Why companies need philanthropy advice, too
As an advisor, you make sure that your clients know all the options for structuring both their near-term and long-term plans to give to charity using techniques that achieve philanthropic and tax goals.
What you might consider is that many of your clients are executives in companies whose leaders want the company itself to lean into charitable giving. It’s wise to be aware of best practices in corporate philanthropy, and how GCF can help.
For example, establishing a corporate donor advised fund (DAF) – essentially functioning and named as a corporate foundation – helps corporate executives organize the company’s giving in a convenient, 501(c)(3)-qualified structure, avoiding the time and expense that would be required for the company to establish and maintain a separate foundation entity. The client’s company can fund the corporate DAF each year, thereby organizing charitable donations to a wide range of nonprofits through a single source of funds. This structure can help maintain historical corporate giving levels even when the company experiences a down year.
What’s more, many companies coordinate with GCF to offer donor advised funds to employees, especially to take advantage of company stock gifts. A program like this is a perk for employees who’ll enjoy organizing their giving and using GCF’s many tools and services. The program also helps inspire employees to get more involved in the community.
GCF can take on a “back office” role for a company’s matching gifts program, grant administration, and giving strategy. For example, we can:
- guide corporate leadership in creating and administering a program that matches employees’ volunteer time with dollars
- create and implement a strategy for responding to and evaluating funding requests to align with the company’s goals for supporting and prioritizing causes
- establish and administer employee giving and disaster relief campaigns, using our tools to receive and process donations to respond quickly and meaningfully to disasters and other urgent community needs
We have found that companies appreciate GCF’s infrastructure, reporting practices, and compliance protocols to ensure that all tax laws and other IRS requirements are met. Instead of the company bearing these responsibilities, it’s our job.
We look forward to working with you and your clients who are corporate executives or local small business owners, who are excited to give back to the community where they’ve built businesses and developed lasting relationships with employees and customers.
