According to a study recently released by Fidelity Charitable many donors do not know about all of the charitable options that are available to them. “Only 36 percent of donors know about donor-advised funds, 37 percent know about qualified charitable distributions from an IRA and 42 percent are aware of community foundations, according to Fidelity Charitable, which is the nation’s largest donor-advised fund.” This gap in knowledge is troublesome because it prevents people from giving to the charities that they might have wanted to consider if they had been more informed. This survey shows why it is important for philanthropists to be knowledgeable about all the charitable options that are available. It is a good idea to meet with an experienced estate planning professional with knowledge about factoring charitable giving into estate planning.
See Karen Demasters, Charitable Donors Not Aware Of All Giving Options, Fidelity Says, Financial Advisor, April 12, 2016.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
