Philanthropy

BNY Mellon Wealth Management has named an expert in philanthropy and planned giving sales director of its Charitable Solutions Group.

The chief executive officer of Foundation Source discusses the advantages of a knowledge of philanthropy.

Fidelity Charitable, operator of the nation’s largest donor-advised fund program, said its donors set records in 2011 both in the amount of money contributed to the fund and in the amount that was taken out of the fund and granted to charities.

Almost six in 10 millionaires believe they have an obligation to give back to their communities, unchanged from 2008, when the U.S. economy went into a tailspin, according to a PNC Wealth Management survey.

The president of Charitable Solutions LLC discusses how advisors can counsel clients about alternative ways to contribute to charities.

The principle behind the annual gift tax exclusion is to shelter gifts commonly made on birthdays, holidays, weddings and other special occasions. However, many high-net-worth individuals may also utilize the annual gift tax exclusion as a strategy to mitigate the impact of future estate taxes. According to Richard Behrendt, director of estate planning for Baird’s Private Wealth Management group, the timing of making year-end gifts is important because a transfer of property is treated as a completed gift for federal gift tax purposes only after the donor has unconditionally relinquished all dominion and control over the transferred property. Even if the donor has no intention of revoking (taking back) the gift, simply retaining the ability to revoke the gift through the end of the year could shift the completion of the gift into the next calendar year. Under the Internal Revenue Code, individuals may give up to $13,000 to an unlimited number of non-charitable beneficiaries in each calendar year. Married couples may double-up and make combined gifts of up to $26,000 to children, grandchildren, or other non-charitable beneficiaries. Here are six rules investors need to consider before making any year-end gifts.

In nearly 90% of high-net-worth households, women are either the sole decision maker or equal partners in decisions on charitable giving, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey in conjunction with The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

When planners help clients manage their wealth, it is important to help them recognize the deep emotional sources of philanthropy.

Fidelity Charitable has rolled out GivingCentral, an online advisor platform, and a dedicated advisor service team.

Investors contributed $748 million to Fidelity Charitable, the largest donor-advised fund in the U.S., in the first nine months of 2011, a 23% increase from the first three quarters of 2010. Thus, the fund is on course to receive the largest amount of contributions in its 20-year history, Fidelity said.

On Friday, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund announced an expanded consultation service and series of seminars on strategic giving of C- and S-Corp stock, restricted stock, limited partnership interests, real estate and other privately held assets.

The group is preparing to judge the inaugural Pro Bono Awards while conducting annual evaluation of grant applications

The San Francisco company tells investors to think ahead to 2011 taxes, as filing deadline has just passed.

Despite the first quarter being a slower time for charitable giving, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund announced on Thursday that it had its strongest first quarter in its 20-year history.

TIAA-CREF has committed $1 billion in seed capital to Covariance Capital Management, which will start investing in the third quarter.

Commonwealth Cares currently has a little under $1 million to support its initiatives.

While endowments for the last fiscal year were able to post an 11.9% investment return, Commonfund President and CEO Verne Sedlacek said yesterday that most funds are “probably still 25% below where they were in 2007.”

On Wednesday The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and the Association of Small Foundations announced a new white paper titled “The Best of Both Worlds: Using Private Foundations and Donor-Advised Funds” to inform donors and advisors about how these two giving vehicles complement each other.

Donors gave to Fidelity’s donor-advised fund in record numbers in 2010 - a sign of the critical role donor-advised funds are playing in charitable giving.

Health organizations take the biggest hit, with a 63.7% decrease, according to a BofA Merrill survey.