Creating Impact: A Cleveland Foundation Resource for Professional Advisors

In this issue of Creating Impact, we test your Cleveland Foundation IQ. Take our quiz below and you’ll be entered to win a special MidTown-themed gift basket, in keeping with our upcoming headquarters move.

Other items of note in this issue:

Socially responsible impact investing at the Cleveland Foundation
Professional Advisor Spotlight with Rebecca Yingst Price
Virtual “Lunch and Learn” with the Gift Planning Team

Thanks for your partnership with the Cleveland Foundation.

Test your IQ: How well do you know the Cleveland Foundation?

Correctly answer this question (please respond by June 30) and you will be entered to win a MidTown gift basket:

True or False: Grants from donor advised funds at the Cleveland Foundation may be distributed to 501(c)(3) organizations anywhere in the United States. Respond here.

The winner’s name and correct answer will be published in our next newsletter. For more information about donor advised funds at the Cleveland Foundation, view our online toolkit.

Professional Advisor Spotlight

Rebecca Yingst Price, Esq.
Law Office of Rebecca Yingst Price, LLC

What was your client’s unique situation?
My clients, a married couple in their early 80s, were very charitably inclined, but not technologically savvy. They kept a handwritten list of over 300 charities to which they donated on an annual basis. The wife wanted to continue their pattern of charitable giving if she outlived her husband but, unlike him, dreaded the thought of spending countless hours writing out 300 checks, addressing the envelopes, mailing them, then making a personal record of the checks.

Which charitable giving strategy helped meet your client's needs?
Thinking ahead, my clients set up a donor advised fund (DAF) at the Cleveland Foundation while both spouses were still alive. They funded their DAF with shares of highly appreciated stock. Donating the stock to charity helped them avoid significant tax consequences (tax on long-term capital gains) they otherwise would have incurred from selling that stock. Since the donation was for charity, they transferred the stock tax-free to the DAF, while also claiming a charitable deduction when they itemized their deductions for income tax purposes.

What were the benefits of partnering with the Cleveland Foundation, and what was the outcome?
About a year after the couple created their DAF at the Cleveland Foundation, the husband died. From their DAF, the surviving spouse easily continues their annual charitable giving with two quick phone calls: (1) to her financial advisor to transfer other highly appreciated stock to the DAF; and (2) to the Cleveland Foundation to request distributions to their numerous, favored charities. The surviving spouse is grateful to continue her and her late husband’s charitable giving with the help of the Cleveland Foundation—and without the burden of writing 300+ checks per year!

Have you partnered with the Cleveland Foundation to help your clients achieve their goals? We invite you to share your experience with us.

We appreciate you: A recap of our professional advisor event and links to social impact investing materials

Earlier this year we “virtually” welcomed the professional advisor community to our annual appreciation event. Attendees joined us for remarks from our president and CEO, Ronn Richard. We also enjoyed breakout sessions focusing on the Cleveland Foundation’s new MidTown headquarters, the Cleveland Black Futures Fund, Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, digital excellence initiative and social impact investing.

Rosanne Potter, Cleveland Foundation senior vice president and CFO, presented on social impact investing—a popular topic among our attendees. If you weren’t able to join us, or if you would like another look at Rosanne’s presentation, you may view the presentation here and access her slides here.

For more information on the Cleveland Foundation’s in-house investment pools, including our Socially Responsible Investment Pool and Racial Equity Investment Pool, please contact the Gift Planning Team.

Virtual "lunch" & learn: Philanthropic strategies built for your clients

Join us for an interactive conversation about charitable giving trends, options and opportunities and what it means to have a strategic partnership with the Cleveland Foundation. This session is open to financial planners, attorneys, accountants, insurance agents and other professionals interested in learning how collaborating with the foundation can add value to their practice and for their clients.

Thursday, July 1, 2021
Noon-1 p.m.