As an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, you’re well aware that your clients are typically better off from a tax perspective if they donate to charity by giving appreciated stock held for more than one year instead of writing a check. That’s because the client’s charitable deduction is calculated based on the stock’s fair market value, and the charity (unlike your client) can sell the stock without triggering capital gains tax. Indeed, many of your clients regularly give appreciated stock to their donor advised funds at the Wayne County Foundation.

So, what happens when one of these clients starts asking questions about what’s on their tax return? For instance:

“Wait a minute. I distinctly remember that my stock was worth $81.95 per share when the market closed on the day I transferred 100 shares to the Foundation to add to my donor advised fund. But my tax return is showing a deduction amount less than $8,195. Is that a mistake?”

It’s a great question, and of course you know the answer! When a client contributes publicly traded securities to a fund at the Foundation, or directly to another public charity, the amount of the charitable deduction is indeed based on the fair market value of the asset at the time of the gift under Internal Revenue Code Section 170 and Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-1(c). For publicly traded securities, however, “fair market value” is not ordinarily the closing price. Instead, the IRS valuation rule generally uses the average between the highest and lowest quoted selling prices on the date of the contribution. This methodology appears in Treasury Regulation § 20.2031-2(b)(1), outlining the IRS’s longstanding valuation rules.

Here’s a simple example.

Suppose a client transfers shares to a donor advised fund at the Foundation on August 20. On that date:

High price: $82.40

Low price: $79.60

Closing price: $81.95

Many clients understandably assume their deduction will be based on the $81.95 closing price. Under the applicable valuation rules, however, the value generally used is the average of the high and low prices:

($82.40 + $79.60) ÷ 2 = $81.00 per share

The difference may be relatively small in many cases, but for larger gifts, or during periods of market volatility, it can become meaningful.

And again, yes, you know this! But many clients do not. That’s why it’s a good idea to remind a client about this rule when they’re making gifts of appreciated stock. It’s also important to remember that determining the valuation date itself may involve additional analysis. The relevant date is generally the date the gift is considered complete for federal tax purposes, which may differ depending on how the securities are transferred and when control passes to the charitable organization. Because of these nuances, it’s wise to coordinate closely with the community foundation whenever timing is critical, such as at year-end.

Fortunately, the Foundation works with gifts of appreciated securities every day and can help facilitate smooth transfers. Especially as the fall planning season approaches, clients often focus on maximizing charitable deductions while avoiding capital gains tax on appreciated investments. Being prepared to explain why the deduction is based on the average of the day’s high and low, not simply the closing price, can be a helpful component of client conversations.

Please reach out to the Foundation team anytime, and especially when a client is getting ready to transfer stock. We will keep an eye out for it and make sure the processing goes smoothly. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you to serve your clients!

For many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, the last weeks of summer mark the beginning of year-end planning season. As clients return from vacations and turn their attention to tax and financial planning, it’s an ideal time to revisit charitable giving strategies that could be important to help clients achieve their 2026 planning objectives.

A popular strategy that deserves special attention in year-end planning is “bunching” charitable contributions. The bunching concept became widely discussed when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 substantially increased the standard deduction for calculating income tax. According to important historical data, this change caused many taxpayers who previously itemized deductions to begin claiming the standard deduction instead because their annual charitable gifts and other deductible expenses were no longer sufficient to exceed the standard deduction threshold.

Since the beginning of 2026, charitable planning has become even more nuanced. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act added a new limitation under Internal Revenue Code Section 170 requiring that itemized charitable deductions must generally exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income before a deduction is available. In addition, Section 68 now effectively limits the tax benefit of itemized deductions for taxpayers in the highest marginal income tax bracket to 35%. These two new provisions are sometimes called the “floor” and the “cap.” Although in many cases charitable giving remains highly tax-efficient, these changes make proactive planning increasingly important.

So, what is “bunching”? And why is it so useful under current tax law? Here’s how it works:

• Rather than making charitable gifts in roughly equal amounts each year, a client may benefit from consolidating two or more years of planned charitable contributions up front into a single tax year. 
• By concentrating, or “bunching,” donations into one year, the client may be better positioned to itemize deductions in that year while claiming the standard deduction in subsequent years, potentially producing greater cumulative tax savings over time.

For many of your clients, a donor advised fund at the Wayne County Foundation serves as an effective vehicle for implementing a bunching strategy. That’s because a client can make a single, larger contribution to the donor advised fund, generally claim the charitable deduction in the year of the contribution under Internal Revenue Code Section 170(a), and then recommend grants to favorite charities now and in future years. In short, the timing of the income tax deduction is separated from the timing of charitable distributions, allowing the client’s favorite nonprofits to continue receiving consistent annual support.

As year-end approaches, many clients will naturally ask whether they should “bunch,” or accelerate, charitable gifts before December 31. Advisors who raise the bunching conversation now and coordinate early with the Foundation team can help clients evaluate whether this strategy aligns with both their philanthropic objectives and their broader financial plans and then implement the strategy without rushing through it.

Bunching is not the only technique to be aware of well before year-end! Here are two additional important reminders for your client conversations:

• Remember that charitable planning opportunities are typically even more attractive when appreciated securities are involved. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 170(e)(1)(A), a client who contributes long-term appreciated publicly traded securities to a public charity, including a donor advised or other type of fund at the Foundation, generally may deduct the property’s fair market value (subject to the applicable adjusted gross income limitations) while avoiding recognition of the built-in capital gain that otherwise would result from a sale. This is usually a much better tax outcome than giving cash.

• Note that Qualified Charitable Distributions allow IRA owners age 70 ½ or older to give directly to charity tax-free, up to the 2026 annual limit of $111,000, even before required minimum distributions begin, potentially lowering adjusted gross income and reducing taxes on Social Security benefits and Medicare premiums. For a subset of your clients, this is important in light of the charitable deduction limitations under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

The Foundation is honored to work alongside you and other advisors all year long to help structure charitable gifts in a way that advances your clients’ philanthropic goals while making the planning process as seamless as possible. Reach out anytime to get a jump on year-end planning!

The Wayne County Foundation team appreciates that so many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors recommend to clients age 70 ½ and older that they take advantage of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from traditional IRAs. Your client can direct a QCD to a designated fund, field of interest fund, scholarship fund, or unrestricted fund at the Foundation, or even directly to support the Foundation’s overall mission and work.  

Because QCDs are so useful, we’ve got our eyes on pending legislation that might expand the ways your clients can use them. Specifically, Congress continues to consider two bipartisan charitable giving bills: the Charity Parity Act (S. 2204/H.R. 4495), which would permit QCDs directly from employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, in addition to traditional IRAs, and the IRA Charitable Rollover Facilitation and Enhancement Act (S. 3975), which would extend QCD eligibility to donor advised funds. Neither proposal has advanced beyond committee, but both are still active and of course could be very useful to expand charitable giving options if enacted. 

We will keep you posted! 

At the Wayne County Foundation, we work with a wide range of individuals, families, and businesses for whom charitable giving is a priority, especially related to supporting causes in our community that improve the quality of life for everyone. In many cases, we’re helping business owners structure their personal and family philanthropy. A natural extension of that work is to explore ways a business owner’s succession plan can incorporate gifts to favorite charities and causes. Some attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors are surprised to learn how many charitable planning options may be available in connection with a business succession event.

What’s going on here?

Business succession planning is becoming increasingly important as a growing share of American wealth is tied to privately held companies. According to the National Center for the Middle Market at The Ohio State University, approximately 200,000 U.S. companies generate annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion. At the same time, a recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted the growing ranks of wealthy Americans whose fortunes were built through private business ownership and equity growth. For many of these business owners, a succession event may represent the largest liquidity event of their lifetime. And for attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, these trends point to a growing need for thoughtful planning around business transitions, wealth transfer, and charitable legacy strategies.

What is most important for advisors to know?

The single most important takeaway is that charitable planning should be part of the succession conversation as early as possible. Whether a client is preparing to sell a closely held business, transfer ownership to family members, explore an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), or simply begin thinking about life after the company, charitable planning deserves a seat at the table early in the process. Too often, philanthropy enters the conversation only after a transaction is in the works or already complete. By then, some of the most effective planning windows may be closed. By asking the right questions early, you can help your clients support meaningful causes, potentially reduce taxes, involve family members in giving, and create a lasting charitable legacy.

What questions should I ask my clients? 

Here are four “must-ask” questions and why they are important, plus a word of caution.

Have you thought about including charitable giving in your business succession plan?

Many business owners have most of their wealth tied up in their companies. When a sale or ownership transition occurs, the resulting tax consequences can be significant. In some situations, contributing a portion of closely held business interests to charity before a transaction may allow a client to support charitable goals while potentially reducing capital gains tax exposure. Again, timing is key. Once letters of intent are signed or a transaction becomes binding, certain charitable planning opportunities may no longer be available. That’s why advisors should raise charitable planning discussions long before the deal reaches the finish line.

Remember that charitable planning is not limited to third-party sales. Clients considering ESOPs, family transfers, recapitalizations, redemptions, or other succession strategies may also benefit from exploring charitable opportunities.

Are there causes or organizations that helped shape your business, your employees, or your family’s values?

Business succession often prompts reflection. Many owners begin thinking not only about what they have built, but also about the communities, schools, nonprofits, and organizations that contributed to their success. This conversation can help clients identify charitable priorities that might otherwise be left unexplored. It also creates an opportunity to discuss how a business transition could become a catalyst for meaningful community impact rather than simply a financial event.

Would you like your children or grandchildren to be involved in charitable decisions after the transition?

For many families, succession planning is about more than transferring wealth. It is also about passing along values. A donor advised fund at the Wayne County Foundation can provide a flexible way for family members to participate in charitable decisions over time. Rather than making all charitable decisions immediately after a sale, a family can establish a fund, potentially involve multiple generations in recommending grants, and create a structure that supports ongoing conversations about philanthropy and community impact.

Are you interested in creating a charitable fund that can support multiple organizations over time?

Many business owners want to make a significant charitable commitment during a liquidity event but are not yet ready to determine exactly which organizations should receive support. A donor advised fund can help bridge that gap. Clients can contribute assets during a high-income year, potentially receive a charitable deduction if eligible, and then recommend grants to charitable organizations over time. This flexibility allows clients to separate the timing of a charitable contribution from the timing of individual grant decisions.

A word of caution

Some clients may initially assume that a private foundation is the best vehicle for implementing their charitable goals alongside a business exit or succession plan. However, private foundations can be subject to complex rules governing self-dealing, excess business holdings, required distributions, investments, and other activities, not to mention the unfavorable tax deductibility rules for gifts of closely held stock to a private foundation as compared with a donor advised fund. For many business owners, a donor advised fund can provide a simpler alternative with significantly less administrative burden and, in many cases, more favorable tax treatment.

The Wayne County Foundation is happy to work alongside you and your clients to explore charitable planning opportunities. Please reach out anytime you encounter a pending business succession situation—or preferably a potential business succession situation!

As attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, you’re dedicated to helping charitable clients navigate technical planning opportunities ranging from donor advised funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions to charitable trusts and gifts of complex assets. The Wayne County Foundation is here to help every step of the way!

Tackling the details is important. Effective charitable planning also requires something broader, and that’s context. That’s why the team at the Foundation is committed to keeping you up to date on research and trends that affect philanthropy and related strategies at a macro level. Indeed, charitable planning does not occur in a vacuum; it exists within a rapidly evolving nonprofit sector and a dynamic legislative and regulatory environment.

In that spirit, we’re sharing three important trends and updates:

Philanthropy, including your clients’ gifts, supports a larger and more complex nonprofit sector than ever before. 

Charitable giving is going strong! In 2025, Americans contributed an estimated $617 billion to support causes ranging from local nonprofits and places of worship to educational institutions and animal welfare organizations. This fell just short of the record set during a pandemic-related surge in philanthropy, but 2025 represents one of the highest levels of charitable giving ever recorded.

Consistent with that trend, in its recent report, The U.S. Tax-Exempt Sector Explained: The Growing Role of Nonprofits in America, the Bipartisan Policy Center highlights the significant growth of the nonprofit sector over the past several decades. Nonprofits today provide essential services, strengthen communities, advance education and healthcare, and address needs that government and the private sector often cannot meet on their own. This signals an important reminder to advisors that charitable planning is not simply a tax exercise. Helping your clients support charitable organizations can have meaningful implications for communities and local economies well beyond the specific charitable organizations themselves.

Charitable planning tools continue to evolve. 

PG Calc’s recent article, The State of Play: Navigating the Current Landscape of QCD Legislation and DAF Regulations, provides a helpful review of ongoing discussions in Washington surrounding Qualified Charitable Distributions and donor advised funds. These tools continue to offer valuable planning opportunities for many clients, and the article serves as a reminder that charitable planning strategies are shaped by legislation, regulation, and public policy discussions. Advisors who stay informed about potential changes are often better positioned to help clients adapt as the charitable planning landscape evolves.

Clients increasingly expect charitable planning to be integrated into broader financial and estate planning conversations. 

Philanthropy is becoming more sophisticated, more visible, and more interconnected with wealth transfer, retirement planning, tax planning, and legacy goals. A recent article in Financial Advisor Magazine highlighted once again the importance of philanthropy to high-net-worth families, which in turn means that advisors who work with these clients must be familiar with donor advised funds and other charitable planning tools. Clients often look to their trusted advisors not only for technical expertise, but also for perspective on how charitable giving fits into their overall financial picture. 

The bottom line is that context matters! By working with the Wayne County Foundation to stay informed about trends affecting nonprofits, charitable incentives, and philanthropic planning, you can better serve your charitable clients and help them achieve both their financial and estate planning goals and their goals for community impact.

If you keep an eye on initial public offerings, it’s been an exciting few weeks, especially if your clients are involved. As you work with clients who may hold stock that’s going public, or if your clients are considering investing in companies involved in IPOs, be sure to look at all angles of the client’s financial and estate plan that may be impacted, including charitable planning.

Indeed, recent headlines are a reminder that initial public offerings can create significant charitable planning opportunities. For example, CNBC’s article on SpaceX millionaires and wealth management, The Wall Street Journal’s “Tech’s Next IPO Wave Promises a Charitable Windfall,” and Business Insider’s coverage of newly wealthy SpaceX employees all point to the same theme: Liquidity events can quickly turn founders, executives, early employees, and investors into high-net-worth charitable clients. 

Of course, for attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, the key is to bring up the topic of charitable planning as early as possible; ideally, before shares are sold and before clients make irrevocable tax, investment, or estate planning decisions.

You may be curious about how IPOs and charitable planning might come together for your clients and how the Wayne County Foundation can help! Consider three scenarios for inspiration: 

Scenario 1: Founder or executive with highly appreciated stock

A founder or executive approaching an IPO may be holding shares with very low basis and significant expected appreciation. Depending on timing, restrictions, and tax rules, contributing a portion of appreciated shares to a fund at the Foundation may help your client support charitable goals while potentially reducing exposure to capital gains tax. A donor advised fund, field of interest fund, or designated fund, for example, can allow the client to create a long-term charitable strategy while maintaining flexibility after the IPO dust settles.

Scenario 2: Employee with a sudden wealth event

As recent SpaceX coverage illustrates, IPOs can create thousands of newly wealthy employees who may never have needed sophisticated charitable planning before. These clients may be juggling concentrated stock positions, tax liabilities, estate planning needs, and family conversations about wealth. A donor advised fund at the Wayne County Foundation can provide a simple, organized way to set aside charitable dollars in a high-income year and then recommend grants over time as the client becomes more intentional about giving. This strategy is called “bunching.”

Scenario 3: Investor or family seeking legacy and multigenerational community impact

Some clients who benefit from IPO activity may already have significant wealth and want to use the liquidity event to formalize a philanthropic legacy. These clients may be good candidates for multiple charitable funds, such as a donor advised fund for flexible family grantmaking, a scholarship fund to support education, and an unrestricted or field of interest fund to address changing community needs over time. The Foundation can work alongside you and your client’s full advisory team to align tax planning, family goals, and charitable impact.

Finally, and importantly, what’s the common thread across all three scenarios? Timing. Once an IPO, sale, or lock-up expiration is underway, some planning options may be limited. Advisors who ask charitable questions and loop in the team at the Wayne County Foundation early can help clients turn a major financial event into meaningful support for the causes they care about.

Please reach out to our team to discuss clients’ charitable opportunities related to IPOs, appreciated stock, business interests, other complex assets, and anything else related to philanthropy. It is our honor to be your first call on matters of charitable giving.

If you’re like many advisors, you may have discovered that charitable giving conversations begin (and end!) with cash or appreciated stock. And of course, you know that appreciated stock is an excellent choice for your clients to fund a donor advised or other type of fund at the Wayne County Foundation because it may avoid capital gains tax while also possibly triggering eligibility for a charitable deduction at fair market value.

But for some clients, especially business owners, collectors, and affluent retirees, valuable assets may take a different form entirely. Boats, airplanes, cars, RVs, and other tangible property can represent a mixed bag of characteristics: significant wealth, ongoing maintenance costs, and emotional attachment, all of which may add up to a charitable giving opportunity. These situations may no longer be one-off cases. Classic cars are a notable example, with some estimates tallying the total at more than 43 million vehicles in the United States alone, an estimated $1 trillion in total insurable value!

Here are four tips to consider as you work with your charitable clients.

Always reach out to the Foundation

Anytime you’re dealing with a charitable client, please reach out to the Foundation to explore your client’s options. Your clients may be surprised to learn that public charities, such as the Wayne County Foundation, can accept a wide range of noncash assets, provided the assets can be evaluated, valued, transferred, and ultimately liquidated to support your clients’ charitable goals.

Ask questions beyond balance sheet basics

Clients may forget to mention that they own highly appreciated noncash assets. As clients prepare to meet with you, they are often so focused on gathering investment statements and real estate information that they forget about classic cars, RVs, planes, and boats. Comprehensive conversations are especially timely as many affluent households continue to hold substantial wealth outside of traditional investment portfolios. Recreational assets purchased years ago may now hold significant value while also generating ongoing expenses, storage concerns, and succession-planning questions. Clients who are downsizing or simplifying during retirement may welcome charitable strategies that transform underused assets into community impact.

Build your client’s charitable plan prior to a sale

When you spot unusual assets on a client’s balance sheet, and you know your client is charitable, it’s important to consider the possibilities. A client preparing to sell a classic car or boat, for example, could incur significant capital gains tax if the asset has appreciated in value. Contributing the asset to a fund at the Foundation before a sale may help reduce or eliminate those taxes while also generating funds to support charitable causes the client cares about.

Pay attention to the rules

Gifts of noncash assets require careful coordination. Unlike publicly traded securities, these assets involve additional due diligence. Title transfers, appraisals, environmental reviews for real estate, insurance considerations, debt obligations, marketability, and liquidation logistics all require attention. The IRS also imposes specific substantiation and reporting requirements for charitable deductions involving noncash gifts.

The team at the Foundation is happy to work alongside you and clients’ other attorneys, CPAs, valuation experts, and financial advisors to determine whether proposed gifts are feasible and which structures might be best. In many cases, the Foundation can accept the asset and facilitate its sale. The bottom line is that for a charitable client, using a much-loved car collection, boat, or other luxury asset to support favorite causes and address community needs may be far more appealing than knowing the asset could sit in storage for years and years, with no end in sight to the maintenance expenses. You can add tremendous value by helping your clients consider whether highly specialized collections and “passion assets” are better suited for charitable planning than for transfer through an estate, especially when heirs may not share the same interest in maintaining or managing them. Whether your client owns a rare bicycle collection, antique toy collection, classic cars, or a country music producer’s private library, conversations about donating unusual assets can help clients simplify their estates, support charitable priorities, and avoid placing the emotional and logistical burden of niche collections on the next generation.

You’ve no doubt noticed that Qualified Charitable Distributions (“QCDs”) continue to gain traction as one of the most practical and effective charitable planning tools for clients over age 70 ½. By allowing eligible clients to transfer funds directly from an IRA to a qualified charity without recognizing the distribution as taxable income, QCDs can help reduce adjusted gross income while supporting charitable priorities. For many clients, especially those who do not itemize deductions, a QCD is particularly appealing.

What’s especially notable is that in recent years, Congress has expanded planning opportunities by indexing annual giving limits for inflation ($111,000 per person in 2026) and allowing certain one-time QCDs (“Legacy IRAs”) to fund charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts. And now, proposed legislation known as the “Charity Parity Act” would, if enacted, extend QCD treatment beyond IRAs to include employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457(b)s. This potential change in the law would remove the extra step of rolling assets into an IRA before making a charitable gift, simplifying the process for many donors whose retirement savings remain primarily in workplace plans.

Consider a typical client scenario. Your client, age 74, is taking Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”) from a traditional IRA. Because the client claims the standard deduction, charitable gifts do not generate additional tax savings. By instead directing a portion of the RMD to a qualified charity as a QCD, the client can satisfy part or all of the RMD obligation without increasing taxable income. In many cases, this can also help reduce Medicare premium surcharges and lessen the taxation of Social Security benefits, creating planning advantages beyond the charitable deduction itself.

Here are three examples of how the Wayne County Foundation can help your client achieve charitable goals through QCDs:

• A client directs a QCD from an IRA to the Foundation’s unrestricted fund to support broad community needs. The client satisfies part or all of the client’s annual RMD requirements while supporting flexible grantmaking that addresses changing priorities in the region.
• A client uses a QCD to contribute to a field of interest fund at the Foundation focused on causes such as education, healthcare, the arts, or environmental conservation. This allows the client to support a specific area of passion while relying on the Foundation’s expertise to identify effective nonprofit organizations over time.
• A client makes a QCD to an existing designated fund or scholarship fund held at the Foundation. For example, the client may support a favorite local nonprofit through a designated fund or help students pursue higher education through an endowed scholarship fund, all while reducing taxable income through a QCD.

Keep in mind that charitable giving with IRAs goes beyond current gifts to charity! When advising clients about their IRAs, be sure to check their beneficiary designations. Not only is it tax advantageous for a client to name a fund at the Wayne County Foundation or other public charity as beneficiary of an IRA, but it’s also a best practice to avoid problems in the future. (Retirement plan beneficiary designations continue to show up in cautionary tales!)  

For attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, developments related to QCDs are worth watching closely. QCDs increasingly serve as a natural connector among retirement planning, philanthropy, and legacy conversations. Just as importantly, QCD discussions often open the door to broader planning opportunities, helping clients align financial goals with the causes and communities they care about most. As always, please reach out to the Foundation anytime!

As charitable planning conversations become more sophisticated, many advisors are revisiting so-called “split-interest gifts” to help clients balance philanthropic goals with income needs. Two of the most common strategies, a charitable gift annuity (CGA) and a charitable remainder trust (CRT), can both provide clients with lifetime income while ultimately benefiting charitable causes. Despite their similarities, the two vehicles function very differently and may serve distinct client needs.

Understanding when to consider each option can help attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors deliver more customized and impactful planning guidance. Unless your practice specializes in charitable giving, though, you’re not likely to have the rules for CGAs and CRTs at your fingertips. Here are six FAQs to get you started.

What do CGAs and CRTs do for a client?

At a high level, both a CGA and a CRT would allow your client to make an irrevocable charitable gift while retaining an income stream for life or for a term of years. In both cases, your client may qualify for an immediate charitable income tax deduction, and a portion of future payments may receive favorable tax treatment. In short, people use CGAs and CRTs to save taxes, make a gift to charity, and create an income stream.

Which is easier, a CGA or a CRT?

A charitable gift annuity is generally the simpler of the two arrangements. The client transfers assets to a charitable organization in exchange for a fixed lifetime payment backed by the charity’s general assets. Payment rates are typically based on age and standardized actuarial assumptions. Because the payout is fixed and administration is relatively straightforward, CGAs often appeal to older donors seeking predictability and simplicity. Note that not every charity offers a CGA option; many smaller or mid-sized nonprofits lack the resources, licenses, or state registrations needed to manage them.

Which is more flexible, a CGA or a CRT?

A charitable remainder trust offers considerably more flexibility than a CGA, but it is also more complex. A CRT is a separately administered trust, its own legal entity, that pays income to one or more beneficiaries before the remaining assets eventually pass to charity. Unlike a CGA, a CRT can be designed in different ways. A charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) provides fixed annual payments, while a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) pays a variable amount based on a percentage of the trust’s annually revalued assets.

Which option is better for clients contributing larger assets?

CRTs are often better suited for clients contributing larger or more complex assets. Because the trust can sell appreciated assets without triggering immediate capital gains tax within the trust, CRTs are frequently used in connection with highly appreciated real estate, concentrated stock positions, or even business interests before a sale.

In addition, CRTs can accommodate multiple beneficiaries, customized payout structures, and professional investment management strategies. Clients who want greater flexibility, longer-term wealth planning opportunities, or inflation-sensitive income may prefer a unitrust structure over the fixed nature of a CGA.

Of course, that flexibility comes with added responsibilities. CRTs require formal trust administration, annual tax filings, ongoing investment oversight, and legal drafting. CGAs, on the other hand, are generally easier for clients to understand and establish.

When is a CGA better?

You may recall that a technique called a “Legacy IRA” was created by the SECURE 2.0 Act, allowing taxpayers aged 70 ½ or older to make a one-time election for a tax-free Qualified Charitable Distribution to certain CRTs or CGAs. Clients who want to take advantage of the Legacy IRA may find that a CGA is better suited to their needs. The cost of setting up and administering a CRT may not be worth it because the limit for these transactions is $55,000 (2026 level) per person.

What’s the first step in exploring CRTs and CGAs?

As always, the team at the Wayne County Foundation is honored to be your first call whenever charitable giving comes up in a client conversation. If you are exploring CGAs and CRTs, we’ll point you in the right direction so that you can evaluate the rules for each technique and review important questions related to the particular client situation, including what type of asset will fund the gift, the size of the proposed contribution, the client’s income goals, the number of beneficiaries, and cost concerns.

Finally, keep in mind that charitable giving conversations are not limited to ultra-high-net-worth households. Many clients today are seeking ways to create reliable retirement income while also making meaningful charitable commitments. Split-interest gifts can help accomplish both objectives simultaneously. We look forward to our next conversation!

For many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, the tax law changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are old news. However, that may not be the case for your clients! While you’ve been busy reading dozens of articles and evaluating how the changes will impact your clients, many of your clients are just now learning about the changes, especially as issues came to the forefront for them during tax season. Even if you’ve been talking with clients about the changes for months, don’t stop. For many clients, now is the first time they’ll really be listening.  

Here are five things to know: 

• Mainstream media is picking up the pace in its coverage of charitable planning techniques. For example, the Wall Street Journal recently published an article about donor advised funds as a tool for tax savings and community impact. Many clients may not realize that the Wayne County Foundation offers donor advised funds, along with other options for structuring a charitable giving plan to support their favorite causes and address critical community issues. Be sure to reach out to the Foundation whenever a client asks you about setting up a donor advised fund.  
• Thoughtful planning is especially important in light of the new floor on itemized charitable deductions. Starting in 2026, to be eligible for a deduction, a client’s qualified deductions must exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income, essentially raising the threshold at which charitable giving produces a tax benefit. This could make it advantageous for some of your clients to “bunch” charitable contributions through a donor advised fund, allowing the client to front-load donations into a single tax year to cross the threshold.  
• At the same time, under a “cap” provision in the new law, if a client is in the 37% federal income tax bracket, itemized charitable deductions are now capped at the 35% tax rate. In simplified terms, depending on other factors, this means that if a client donates $10,000, the tax break would be $3,500 instead of $3,700. In short, the floor and the cap add extra complexity to helping clients plan their charitable contributions.  
• The new tax laws have changed the landscape for not only your clients who itemize deductions but also for those who do not itemize. Non-itemizers are now eligible for an “above the line” deduction of $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers. Be aware, however, that the new deduction for non-itemizers does not apply to noncash gifts or gifts to donor advised funds. Because both noncash gifts and gifts to donor advised funds are important tax planning tools for many clients, this limitation is worth noting in your discussions.  
• Finally, remember that donating appreciated stock held for more than one year is usually more tax-efficient than writing a check. That’s because it allows your client to avoid capital gains tax on the appreciation. What’s more, clients who itemize deductions will be eligible to claim a tax deduction for the full fair market value.  

Please reach out to the Wayne County Foundation anytime. We know the new tax laws add a lot to your plate, and we are always happy to point you in the right direction as you conduct research and offer counsel to your clients. And remember, you don’t have to jump headfirst into the complexity during your client discussions. Even talking about philanthropy in the simplest terms can help strengthen your client relationships and grow your practice.