The Savvy Philanthropist

This week's episode is the first in our series of legacy gift vehicles. Bequests are the bread and butter of planned giving. Eventually, every one has an estate, and some peple choose to include philanthropy in theirs. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.podbean.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode introduces our final category of philanthropic giving vehicles. These are gifts you make out of your estate when you pass away, i.e. the legacy you'd like to leave. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode is a little different. We talk about the rise and fall of one of the richest families in American history, the Vanderbilts. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week, we talk about our final category of split interest gifts, namely Charitable Lead Trusts. They're like Charitable Remainder Trusts...but backwards. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week, we talk about our second category of split interest gifts, namely Charitable Remainder Trusts. In some ways, they sound like Charitable Gift Annuities, but the differences - and there are many - matter. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week, we dig into the basics of our first category of split interest gifts, Charitable Gift Annuities. Make a gift like John Trumbull did in 1831 and receive a lifetime of tax-advantaged income, in additional to that charitable tax deduction. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

It's time to dig into a new category of philanthropic giving, namely split interest gifts. Donors can give away the tree but keep the fruit in order to support charities while also snagging a lifetime of tax-advantaged income. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Last year, the Supreme Court announced a decision that has had an unexpected impact on personal philanthropy. Maybe. Some states are reading it that way, but some aren't. This week's episode discusses how philanthropists sometimes need to adapt to a changing legal landscape. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

The Savvy Philanthropist is back! A quick description of a new and improved format for upcoming episodes.  First new episodes will be here in fourteen days! Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ X: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Thank you for listening to The Savvy Philanthropist.  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we do a deep dive into the ambiguous provision in the tax code that makes it problematic to ask a DAF to pay off a donor's charitable pledge. This is an episode for the tax nerds out there (like me!).  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we discuss a couple of scenarios where a Donor-Advised Fund doesn't usually make sense, even when donors think they should!  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we discuss a couple of scenarios where a Donor-Advised Fund can make a lot of sense for a donor.  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Donor-Advised Funds are one of the most popular charitable giving vehicles in America today. Today's episodes takes a look at some facts and figures about how large a role DAFs play in modern philanthropy. Spoiler alert! It's a pretty big role. Here are links to the two studies mentioned in the show: Giving USA 2022 NPT 2022 Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Donor-Advised Funds are one of the most popular charitable giving vehicles in America today. For the next several weeks, we'll dig into them - both the good and the less good. Today's episode describes what a DAF actually is. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

An IRA passes by a Beneficiary Designation, not a will or trust. In this week's episode, we review how to use that Beneficiary Designation in a tax-savvy way to benefit both your family and charity. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Congress has cracked open a door for making life income gifts with a Qualified Charitable Distribution. This week, we review this new opportunity, including its limitations. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

A Qualified Charitable Distribution from a Traditional IRA is simply the most tax-efficient way to make philanthropic gifts during lifetime under the US tax code. But not everyone can qualify. This week, we review the rules and the benefits of giving with a QCD. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

For some donors, the only way to make charitable gifts from an IRA is through regular distributions followed by a charitable donation. This week's episode explains how that works. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

A Traditional IRA is one of the tax-savviest ways to make philanthropic gifts. This week, we start a series of episodes describing IRAs and the various ways they can be used to maximize philanthropic giving. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Welcome to 2023! We begin the year with a summary of a new law passed right at the end of 2022 that creates the possibility of a cool, new giving opportunity. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this, the final episode for 2022, I ask for your feedback about the show. If you have ideas or suggestions for content (or anything else), let me know. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Real estate can be a powerful, tax-savvy way to make charitable gifts. This week is the third in a three-part series about when and how to make a lifetime gift of land. We discuss the steps required to actual making the gift. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Real estate can be a powerful, tax-savvy way to make charitable gifts. This week is the second in a three-part series about when and how to make a lifetime gift of land. We discuss two important issues that can kill an otherwise great real estate gift. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This episode is a really interesting interview with Dominic Kalms. Dominic is the founder and CEO of B Generous, the first FinTech company for philanthropy. Dominic tells us about how he got interested in the world of philanthropy, but most importantly, he explains how B Generous can have a tremendous impact for both donors and charities. B Generous: https://bgenerous.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/b-generous/ And for The Savvy Philanthropist: Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Real estate can be a powerful, tax-savvy way to make charitable gifts. This week is the first in a three-part series about when and how to make a lifetime gift of land. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode is a recording of a presentation I recently made to the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners. It's all about who has the right to enforce charitable agreements. I hope you enjoy it. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we go through the tiered approach for managing donations of gifts-in-kind, typically tangible property. The first link below is to the article mentioned in today's episode: Article: https://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/how-far-too-far Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we finish our discussion of how small business owners can avoid taxes and support philanthropy by giving some of their closely-held business ownership to charity. In particular, I offer a timeline of what these sorts of transactions look like in real life. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we continue our discussion of how small business owners can avoid taxes and support philanthropy by giving some of their closely-held business ownership to charity. In particular, we discuss four ways of giving those securities that can maximize the benefit to the donor. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we start a discussion of how small business owners can avoid taxes and support philanthropy by giving some of their closely-held business ownership to charity.  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we add a few technical details to last week's discussion of appreciated securities, to make sure gifts are effective as possible.  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we discuss a simple way to maximize the value of a philanthropic gift by avoiding capital gains taxes. And that's always good!  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we finally start talking about actually making charitable gifts. And cash seems like a pretty good place to start.  Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

We've finished our introductory series on the basic structure of modern philanthropy. This seems like a good time to take a little break, so there will be no episode next week. But while you're waiting, you can check out my books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kirk-Ross/e/B07HR1R6GD?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1652224406&sr=1-1 And be sure to connect in any of the channels below: Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode is a conversation with Tim Kachuriak of NextAfter. NextAfter is a fundraising research lab and consulting firm that is doing some really exciting work on helping nonprofits connect with their donors. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we touch on the touchy subject of a charity's overhead. Is it a good measure of financial stewardship? Or is it a blunt instrument that inhibits creative thinking and risk-taking? Here's the TED talk mentioned in the show: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong?language=en Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode is an interview - our first - with Matt Hugg. Matt is the proprietor of a terrific resource for professionals in the nonprofit and charitable world. It's a website called nonprofit.courses. Matt explains how he's collected over 6,000 digital resources for his fellows professionals, and what he hopes to accomplish with his online platform. Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

In this week's episode, we take a look at the professionals who actually do the work of connecting resources with the people who need them. In other words, what does a fundraising staff actually look like? Website: www.thesavvyphilanthropist.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

Just a brief announcement to explain that there isn't a new, full episode this week. I've been spend a lot of time working on some new ideas for the show, so the next episode has been pushed back to next week.

Today's episode is a brief description of another one of those basic, fundamental concepts in modern philanthropy. It's the concept of endowments. what does it mean for a gift to be endowed? And when should a gift be endowed? We'll see if we can figure that out. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com

This week's episode is a follow-up to last week's story about Joseph and Shirley Mohamed. I received some pretty interesting feedback about the story, and this episode dives into a few of those issues raised. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan Email: thesavvyhilanthropist@gmail.com  

Last week, I introduced you to the charitable deduction, one of the big, basic concepts in charitable giving. Well today, we're going to take that topic one step further. Today, we're going to talk a bit about what it takes to actually qualify for taking that deduction. And spoiler alert. Just feeling philanthropic won't cut it. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/ Twitter: @rossplan  

The income tax charitable deduction is one of the big, basic concepts undergirding all of philanthropic giving. It's going to play a big role in a lot of the topics we cover in upcoming episodes, so it's important to have a basic understanding of how it works. That's what this episode is for. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/  

This is an episode especially for donors? If you've included a charity in your estate plan, do you tell the charity? Or do you just let them find out when the time comes for your estate to make the gift? Good question. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-ross/  

There are two elements to "charitable giving" "Charitable" and "Giving." This week, we discuss what constitutes a charity for purposes of philanthropic giving.

This podcast is all about charitable giving. So it only makes sense that we spend a bit of time discussing how American law defines that term gift. It's not quite as obvious as you might think.

On this podcast, we'll spend a lot of time talking about making charitable gifts with an eye toward the US tax code. But using money to help others is, and ought to be, a much bigger category than that. In this episode, we remind ourselves that giving charitably is the right thing to do just for its own sake. And once we understand that, then we can dig into the tax code to get a bit more bang for our buck. But helping others is always the right thing to do regardless of what the tax code says.

Charities don't have needs. People and causes have needs, and charities work best as conduits to connect those needs with resources. Take a listen to hear how this distinction can shape the best way to make philanthropic gifts.

In this week's episode, we discuss philanthropic intent. Sometimes, people have the idea that charitable giving can simply be a way to avoid taxes. Some of those people aren't particularly interested in helping others. They want to use philanthropy as a means to keep more of their money. This approach never works. To the contrary, every positive giving story has to start with a philanthropic intent to help others. That's where we begin our discussion of how to do philanthropy well.

The Savvy Philanthropist is a financial planning podcast for people who want to do philanthropy well. It is a how-to resource to help people navigate the US legal and financial system to make philanthropic gifts in the most effective ways possible. This is the first episode, An Introduction