Maximize the Impact of Donor Advised Funds

Create Your Legacy at North Shore Animal League America

You know donor advised funds (DAFs) for their convenience and simplicity. But have you considered taking your donor advised fund one step further to build a lasting legacy at North Shore Animal League America? Here are two simple options to ensure future support:

1. Name North Shore Animal League America as a beneficiary of your fund. You can do this at the time you create the fund, or if you already have one, contact your fund administrator to complete a change of beneficiary form. We can use the remaining funds to support our mission.
   
   You have the option of naming North Shore Animal League America the beneficiary of the entire account or a percentage of the fund.
2. Create a family legacy of giving. Name your loved ones as your successor to continue recommending grants to charitable organizations, such as North Shore Animal League America. This way, the funds can grow to support future family philanthropy. Families can build a tradition of giving and teach their children the values of philanthropy by involving them in the decisions about which grants to recommend.

An Example of How It Works

Joe and Laura establish a $25,000 donor advised fund with a community foundation. The couple receives a federal income tax charitable deduction for the amount of the gift. After researching community needs with the foundation’s staff, Joe and Laura recommend grants for North Shore Animal League America (which they’ve supported for years) and a local charity. The foundation presents the charities with checks from the Patricia Fund, which Joe and Laura named in honor of Laura’s mother. Joe and Laura also name North Shore Animal League America as the beneficiary to receive the account balance after their lifetimes.

Tip: Convert Complex Assets

If you want to donate real estate, tangible personal property or business interests, but your charity of choice is unable to accept these gifts, consider donating the assets to your donor advised fund.

Stay Up to Date

Review your donor advised fund investment strategy, just as you would to maintain any other investment. You may also want to consider socially responsible investments—those that meet the highest environmental, social and governance standards.

Unique Strategies Using Your Fund

• Name a donor advised fund as a beneficiary of all or part of your retirement plan assets. Not only will your donor advised fund receive these assets tax-free, but you can also name your loved ones as successor advisors to continue your legacy of giving.
• Divide and multiply your legacy. Perhaps your loved ones have differing charitable passions. Consider dividing your donor advised fund into multiple accounts or creating separate accounts—one for each loved one. That way, after your passing, each successor can create their own legacy of giving by recommending grants to the causes that are important to them.
• Recommend recurring gifts. You can set up a plan to recommend grants to North Shore Animal League America on an ongoing monthly, quarterly, semiannual or annual basis.

A Tax-Smart Solution

To maximize the tax advantages of making a gift to a donor advised fund, you can use a planning strategy known as bunching. Here’s how:

• Make a gift this year equal to or above your projected charitable giving over the next several years and large enough to exceed your standard tax deduction.
• Recommend distributions to your favorite charities in the coming years.

For more information, please contact us. We are happy to answer questions about how your DAF can benefit North Shore Animal League America both today and in the future at no obligation.