Team Up with CICF

Utilize CICF’s Expertise Without Giving Up Management of Your Client’s Charitable Assets

A 2015 Bank of America study found that 89 percent of professional advisors discuss philanthropy with clients and 71 percent make it their regular practice to ask clients about their interest in charitable giving. Chances are, you are one of those advisors. What you may not know is that involving Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) as the philanthropic partner for your clients doesn’t require you to give up the management of your clients’ charitable assets. Upon your client’s recommendation and some basic due diligence, CICF will open an account with your firm and establish a donor-advised fund while keeping the assets under management with you and your firm.

An advisor-managed fund is open to any financial advisor or investment firm whose client opens and maintains a donor-advised fund meeting CICF’s required minimum balance for donor-advised funds, which is currently $25,000.

The benefits to you include:

• Maintain asset management: you continue to earn your commission or fee on your client’s charitable assets that are invested by CICF with you. (CICF does not charge an investment fee for advisor-managed funds.)
• Increased value to your clients: CICF provides you with in-depth knowledge and expertise to benefit your clients and deepen your client relationships.
• You’ll be in good company: working with CICF can bring you into contact with community leaders and other professional advisors working to improve our community.
• We support you: you stay in the lead on the client relationship, involving CICF as you work with your client to incorporate charitable giving into their overall financial planning strategy.
• Exclusive benefits: you can arrange an exclusive client and/or prospect event, such as a family philanthropy education activity or a site visit to a high-impact charitable organization.
• Benefits to your firm: at your request, CICF will provide customized training for your firm’s staff on community needs and on tools to more fluidly incorporate charitable giving into your conversations with your clients firm-wide.

Kirk Taylor was first introduced to CICF and its Hamilton County affiliate, Legacy Fund, in 2013 by two of his advisors at Oxford Financial Group, Ltd. In working with Kirk and his wife Jo on their financial planning strategy, Oxford Managing Directors, Peter Reist, CPA/PFS, AIF, and Debbi Bennett, CFP, recommended bringing in CICF and Legacy Fund to more thoroughly explore their philanthropic options.

Reist explained, “We believe our relationship with CICF offers the following benefits, one, we have a charitable advisor with community knowledge and research on our client’s team; two, it offers the opportunity to make our client’s gift more impactful; and three, [working with CICF] removes the administrative and compliance burden of a private foundation.”

As for Kirk, he says, “CICF helped me take my passion for ending homelessness to another level, connecting me to local not-for-profit organizations and the City of Indianapolis to effect real change in our community.”

Our mission is to inspire, support, and practice philanthropy, leadership, and service in our community. If we can help you work with your clients as they contemplate charitable giving, contact Mary Stanley, Director of Gift Planning and Legal Affairs, at marys@cicf.org or 317.634.2423 x 319 or Sarah Weaver, Senior Gift Planning Advisor, at sarahw@cicf.org or 317.634.2423 x 510.