Professional Advisors

Philanthropy for your clients

Clients often rely on professional advisors like you to include charitable giving in their financial plans. At the Foundation, we can help you find the best options for them. We’ve created some talking points to help spark the charitable conversation with your clients here!

The Foundation for Southwest Louisiana is a public charity, which means contributions to our funds are tax-deductible to the maximum amount allowed by law. We have a long history of accepting complex assets, like real estate and stock in privately held companies.

Year-End Tax Planning

Charitable accounts at community foundations let your clients give gifts in the latest tax year while making grants to nonprofits over time. Bundling charitable contributions is a new strategy to help people maximize their charitable contributions.

Check out this spreadsheet to see the big impact of bundling a donation of appreciated stock. We can open a fund quickly, often in one or two days, to help you and your clients achieve tax savings and charitable goals in the current year. We can help your clients find worthwhile charities that match their causes.

Also, your clients can donate up to $100,000 of their annual Required Minimum Distribution from a traditional IRA to a qualifying charity like the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, which will benefit the community for years to come.

Estate Planning

Your clients can use a charitable bequest or other planned gift to manage the level of estate taxes and to use their money to create a legacy. What our donors desire, we do, giving in perpetuity to the causes or nonprofits that are important to them.

Donor Advised Fund versus Private Foundations

Private foundations have strict rules and the burden of oversight. When your clients open a donor-advised fund with us, we take care of the paperwork and invest for less cost so more money can be invested in community giving. We’ve created a breakdown of these benefits here.

IRA/401(k) Assets

Our legal counsel and donor services department can recommend the best distribution of large retirement accounts to minimize taxes and preserve the money for charitable giving.

If you would like more information about our charitable funds, please call the Foundation at (337) 491-6688.