por Josh Kornberg, Greater Hartford Gives Foundation Vice President for Advancement
Questions to ask your philanthropic advisor
We all know to put on sunscreen. We just never do it early enough. Your year-end giving strategy is no different. I spend a lot of time sitting across from donors. At coffee, in conference rooms, sometimes just on a quick phone call. And after a while, you start to hear the same questions come up again and again. The truth is, charitable planning just doesn’t always make it onto the agenda, and that’s nobody’s fault. Giving can feel like something to sort out later.
One of the most common things I hear is some version of: “I met with my advisor last week and I realized I had never actually told them how important giving is to me.”
So here are four things worth putting on your agenda the next time you sit down with your financial advisor, before the year gets away from you.
- Does your advisor actually know you’re a donor?
- Are you giving in the most tax-efficient way?
- Have your charitable intentions changed?
- Is your giving coordinated with your tax planning, not just your December panic?
1. Does your advisor actually know you’re a donor?
This sounds basic, but it comes up more than you’d think. Your advisor should know what you give, roughly how much, and why it matters to you. That context shapes recommendations across tax strategy, asset allocation, and estate planning. If charitable giving is meaningful to your life and your advisor doesn’t know that, they can’t fully serve you.
2. Are you giving in the most tax-efficient way?
Cash is the default, but it’s rarely the most advantageous. Ask your advisor whether gifting appreciated stock, contributing to a donor-advised fund, or making a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA might make more sense this year. Contributing to a DAF now, even before you decide which organizations to support, locks in your deduction while your charitable dollars grow tax-free. That means more goes to the causes you care about in the long run.
3. Have your charitable intentions changed?
Life changes, and so do priorities. A once-a-year conversation about whether your current giving still reflects your values is worth having. This is also the time to revisit beneficiary designations and whether any organizations should be part of your estate plan.
4. Is your giving coordinated with your tax planning?
Year-end is reactive. Summer is strategic. Ask your advisor to look at your projected income and identify whether bunching contributions or making a larger gift now makes more sense than scrambling in December. The donors who feel best about their giving at year-end are usually the ones who started the conversation in June.
Greater Hartford Gives Foundation exists for exactly these conversations. We’re always glad to connect with you or with your advisor.
Want to learn more?
Donors: Visit our Legacy Giving website
Advisors: We offer information and a toolkit for philanthropic advisors