Morton Community Foundation?”

Short answer: Yes, if it’s a qualifying fund.

Long answer: While donor-advised funds are not eligible recipients of Qualified Charitable Distributions, other types of funds at the Morton Community Foundation can receive QCDs. These funds include unrestricted funds, field-of-interest funds, designated funds, and endowment funds established by nonprofit organizations.

“How much can my client give through a QCD?”

Short answer: $105,000 per year in 2024, increasing to $108,000 in 2025.

Long answer: A Qualified Charitable Distribution permits a client (and a spouse from a spouse’s own IRA or IRAs) to transfer up to $105,000 in 2024 (and $108,000 in 2025) from an IRA (or multiple IRAs) to a qualified charity. So, a married couple may be eligible to direct up to a total of $210,000 in 2024 to charity from IRAs and avoid significant income tax liability.

The Morton Community Foundation is here to help you and your clients tap the potential of QCDs. Please reach out! We’d love to talk about a QCD strategy for your clients’ immediate gifting needs and beyond.

If this, then that: Your charitable planning cheat sheet

At the Morton Community Foundation, we’ve recently been asked by attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors for “cheat sheet” resources to make it easy to determine which type of charitable planning tool is best for a particular client. We love that idea! We’re always happy to be a sounding board for any client situation where charitable giving is an option. Please reach out anytime you and a client are discussing philanthropy. To get your wheels turning, here are three scenarios that have popped up frequently over the last few weeks.

Streamline and tax-optimize charitable giving

If: Your client supports many different charities every year…

Then: A donor-advised fund at the Morton Community Foundation can be an excellent tool to help a client organize their giving to favorite charities, such as local organizations, places of worship, and an out-of-state alma mater. Clients appreciate how easy it is to support multiple charities while the MCF’s systems keep track of everything. Plus, clients can give stock and other appreciated assets to their donor-advised funds, often avoiding capital gains tax and simplifying tax receipts to provide their accountants when tax time rolls around.

Support a specific charity while minimizing risk

If: Your client has supported a particular charity for many years, intends for that support to continue, and also wants to be sure that the funds are used effectively …

Then: Through a designated fund at the Morton Community Foundation, a client can make tax-deductible gifts–during life and through estate gifts–that are set aside to be used exclusively for a particular organization. The MCF makes distributions from the fund according to the client’s wishes. An advantage of a designated fund is that the assets are out of creditors’ reach if the charity were to run into financial trouble. Plus, a client who is 70 ½ or older can make Qualified Charitable Distributions up to $105,000 per year (increasing to $108,000 in 2025) from IRAs to a designated fund.

Leave a charitable bequest and reap significant tax benefits

If: Your client intends to provide for charities in an estate plan and owns an IRA or other qualified retirement plan …

Then: By naming a fund at the Morton Community Foundation as the beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan, your client achieves extremely tax-efficient results. Not only is estate tax avoided on the retirement plan assets flowing to the charitable fund, but income tax is also avoided. Indeed, the income tax hit on retirement proceeds left to heirs can be steep.

The bottom line here is this:

If you encounter any situation with a client where charitable giving could be involved …

Then please reach out! Most of the time, the Morton Community Foundation can offer a solution that meets both the client’s tax and estate planning goals and the client’s objectives for supporting their favorite charities. At the very least, we can point you in the right direction.

Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Phone: 309.291.0434
Email: switzig@mortoncommunityfoundation.org

November 15, 2024

Scott Witzig

Three skimmable insights, what’s next for tax laws, and multiple strategies for ultra high net worth clients

November 15, 2024

Scott Witzig

Hello from the Morton Community Foundation!

Thank you for the opportunity to work together as you serve your philanthropic clients. We are grateful for the many ways our team collaborates with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors.

As always, we’re committed to staying on top of legal developments and curating that content to save you time. We’re covering three topics in this issue that have risen to the top of our research:

If you only have 60 seconds to get up to speed, check out our insights and tips for hurricane relief, how your clients define “wealthy” and why it matters for their philanthropy, and important year-end giving reminders about ways the Morton Community Foundation can help.
You and other financial and tax advisors are on pins and needles about what might happen with the tax laws and especially the estate tax exemption. The Morton Community Foundation offers factors to consider as you advise your clients … and as you continue to watch and wait.
Your client base is more and more likely to include ultra-high net worth families. It’s important to understand how multiple charitable giving vehicles, including a donor-advised fund at the Morton Community Foundation as well as possibly a private foundation, play a role in a client’s overall philanthropy strategy.

Whether we are working together to structure a family’s donor-advised fund, a gift of real estate, endowed support for a favorite nonprofit, or a Qualified Charitable Distribution to a field-of-interest fund at the Morton Community Foundation, our team enjoys and appreciates every minute. We love serving as your first stop for all things philanthropy.

Be aware that GivingTuesday is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Tue, Dec 3. Make sure your clients know this, especially if they are Caterpillar employees or retirees. Why?

In support of Giving Tuesday, the Caterpillar Foundation will provide a limited-time 2:1 match through their Matching Gifts Program for global employee and U.S. retiree gifts made December 2-6, 2024 (or once the match total reaches $2M USD). This includes donations to any of the 100+ individual endowment funds with the MCF. Since the total dollars available for the 2:1 match are limited to $2M USD, you’ll want to get your donations made as early as possible, preferably Monday, Dec 2. Employees/retirees may donate up to a total of $500 in increments of no less than $25. Example: A donation to their favorite MCF fund of $500, will trigger a $1,000 donation to that same fund by the Caterpillar Foundation, for a total gift of $1,500.

Wishing you and your family all the best for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Three insights worth a quick peek

You’re busy as 2024 draws to a close! The Morton Community Foundation is committed to researching, curating, and keeping you up-to-date on the latest trends and developments that could impact your clients’ charitable giving strategies. If you only have 60 seconds, we recommend scanning these three quick updates.

Best practices for donating to hurricane relief efforts

As your clients continue to support hurricane relief efforts, keep in mind that even in disaster response situations, tax rules still come into play. Make sure you’re aware of how the IRS addresses “qualified disaster relief” related to both donors and recipient charitable organizations. Please reach out to the team at the Morton Community Foundation anytime to learn more about how your clients can ensure that their hurricane relief dollars are making the biggest difference possible. When disaster strikes our region, we help facilitate charitable giving to legitimate efforts that make a real impact. And when disaster strikes elsewhere, we help support our community foundation partners across the country.

Charitable giving can help bridge generations’ definitions of “wealthy”

The recently-released Bank of America Private Bank Study of Wealthy Americans is a must-read (or at least a must-skim) report because it offers insights into shifting views on wealth, and it also highlights a disconnect in inheritance expectations. Notably, younger individuals tend to rally around a definition of “wealthy” in terms of having the means to live a life of purpose and make a difference. Older generations are more likely to define “wealth” in financial terms. Important for charitable planning is the finding that older generations may not be planning to leave the inheritance that their children and grandchildren expect. Working with the Morton Community Foundation to help clients establish a multi-generational charitable giving plan makes it easier to get expectations out in the open and keep the entire family meaningfully involved in the family’s wealth over the long term.

Must-know tips for clients’ year-end giving

We know you’ve got a lot on your plate as the end of the year approaches. Even if charitable giving does not appear on the surface to be a burning issue in client meetings, it’s still crucial that you keep in mind a few essential charitable giving techniques because your clients do care. Please scan these three important techniques, and please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation on any matter related to charitable giving.

Encourage clients to consider giving highly-appreciated stock, not cash, to their funds at the Morton Community Foundation, thereby maximizing tax benefits.
Help clients evaluate a “bundling” or “bunching” technique to make gifts to donor-advised funds, exceeding the currently high standard deduction to be able to itemize. Then, donor-advised fund assets can be used over the next few years to support clients’ favorite charities.
Help clients who are 70 ½ and older make Qualified Charitable Distributions (“QCDs”) directly from IRAs to designated or field-of-interest funds (donor-advised funds are ineligible recipients) at the Morton Community Foundation–up to $105,000 per spouse. Plus, QCDs satisfy RMDs!

Reach out to the Morton Community Foundation today! November is the time to set things in motion so you don’t get caught up in the year-end rush. We are here for you.

What now? Why the elections won’t immediately change tax laws

Many eyes are on the election aftermath seeking clues about what might happen to the tax laws. Of particular interest is the much-analyzed sunset of the higher estate tax exemption, scheduled for the end of 2025 absent intervening legislation. “Absent intervening legislation” is the key, of course. The November 2024 elections will not immediately change estate tax laws, and it’s a long road from here to there.

For starters, the new Congress will not be sworn in until January 2025, and only after the session begins will Congress initiate the budget reconciliation process which is ultimately required to make tax law changes. The budget reconciliation process typically starts with the President submitting a budget to Congress. Then, both chambers of Congress pass budget resolutions with reconciliation instructions. Then, committees draft legislation to meet the budget targets, and the budget committees consolidate the bills into a single omnibus bill. Then, each chamber votes on its respective omnibus bill.

What all of this means is that the status of the estate tax exemption is still very much up in the air. And this means that financial, tax, and estate planning is going to be difficult for many more months. With the estate tax exemption set to drop from $13.61 million per person in 2024 to approximately $7 million per individual on January 1, 2026, a lot is at stake. Should a high-net worth taxpayer start making aggressive gifts now to family members and a donor-advised or other type of fund at the Morton Community Foundation, anticipating that the sunset will indeed occur? Or take a “wait and see” approach?

Planning is further complicated by the dangers of waiting until the last minute. Not only is it tough to pull off a complex estate plan or business succession plan quickly, but it’s also dicey because the IRS likely will be on the lookout for situations to invoke the step transaction and reciprocal trust doctrines.

So what can you do? First and foremost, if you are working with charitably-inclined families who would be impacted by the estate tax exemption sunset, please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation right away to start looking at options. And if you aren’t sure whether a client is charitably inclined, you absolutely must ask them. It’s always important to talk about charitable giving, and especially right now when the stakes are so high.

We look forward to many conversations with you and your clients as estate tax developments unfold!

Navigating multiple charitable strategies for ultra high net worth families

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. Charitable giving strategies are particularly relevant as you and your clients address the possibility of increases in income and capital gains taxes for high earners as well as increased estate taxes due to the looming exemption sunset.

What’s also notable is research indicating that the number of “ultra high net worth" families (over $30 million) has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Globally, 157,000 individuals represented $14.2 trillion in 2004 and by 2024, 426,000 individuals represented $49.2 trillion of wealth. Fast forward to 2027, and this group is expected to grow to over 500,000. America alone is home to 756 billionaires and many of the world’s millionaires–nearly 22 million people.

So why does this matter to you? It matters because wealthy families will rely increasingly on their attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to help them navigate savvy tax planning strategies, including charitable giving. And many of these families are very generous, so don’t underestimate your clients’ desire to get involved in charitable giving.

Indeed, you may already be working with families who use private foundations to fulfill their charitable giving goals. In many instances, these private foundations were established by previous generations before donor-advised funds became widely available. As donor-advised funds become more popular, for lots of good reasons, please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation to explore a parallel strategy where your clients can carry out their charitable intentions using both a donor-advised fund and a private foundation.

In some cases, your clients may want to consider closing a private foundation and transferring the assets to a donor-advised fund because of the many administrative and tax benefits. The MCF can help walk through the steps for shutting down the private foundation, which include securing board approval, making sure final expenses will be covered, transferring the assets to a donor-advised fund, filing the appropriate dissolution documents with the state, and submitting the private foundation’s final tax return reporting its dissolution and transfer of assets.

Whether your client pursues philanthropic goals through a private foundation, donor-advised fund, or combination of both, we are here to help! Please reach out to our team to discuss the ways your clients can support causes that align with their values and passions, create a lasting legacy that extends beyond their lifetime, involve multiple generations in philanthropic efforts, and foster an overall sense of family unity and shared purpose.

October 25, 2024

Scott Witzig

Tax laws and the great unknown, event tickets, and tips for client conversations

October 25, 2024

Scott Witzig

Greetings from the Morton Community Foundation!

As the end of the year draws closer, we’re looking forward to working with so many of you to structure and fulfill your clients’ charitable giving goals for 2024. The Morton Community Foundation is honored to be your very first call whenever the topic of charitable giving pops up during client conversations. What’s really exciting is to hear from attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors that you’re no longer waiting for the topic to pop up because you’re bringing it up yourself!

Here’s what’s trending this month:

Our hearts go out to the millions of people affected by Hurricane Helene. Community foundations in the affected areas and across the country are making it as easy as possible to donate to relief efforts. Please contact the team at the Morton Community Foundation to learn more about how you and your clients can help swiftly and most effectively. We can provide links to community foundations located in or near the affected areas that can ensure your gift is swiftly directed to the agencies working most closely with those in need.
We’re excited about the first ever DAF Day, a national campaign to encourage giving from donor-advised funds. The Morton Community Foundation is honored to work with so many individuals, families, and businesses to establish donor-advised funds to organize their giving. A donor-advised fund can be a key component of a client’s overall philanthropy plan. Other components often include field-of-interest funds, designated funds, and unrestricted funds, as well as bequests in your clients’ estate plans through a will, trust, or IRA beneficiary designation.
Make a note on your calendar of other key dates that may be relevant to your clients, including National Philanthropy Day on November 14, and GivingTuesday on December 3. These well-publicized events make it even easier to bring up charitable planning during client conversations.

In our latest articles, we’re diving deeper into three key topics:

Election year dynamics make it even harder to predict potential changes to tax laws that could impact your clients’ charitable giving plans. The Morton Community Foundation offers high-level observations about the major areas of tax policy that could be impacted by election results. As always, we’re committed to keeping you up to date, even in the absence of a crystal ball. READ MORE
Event season is ramping up, 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 you might think. The Morton Community Foundation is happy to help your clients support their favorite causes without running afoul of IRS rules. READ MORE
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 Morton Community Foundation offers simple tips and techniques to help you meet clients’ expectations for including philanthropy in the conversation. READ MORE

Thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you and your charitable clients. It is our honor and pleasure! We look forward to your emails and phone calls as 2024 winds down, and we’re excited about continuing our conversations in 2025 and beyond.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! We are grateful.

The Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Into the great unknown

Humans crave certainty, and that is certainly not what we have right now during election season, especially where taxes are concerned.

Your clients who support charitable causes may be wondering how the election outcomes might impact their philanthropic plans. You’re probably wondering that, too!

Of course, no one has a crystal ball. It is impossible to predict tax law changes, and that will still be the case to some extent even after the elections. So much can change between a tax proposal and what is ultimately enacted into law. Still, you’d at least like to have a general idea. In that spirit, let’s break down at a very high level where the proposals are trending and what might happen with charitable giving depending on the outcome of the November elections.

Capital gains tax

Donald Trump has not yet formally proposed a new tax policy on capital gains.
Kamala Harris has called for an increase on the top long-term capital gains tax rate to 28% for taxable income above $1 million. This change could translate into more incentive to give appreciated assets to funds at the Morton Community Foundation and other charities.

Income tax

Trump could make income tax cuts permanent. These cuts are currently subject to next year’s scheduled sunsetting of provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Note that in this scenario, the higher standard deduction under the Act would presumably continue, reinforcing what many have observed as a chilling effect on charitable donations.
Harris has proposed expanding several tax credits, but sources opine that it is still unclear whether the higher standard deduction would be allowed to sunset.

Estate tax

Trump has indicated that he will prevent the estate tax cuts (ie., higher estate tax exemption) from expiring.
Harris appears to signal that she would increase estate taxes, perhaps leaning toward the policies laid out in President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal, which modeled tightening the estate tax. If the estate tax exemption were to drop according to the sunset provisions under current law, or if other changes were to increase the estate tax, high net-worth taxpayers would have a greater tax incentive to make large charitable gifts and bequests.

Remember that it’s not only the presidential election that will impact tax changes. Passing actual laws depends on the make-up of Congress, too.

As always, the Morton Community Foundation stays on top of legal developments impacting techniques that are a good fit for your clients’ charitable planning. We’ll keep you posted during election season and throughout the year.

Event tickets: Beware of the split

Many of your philanthropy-minded clients certainly enjoy attending fundraising events for their favorite charities. Especially as community events start ramping up this fall, you’ll want to be aware of a little wrinkle in the IRS rules that may surprise your clients so much that they ask you about it.

Here’s how this might go.

Client: “We wanted to buy a table at the fall gala through our donor-advised fund, but the team at the Morton Community Foundation said that’s not possible and they suggested alternate ways of meeting our goals. What’s up with that?”

You: “Ummmm ….”

And no one could blame you for that response! The rules behind this are obscure and confusing, even by IRS standards.

Here’s what’s going on: The IRS frowns on donor-advised funds paying for any part of an event ticket to a charitable fundraiser–even if a portion of the ticket is tax-deductible.

Big picture, the IRS is likely striving for administrative simplicity to enforce the longstanding tax principle that a taxpayer cannot deduct value given to a charity that is effectively transferred back to the taxpayer. At a typical event, of course, your client receives food, drinks, entertainment, and even t-shirts and other fun swag. The IRS knows this!

The IRS’s commentary on this topic is not new; IRS Notice 2017-73 addresses a concept known as “bifurcated gifts,” meaning a portion of a gift is tax deductible and the other is not. The background here is that the IRS has taken the position that Internal Revenue Code Section 4967 prohibits donor-advised grants from conferring “more than incidental” benefits to donor-advised fund holders. In its 2017 Notice, the IRS expresses its opinion that donor-advised fund grants that enable attendance or participation in a charity-sponsored event (such as buying tickets or a table) do indeed provide more than just an incidental benefit, even if the taxpayer pays out-of-pocket for the non-deductible portion of the ticket.

Ever since the notice was released, it’s been on the radar of tax professionals, and many predict that the IRS will eventually formalize its opinion by issuing new regulations. It’s wise to keep an eye on this because the penalties certainly are not negligible and include excise taxes imposed on the donor advisor and potential penalties for donor-advised fund programs that knowingly authorize such payments.

There is good news, though!

The Morton Community Foundation is on it! We understand the rules, and we are here to help your clients stay compliant and achieve their charitable goals. In situations like this, we help your clients structure gifts from their donor-advised funds to support general event sponsorships if the client declines all benefits, or even recommend that the client pay the ticket portion from their personal funds and use donor-advised funds to give separate and additional amounts for general support unrelated to the event specifically. We can also talk with your client about how to participate in rallies for outright donations during a fundraising event and ensure that the client is not receiving any benefit in return.

Please reach out anytime! We’re happy to help!

At a loss for words? Tips for starting a charitable giving conversation

Attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors certainly are not strangers to tough questions. Indeed, the mix of money, family, and mortality is a potent combination that almost always creates an emotionally-charged planning environment, whether the matter at hand is tax planning, updating wills and trusts, or structuring retirement portfolios.

Why, then, are so many advisors reluctant to bring up charitable giving during client meetings when the topic itself is so uplifting? In some cases, you may feel like you don’t know enough about the technical tax planning aspects of charitable giving to be able to offer sound advice. In other cases, you may be concerned about taking the planning process off course into areas where the client doesn’t want you involved. Or maybe you don’t feel you have a good enough grasp of the client’s big picture to truly recognize opportunities for charitable planning that are a win-win for the client’s favorite causes and the client’s tax and financial plan.

Guess what? There is no need to worry! The Morton Community Foundation has you covered. Consider the following:

Clients are expecting you to bring up charitable giving; studies reveal a disconnect between what clients and advisors assume and perceive. So if you think to yourself, “Oh, I asked about that,” think again because the client may disagree. Did you approach the question with sincere interest, or were you just checking a box?

What’s important here is that the Morton Community Foundation is your technical back up! You absolutely do not need to know the ins and outs of the charitable deduction rules, the details of Qualified Charitable Distributions, or how a donor-advised fund or charitable remainder trust operates. If you’ve built an expertise around charitable giving in your practice, that’s terrific, but it is not necessary. Our team is just an email or a phone call away. Please reach out the moment a client expresses interest in charitable planning. We’re happy to support you and be part of the team to meet the client’s objectives.

And this does not need to be hard.

While plenty of resources offer excellent suggestions for how to bring up charitable giving in conversations, many advisors tell us that they have to keep it even more simple. We understand that you don’t have time to ask a briefcase full of questions. That does not mean, however, that you can’t have a meaningful conversation. Even just two minutes is plenty if you show genuine interest in the client’s intentions and connect the client to the Morton Community Foundation.

For example, the charitable planning part of a client meeting could be as simple as this:

“Okay! Now that we’ve taken a look at your retirement projections, beneficiary designations, and portfolio allocation, let’s check in on charitable giving. Bring me up to speed on your involvement with charitable community organizations, schools, and/or faith-based charities or church.”

Then, let them talk. If they’re not involved in any charitable community organizations, schools, and/or faith-based charities or church, they’ll tell you. And if they are, they’ll tell you that, too.

If the client is indeed involved in these charitable organizations, let them know that you are happy to connect them to the Morton Community Foundation, or, better yet, tell the client that you’d be happy to invite a professional from the Morton Community Foundation to your next meeting. Your priority as their advisor is to bring professionals to the table to help achieve their charitable giving goals.

Of course, this sample dialogue is over-simplified for illustration purposes. But truly, it does not need to be much more complicated than that. Next time you meet with a client, give this simple approach a try. You might be surprised at how easy it is, and how much the client appreciates your interest in areas of their lives that go beyond dollars-and-cents transactions and legal documents. It is the Morton Community Foundation’s honor to work with you and your charitable clients.

Morton Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.

September 26, 2024

Scott Witzig

Breaking through client procrastination, what's new with closely-held stock gifts, and tips to stay current

September 26, 2024

Scott Witzig

Greetings from the Morton Community Foundation!

The days are getting shorter, and that means it’s time to get a jump on year-end charitable planning for your clients!

In the spirit of staying ahead of the curve, we’re covering three topics this month that can help you as you begin to talk with clients about the remaining “must do” items for 2024, including charitable giving.

Procrastination is a very common human reaction to tasks that 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 themselves missing out on opportunities to further their goals. The Morton Community Foundation offers tips for using charitable giving as a “gateway” topic for bigger conversations about essential year-end planning.
Your clients who are business owners and who are also philanthropic will appreciate your suggestions about incorporating charitable giving into their succession plans. This is a good time to have that conversation in light of legal developments and upcoming tax law changes. The MCF can help!
As always, the Morton Community Foundation stays on top of trends that impact your work with your charitable clients. We’re sharing updates so you can stay current on popular planning techniques, how the election year may influence charitable giving, and what’s ahead on the calendar to help motivate your clients to complete their planning to do lists.

Thank you for the opportunity to work together! We are grateful.

The Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Charitable planning can help ease client procrastination

“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.”
William James

Procrastination is a drain in ways that go far deeper than the incomplete task itself. We know this intellectually, but it can be so hard to break the procrastination habit. 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. Then, the conversation 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 in 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 need to 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 Morton Community Foundation 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 Morton Community 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. If the client already has a donor-advised fund, make sure they know how to use it most effectively, and reach out to the Morton Community Foundation team for help. What’s more, discussing charitable donation receipts presents a nice opening to remind a client about other paperwork that may need to be gathered or completed to meet overall estate and financial planning goals.

· 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 highly-appreciated, long-term assets) are ideal gifts to a client’s fund at the Morton Community Foundation or other public charity 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 Morton Community Foundation free from capital gains tax. That means more funds are available to support the client’s favorite causes. Conveniently, the conversation about highly-appreciated stock can segue naturally into a conversation about overall stock positions. The MCF has a Schwab Charitable account that allows us to inexpensively liquidate stock so that more flows into the client’s fund. Recently, a donor had his advisor transfer 100 shares of CAT stock to his DAF at the MCF, and it only cost $1.80 to have the stock liquidated. The donor avoided capital gains tax on the entire amount, and received a charitable donation benefit of the full market value of the stock.

· Philanthropy topics can naturally lead into even more topics that are sensitive to year-end timing, such as annual exclusion gifts, estimated tax planning, and updating wills and trusts before the extended family gathers for the holiday or travels together overseas.

The Morton Community Foundation 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!

Closely-held stock is having a moment

Giving stock is an important strategy for any private business owner to explore. Not only can these gifts help implement a business succession plan that calls for transferring the business to the next generation if that is your client’s goal, but gifts of stock can also help your business owner client achieve charitable goals and avoid estate tax.

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 Morton Community Foundation or other public charity. Notably, two developments could have a big impact on your work with these clients:

The estate tax exemption sunset set to occur at the end of next year continues to loom large. Without intervening legislation, a lot more of your clients will need to wrestle with the reality that their estates likely will be subject to a hefty tax, causing many clients to rethink both the timing and methods to transfer business interests. Making gifts of closely-held business interests to a fund at the Morton Community Foundation is likely to become more attractive to a broader cross-section of your client base.
Valuation has always been a critical factor in any type of tax or estate planning. This is certainly still the case with substantiating the value of closely-held business interests that your clients transfer to a charity, such as a fund at the Morton Community Foundation. And now, the additional wrinkle presented by the Supreme Court’s decision in Connelly v. United States makes things even more interesting. The Connelly decision impacts the way business interests are valued for estate tax purposes. In Connelly, the Supreme Court held that life insurance proceeds indeed ought to be included in the valuation of a company without offsetting the redemption obligation. This could translate to higher taxable estates for your business owner clients, creating further incentive to leave a portion of closely-held stock to charity. The decision is also a reminder that careful planning can potentially avoid pitfalls.

Please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation to learn more about how we can help as you work with your business-owner clients to navigate legal and tax developments that could significantly impact future plans for their privately-held companies.

Looking ahead: Charitable planning techniques on the horizon

The Morton Community Foundation team keeps a finger on the pulse of current events and legal developments that could impact the way you work with your charitable clients. Below are three notable items that you’ll likely want to keep in mind this fall.

Election year implications

Naturally, as a financial, legal, or tax advisor, you’re very interested in how the results of the November elections could impact tax laws. What you might not know, though, is how significantly an election cycle can impact nonprofits’ fundraising efforts. Keep this dynamic in mind as you meet with clients who serve on nonprofit boards. These clients will appreciate the fact that you’re aware of the challenges. They’ll also be glad to know that you’re happy to loop in the MCF as a resource to structure and accept complex gifts as charities double down on fundraising efforts this year.

Snapshot of giving trends

If it feels like more clients are asking about giving techniques such as crowdfunding, using appreciated stock to support charities, and setting up donor-advised funds, you are not imagining it. These trends are real! It’s smart to stay up-to-date at a high level so that you’re generally aware of what’s going on with philanthropy. Beyond that, the only information you need is the Morton Community Foundation’s phone number…309-291-0434. We are here for you! We are honored to be your first call anytime a client mentions that they’d like to launch or update a charitable giving plan. In most cases, the Morton Community Foundation can provide tools and services that will help your client achieve their goals. In any event, we’ll help you figure out a solution, whether or not the MCF ultimately plays a role.

For your calendar

If you’re in search of tools to help motivate clients to move forward with financial and estate planning, be sure to note that National Estate Planning Awareness Week is coming up. October 21 - 27, 2024 is this year’s designated timeframe to help the public understand the basics of estate planning and the reasons it’s so important. The original House of Representatives resolution includes key points that may spark messaging ideas for your client outreach. And of course, on all things related to charitable planning, please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation. We’re happy to share best practices for encouraging clients to get serious about planning all aspects of their estates, including the legacies they’d like to leave to their favorite causes and the community they love.

August 27, 2024

Scott Witzig

Advising frugal clients, passing wealth to children, and steps to give real estate

August 27, 2024

Scott Witzig

Greetings from the Morton Community Foundation! =

Sorry for the delay in sending out this August e-newsletter. August flew by so fast, and the hectic fall season is just around the corner. The Morton Community Foundation is here to support you as you help your clients update their charitable giving plans. We’re already hearing from many of you that you expect the next few months to be very busy as clients reach out with questions about possible tax law changes and how charitable giving can fit into estate and financial planning strategies.

Here are three examples of the many ways the Morton Community Foundation can help you serve your philanthropic clients.

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.
Structuring estate and financial plans to leave just the “right” amount to children can be tough. The Morton 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.
Gifts of real estate to a fund at the Morton 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 the Morton Community Foundation to learn more about each critically important step in the process and how to comply with tax laws.

As always, thank you for the opportunity to work with you! We are honored to help you serve your charitable clients and we appreciate the opportunity to do so.

With gratitude,

Your Morton Community Foundation Staff
Scott Witzig, Executive Director
Darcy Riddle, Administrative Manager

Counting pennies: How to counsel frugal yet charitable clients

Over the years, you’ve no doubt experienced a wide range of what clients perceive as “wealthy.” You’ve likely also observed that clients have different assumptions about what it takes to be a “philanthropist.” The interplay between a client’s perception of personal wealth and charitable giving capacity presents interesting opportunities for client engagement. You may find yourself helping a client get comfortable with pursuing their charitable objectives while remaining secure in the knowledge that their financial plan is on track.

Whether clients choose to give to charity or not depends on a lot of factors. Here are a few themes to keep in mind as you work with clients who skew toward the more frugal end of spending practices, especially during national Make-A-Will month when estate planning may be top of mind.

Stay within budget. A client’s fear of running out of money may be preventing them from investing more meaningfully in the causes they care about. When savings-minded clients express charitable intentions, you can certainly guide the conversation toward showing them that their assets, income sources, expenses, and long-term projections are in good shape and leave them plenty of room to make charitable donations. When you lay out the big picture, even your historically cautious clients may see that they truly have more flexibility than they realize.

Every gift counts. Some clients who watch every penny are concerned that giving modestly doesn’t really rise to the level of “philanthropist” and might not make a difference. These clients may not realize that everyone can make a difference through small gifts, large gifts, and everything in between. The Morton Community Foundation is happy to help your clients get started with charitable giving at a level that makes the most sense for them, whether that’s setting up a donor-advised or other type of fund at the Morton Community Foundation, arranging for a bequest to a fund, or, for your clients who are 70 ½ and older, structuring a gift from an IRA to a designated fund to support a favorite nonprofit.

Bang for the buck. The Morton Community Foundation can help show your clients how gifts of highly-appreciated stock to a fund at the MCF can avoid capital gains taxes, thereby freeing up more resources to support favorite charities than if the client had sold stock, paid the tax, and then given the proceeds to charity. We can also help identify meaningful giving opportunities based on each client’s budget and areas of interest.

See results. By activating philanthropy plans during their lifetimes, your clients can experience the joy of giving and witness tangible returns on their investments. The Morton Community Foundation can arrange for a client to meet with nonprofit leaders and hear first hand the impact their money is making to improve peoples’ lives. This real-time feedback also allows your client and the Morton Community Foundation to adjust giving strategies to more closely align with your client’s evolving intentions.

We look forward to working with you and your clients. Philanthropy is meant to be fun and rewarding for everyone involved. Our team is here to help make that happen!

Less can be more: Charitable giving helps parents pass wealth to children

How much is too much? That’s a question many parents ask as they structure lifetime gifts and bequests to children in their financial and estate plans. Wealthy clients are sometimes concerned that leaving millions of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands, to their children could backfire and hinder their kids’ ability and motivation to achieve financial independence.

In addition to concerns about fostering entitlement and dependency, many parents are concerned that their children will miss out on the satisfaction of knowing they built wealth on their own. These parents believe that the challenges and struggles along the way will ultimately enrich their children’s lives with intangible benefits that are far greater than the obvious benefits that come with gifts or an inheritance of significant financial resources.

As you work with clients who feel this way, you can help them evaluate strategies such as:

Establishing philanthropic components of an estate plan so that children receive only the amount that can pass to them free of estate tax, with the rest passing to a charity, such as an endowment fund at the Morton Community Foundation.
Setting up a donor-advised fund at the Morton Community Foundation to allow your clients to support favorite charities during their lifetimes, with the terms of the donor-advised fund providing that the children step in as successor advisors following the clients’ deaths.
As successor advisors to the donor-advised fund, the children can work with the Morton Community Foundation to recommend grants to favorite charities, support interest areas pre-selected by their parents, or both.

Many clients are attracted to this type of structure because not only could it avoid estate tax, but it also allows their children to stay involved with all of the family’s wealth, work together and keep sibling bonds strong, and get involved in the community.

Please reach out to the Morton Community Foundation anytime. We look forward to exploring strategies to help your clients meet their financial and tax goals, as well as honor their wishes for children to live happy and productive lives.

Gifts of real estate: Watch every step

We’re hearing from more and more attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors that your clients are expressing interest in giving real estate to charity. This is wonderful news!

You’re certainly aware that gifts of real estate to a fund at the Morton Community Foundation, just like gifts of other long-term capital assets, can be extremely tax-efficient. That’s because your client is typically eligible for a charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the property. Because the Morton Community Foundation is a public charity, when it sells the donated property, the proceeds will flow into the fund free from capital gains tax.

To achieve the best tax outcome and overall charitable result, though, it’s critical to undertake a careful process along the general lines of the following (depending of course on the specific situation):

First, you’ll need to determine that the real estate is a long-term capital asset (held for more than one year). That may sound obvious, but we’ve talked with advisors and their clients in the past about a potential gift of real estate and it turned out that the property was only recently purchased. The fair market value deduction (versus cost basis deduction) is available only for a long-term capital asset.
Next, you’ll want to work with the Morton Community Foundation to structure a donor-advised or other type of fund to receive the asset, if your client does not already have a fund in place. The deductibility rules are different for real estate gifts to a public charity (such as a Morton Community Foundation fund) versus a private foundation. Again, clients may not be aware of the pitfalls here. Sometimes we meet with advisors whose clients are very close to transferring real estate to a private foundation, which could be devastating in terms of missed tax savings.
You’ll need to verify that the property is not subject to a mortgage or other debt. Transferring encumbered property triggers important considerations with potentially significant tax consequences. The lender might not even allow a transfer in the first place. If you’re dealing with commercial property, you’ll also need to check to be sure that the property is not subject to “recapture” if your client has previously taken depreciation deductions.
You will need to determine whether the property produces income and discuss this with the Morton Community Foundation. Income-producing real estate can potentially trigger “UBIT” (unrelated business income tax) for the Morton Community Foundation. Although there are exceptions and strategies to minimize UBIT’s impact, it’s important that this issue be dealt with up front.
You may need to work with the Morton Community Foundation to determine whether an environmental audit is required for the property.
Verify that the client has not entered into any discussions about an imminent sale of the property. Even if the Morton Community Foundation will sell the property shortly after receipt (so that the proceeds can flow into the donor-advised or other fund to support the client’s favorite causes), your client cannot have pre-arranged this sale. Doing so could trigger the IRS’s step transaction doctrine and wipe out the tax deduction.
Importantly, ensure that the client obtains a qualified appraisal to determine the fair market value of the property. This is critical to obtain a tax deduction, and the appraised value must be reported to the IRS on a Form 8283 in strict compliance with the IRS’s rules.
Finally, transfer the property with the appropriate legal documents, including a deed.

Whew! That’s a lot! The bottom line here is that gifts of real estate can be a wonderful tool for both your client and the charities they want to support through their fund at the Morton Community Foundation. We can help you through the process, every step of the way. We have professionals in house, as well as on-call experts with whom we work regularly, to ensure that your client’s real estate gift is handled without a hitch, opening the door to bring their charitable goals to life.