Recommend Donor-Advised Funds with Greater Horizons

You may be able to continue managing your clients’ assets while they support charities through donor-advised funds.

If charitable giving is on your client’s radar, consider having a conversation about establishing a donor-advised fund or another type of charitable giving account through Greater Horizons. 

For more than 40 years, we have partnered with financial advisors like you to serve your charitable clients. Our 99% donor retention rate proves advisors and their clients appreciate our flexibility and personalized approach to charitable giving.

How to Talk to Your Clients About Donor-Advised Funds & Their Charitable Legacies

We help you understand and assess tax-saving options to make the most of your client’s charitable giving. Greater Horizons is nationally recognized for our ability to handle complex charitable transactions.

What is the Financial Advisor Program?

Our financial advisor program is a win-win for you and your clients. If your client's donor-advised fund assets exceed $100,000, you can manage the assets after they are donated to the fund. Both you and your clients will have access to a knowledgeable staff of professionals who empower donors to become organized and efficient philanthropists. The financial advisor program requires financial advisors to adhere to Greater Horizons’ professional and industry standards and the financial advisor program guidelines.

Watch: How the Financial Advisor Program Works

What is a Donor-Advised Fund?

Donor-advised funds are charitable giving accounts that grow tax-free. Our donor-advised funds make charitable giving easy, efficient and rewarding without unnecessary rules or limitations.

  • If the fund's assets exceed $100,000, you can choose to manage the assets on your own platform, along with the rest of your client’s wealth portfolio. Or, your client can invest the assets in Greater Horizons’ low-cost investment pools.
  • Your clients contribute cash, stock or other complex assets to the fund and their charitable dollars grow tax-free.
  • Your clients receive online access to their fund and are able to easily request grants, track the fund’s charitable activity and access monthly fund statements.
  • Your clients can name successor advisors to their fund, involving future generations in their charitable goals and giving, allowing you to establish and foster connections with the next generation.

Identify Your Ideal Clients

Think about your clients who fit the descriptions below – they might be an ideal fit for a donor-advised fund. We often work with clients who:

  • Want to create and leave a legacy for future generations
  • Desire a charitable tax deduction now with the flexibility to make distributions in the future
  • Want to grow their contributions tax-free over time
  • Are in a transition phase of life – empty nest, nearing retirement, involved in estate planning
  • Plan to sell a private company
  • Are holding appreciated assets (publicly traded securities or other complex assets) and have high capital gains tax exposure
  • Are private about their wealth and/or giving
  • Are too busy to handle the administrative side of giving

Maximize Your Client’s Charitable Giving

Clients may be able to avoid capital gains tax on gifts of appreciated assets. Greater Horizons is a public charity, so your clients are eligible to receive the maximum tax deductions allowed by law for their donations. Even if your clients would ordinarily take the standard deduction, now at higher levels under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, they can continue to support the charities they care about with help of a donor-advised fund and a tax strategy known as bunching.

Bequest: Name Your Client’s Fund as a Beneficiary of a Retirement Plan or Life Insurance Policy

If you have a client who wants to name their fund at Greater Horizons as a beneficiary of their life insurance policy or retirement plan account, the following information may be helpful in completing their beneficiary designation forms.

After your client describes what they want to leave to their fund (i.e., a percentage of the estate/trust/account or a specific dollar amount), please note that it will pass "to Greater Horizons (EIN 20-0849590) for the following component fund: [name of the fund]."

Our staff will be happy to work with you and your client to establish a fund during your client’s lifetime to receive assets at their death. By working together ahead of time, we can ensure your client’s fund will carry out their charitable goals beyond their lifetime.

IRA Charitable Rollover: Qualified Charitable Distribution

While the SECURE Act increased the age to begin taking a required minimum distribution (RMD) from an IRA to age 72, clients age 70.5 or over may continue to make qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) up to $105,000 from their IRAs. Donor-advised funds are not eligible to receive QCDs, but we can set up a designated fund or a scholarship fund to receive a QCD. A QCD can help your client avoid taxable income. And, as your client's financial advisor, you can continue to manage their investments in both designated funds and scholarship funds if the assets in each fund exceed $100,000.

To set up a designated fund or a scholarship fund, contact us at info@greaterhorizons.org. You can review the information we will need to set up your fund in the links below.

Sample Designated Fund Agreement

Sample Scholarship Fund Agreement


Questions? Contact us at info@greaterhorizons.org or 816.842.8139.

Interested in learning more about donor-advised funds?

You can continue to manage your clients’ assets and meet their tax and charitable goals.