Kris Kamann, CAP®
Senior Philanthropic Advisor
(208) 342-3535 x14
Work with Someone You Trust
The Idaho Community Foundation partners with attorneys, CPAs, financial planners and other professional advisors to help clients achieve their charitable giving goals in tax smart ways. Your role in this partnership is very important to us and we respect the trust that your clients have placed in you.
When clients are—or should be—considering a charitable gift, we are your resource. Examples include when you have clients who:
- Receive a taxable financial windfall.
- Don’t want to leave “too much” to their heirs.
- Want to be philanthropists without the complexities of a private foundation.
- And many other scenarios.
We provide personalized options, including philanthropic advising, family philanthropy services and more. As a 501(c)(3) public foundation (EIN: 82-0425063), our services are always free to you and your clients. Donations to ICF and charitable funds created at the community foundation are eligible for tax deductions and/or tax credits.
We can:
- Act as your back office by providing the information you need to help clients make an informed decision.
- Meet side-by-side with you and your clients during discussions about charitable giving.
- Meet separately with your clients to discuss their philanthropic goals.
Options for Clients
The Idaho Community Foundation is a great option for clients who want:
- To make gifts to one or more organizations over time rather than a single large gift that can be a management and programmatic burden.
- A private foundation or family foundation, but don’t want the administrative complexity.
- To convert an existing private or family foundation to a Donor Advised Fund.
- Maximum tax benefits for their charitable contributions.
Charitable giving funds can be created with a variety of assets, including cash, stocks, real estate, business assets and more.
Professional Advisors Newsletter
Professional Advisors Frequently Asked Questions
A community foundation is a publicly supported, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that maintains a diverse grant making program in a specific community or region. Like a private foundation, it makes grants in support of its charitable purpose. Its funds, however, are derived from many unrelated donors rather than a single source, as is usually the case with private foundations. Further, community foundations are classified under the tax code as public charities, subjecting them to different tax policies and regulations than private foundations.
A charitable fund at ICF allows your clients to be strategic with their giving and gives them an opportunity to use ICF’s deep community knowledge to give to the organizations that will meet their philanthropic goals.
A single large gift can be an administrative burden to an organization and distract from their ability to accomplish their programmatic work. Grants from your client’s charitable giving fund can be distributed over time and the recipient will be able to rely on the funding year after year.
We complete due diligence before we distribute grants. If the community organization(s) ceases to exist or is not in good standing as a qualified nonprofit, we will contact your client. For funds created by estate gifts, we will find a replacement(s) doing similar work in the same community. Your client doesn’t have the same guarantee when they make a large, direct gift to an organization.
In many instances, a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) at the community foundation can provide your clients with the benefits of a private foundation without the administrative complexities, and may increase their philanthropic impact. A DAF offers several advantages - including eligibility for higher tax deductions for new assets contributed to the fund, grantmaking support, professional investment management and the option to give anonymously. Furthermore, a DAF will eliminate several of the burdens and requirements of a private foundation, including the annual distribution requirement, tax returns and audits, and excise taxes.
Your clients can also create a family legacy by establishing a DAF that allows children or grandchildren to remain involved in grantmaking in the family name.
Your client can recommend a grant to any qualified organization that falls within the broad mission of ICF and is an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) public charity qualified under Sections 509(a)(1), 509(a)(2), in some cases 509(a)(3), or an educational or governmental entity. ICF will ensure that organizations recommended for a grant meet this requirement.
In complying with federal tax laws, and for the protection of your client, ICF must reject grant recommendations that would benefit an individual, fulfill a personal obligation, support a political campaign, go to a private foundation, or are not for a qualified charitable organization.
Yes, your client may request that a fund name and/or the donor’s name remain anonymous. In addition, clients may request the fund name not appear in ICF’s annual reports or other relevant publications.
ICF will continue to follow the instructions listed in the fund agreement.
We complete due diligence before we distribute grants. If the community organization(s) ceases to exist or is not in good standing as a qualified nonprofit, we will find a replacement(s) doing similar work in the same community. If the cause your client selects no longer has a need for funding, your client’s fund will support the greatest needs in the community, as decided by people who live there.
For Donor Advised Funds, your client may name successor advisors to make grant recommendations and continue their family’s legacy of giving. Typically, after two generations of advisors the fund will revert to another type of fund based on the instructions your client provided at the time the fund was established.
Yes, as long as your client receives no personal benefit from the grant.
Yes. While ICF funds are established to “primarily benefit” Idaho, we understand donors may have close ties with other communities throughout the country. Donors may recommend grants to qualified public charities throughout the country as long as most of their grants are given to Idaho organizations.