A Smarter Way to Give

A Charitable Donor Advised Fund is a simple vehicle that allows the investor an opportunity to receive a larger charitable deduction for the same gift while creating an opportunity to actually give more money to a charity than was placed in the fund. Many charities have no mechanism for receiving appreciated shares of stock or mutual funds, but any charity can deal with cash contributions issued by a Charitable Donor Advised Fund.

Here is how it works. Normally a donor would sell shares of stock, pay capital gains taxes on the increase, and give the balance to charity. In an example presented in OnInvesting, $100,000 in stock less $14,250 in capital gains tax would leave $85,750 for charity and $24,010 in personal income tax savings for the donor.

If the giver had a Charitable Donor Advised Fund with his broker, he could transfer $100,000 in appreciated shares directly to his account without paying any taxes. This would save him $28,000 in personal income taxes and leave the entire $100,000 for charity. But wait! It gets better. As trustee of the account, the donor can invest the $100,000 allowing him to give much more than $100,000 to designated charities over the course of time.

Once you transfer your money to the Charitable Donor Advised Fund, it is just as gone from your pocket as if you put the money in the plate on Sunday morning. You get the tax deduction. You still control it, but it can only be used for charitable purposes. The money growing in your charitable account grows tax free, just like the money in your 401(k). However unlike your 401(k), when the money is sent to a charity, it isn’t taxed.

Like the Charitable Remainder Unitrust, I have written about in a previous blog article,

Finishing Our Last Will and Testament

A Charitable Donor Advised Fund is another tool offered by our wretchedly complex tax code that allows even middle class folks the opportunity to utilize the same means routinely used by the rich to avoid taxes, increase their effective rate of giving in this life, and even leave a charitable legacy once they pass from this world into eternity.