Philanthropic Advising

Our goal is to help focus and streamline your giving efforts and create a strategic charitable giving plan so you can contribute to causes in a way that you feel good about.

Our wealth management team takes a collaborative approach to philanthropic advising, working with other professionals like accountants and estate planning attorneys to best support a client’s giving efforts.

Our process begins with first understanding what charitable causes most align with your own personal set of values and goals. Once a giving plan is in place, we will regularly revisit it to ensure the charitable giving strategy continues to be the right fit over time.

The financial advisors at SJS can walk you through these options as well as additional opportunities. Some preferred ways that people give back to causes they care about include:

• Philanthropy guidance and helping you find organizations that fit your giving goals

• Legacy planning

• Tax-efficient gifting strategies

• Donating appreciated investments (e.g., stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF, real estate, etc.)

• Setting up a donor-advised fund (DAF), in which a tax-deductible charitable investment account is created for a public charity

• Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) through IRA

• Listing a charity as a beneficiary on an investment account

• Listing bequests through a will

• Charitable lead trust or charitable remainder trust

• Educating family members on giving strategies

• Foundation formation

• Planning site visits to non-profits

Once we design a plan for giving, we will work with you to regularly evaluate the impact that your contributions are making.

We bring expertise, guidance, and solutions to help nonprofits, endowments, and foundations manage a range of responsibilities in addition to financial planning:

• Board and donor education

• Creation of and adherence to socially responsible investing (SRI) guidelines

• Fundraising consultation

• Effectively communicating strategies to donors and stakeholders

• Facilitate donor education

• Legacy planning to support multigenerational giving to sustain long-term support

We strive to ensure that you have the resources and support needed to serve the people and causes at the heart of your mission for generations to come.

If your nonprofit or foundation is just getting started, we can connect you with local resources for specialized consultation on creating philanthropic values, mission, and vision, as well as communications and strategic planning.

If your family or organization seeks additional support when taking your impact a step further, SJS can support you with consultation, mentorship, and coaching.

The SJS team can also educate family members and engage your children in philanthropy early in life.