Attorneys, financial advisors, and other professional advisors often begin some of their most important conversations with clients with a simple question: What matters to you?
For clients who are charitably inclined, that question can open the door to planning that extends beyond assets and beneficiaries to the impact they hope to make during their lifetime and for generations to come.
David Kamer, an attorney with Kaufman & Canoles, PC., believes advisors have an important role in starting that conversation.
Kamer is a member of Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s board of directors and chair of its Professional Advisory Committee. At Kaufman & Canoles, he focuses on estate planning, tax-exempt organizations, and complex tax matters for high-net-worth individuals, families, and charitable organizations.
“Clients may come into a planning conversation focused primarily on their children and grandchildren, but that doesn’t mean charitable giving isn’t important to them,” Kamer says. “Sometimes the advisor simply needs to ask the question and give them an opportunity to think about what they want their legacy to include.”
That is where TJF can become a valuable partner to both the client and the advisor.
TJF works alongside fundholders, families and their professional advisors to help translate philanthropic goals into a plan. Through donor-advised funds, endowments, designated and restricted funds, charitable trusts, and other giving strategies, TJF can help clients build an approach that reflects their values while complementing their broader financial and estate planning.
The partnership can be particularly useful when a client knows the causes they care about but has not identified specific organizations. TJF brings knowledge of the charitable landscape and can help structure giving around those interests.
“TJF gives advisors another resource to bring to the table,” Kamer says. “The staff is knowledgeable and experienced, and they can help clients create a flexible plan that carries their charitable intentions forward. For an advisor, that means you don’t have to have every philanthropic answer yourself, you have a partner who can help.”
For professional advisors, partnering with TJF can begin with a conversation. Contact Russ Cronin, COO at Tidewater Jewish Foundation, to explore how TJF can serve as a philanthropic resource – either personally or for a client – at rcronin@tjfva.org or 757-965-6131.
A partner in planning: How TJF helps advisors help their clients
