Advisor's Corner

Jim and Elgenia Ross of Monticello take their family’s charitable giving seriously, like, Robert’s Rules of Order seriously. Every year, the Ross family comes together to determine where their charitable gifts will go. Daughters Kim and Molly, both of whom live out of state now, along with their children Kyler (12) and Sadie (17,) join Jim and Elgenia to have an official meeting, this last year by Zoom. […]

Arkansas Community Foundation is honored to work with you and your clients to structure charitable giving plans and establish funds that achieve both your clients’ charitable objectives as well as address our region’s greatest needs. Our team at the Community Foundation intimately understands the issues facing our community and how grants from funds can be […]

With charitable bequests on the rise, and the possibility that more clients will be subject to Federal estate taxes in the future, many attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors are refreshing their recollections on the requirements of advising and administering taxable estates where one or more charitable organizations is a beneficiary. Advisors’ fiduciary responsibilities to charitable […]

Your team at Arkansas Community Foundation stays on top of tax cases, IRS rulings, and legislation that could impact the advice and counsel you provide your clients on matters involving charitable giving.  Here are a few current highlights and reminders we recommend you skim. Electronic filing is now required for private foundations For tax years […]

Designated funds and field-of-interest funds may not always be top of mind when you are developing philanthropy plans for your clients and their families, but they are extremely valuable tools in certain circumstances and it’s important to be aware of what the terms mean.  A field-of-interest fund at the Community Foundation is established by your […]

Richard Bell’s accounting business has been a family affair from day one. “I wanted to get married. But Lee told me I needed to not work at a grocery store for the rest of my life, so I went into accounting,” said Richard. Forty years of marriage to Lee, two children and four business partners […]

Your clients might make donations to entities that do not fall under a specific section of the Internal Revenue Code, but feel “charitable” nonetheless because the dollars are helping people in need. Perhaps a client has helped set up a dedicated account at a bank to provide scholarships to the children of an accident victim, […]

When tax season rolls around each spring, a new crop of questions may arise concerning clients’ gifts to various organizations and whether those donations qualify as tax-deductible charitable contributions. Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code lays out the requirements for organizations to be considered tax-exempt—a status for which an organization must seek IRS approval. Tax […]

Estate and tax attorney Neal Pendergraft lives his life looking forward, not back. A Fort Smith native now living and working in Fayetteville, he believes it is never too early to begin to educate the next generation on the importance of philanthropy. “I have some clients who will be a perfect fit for the Community […]

For many donors, the importance of a multi-generational family philanthropy plan is high on the radar, especially in the wake of 2020’s eye-opening events highlighting the importance of rallying around important social and community priorities. How do you know when a client’s family is a strong candidate for more formal philanthropic planning, beyond simply budgeting […]