Sadly, it’s rare that a month goes by without the news of another disaster or humanitarian tragedy. Most recently, the Maui fires and Hurricane Idalia are making the headlines and also generating widespread charitable support. Many of your clients may be supporting relief efforts through monetary donations. Work with the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC) to guide your clients when structuring gifts to provide relief and support.

Disasters are both unpredictable yet, sadly, predictable. Multi-billion-dollar damage events occur annually and not surprisingly (and thankfully), natural disasters and humanitarian tragedies consistently attract much-needed philanthropic support.

Understandably, most of the charitable dollars following a disaster flow toward essential and immediate relief efforts. Your clients might be interested to know, however, that dollars for efforts related to rebuilding and future mitigation are also critically important. Affected communities need both immediate philanthropic support for people affected by a disaster and long-term support to address ongoing ramifications. Ongoing support, for example, is needed not only for rebuilding after a fire or hurricane, but also to fund preparedness to blunt the effects of the next fire, hurricane, or pandemic.

CFAAC can be an important “first responder” to help ensure that charitable support is facilitated efficiently and effectively and is deployed quickly to the people who need it most—and over time as rebuilding and recovery efforts persist. Many people, for instance, use their Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) at the Community Foundation to support disaster relief efforts. And with rebuilds and recoveries often occurring long-term, a bunching strategy could help clients support disaster relief efforts through their DAFs for several years. This allows clients to plan in advance to provide support, while also being smart about the tax advantages in the year of the transfer to their DAF.

Not limited to disaster responsiveness, CFAAC is an ideal partner for disaster preparedness. Encourage your clients to consider endowments, Field of Interest funds, designated funds, and other perpetual structures such as CFAAC’s Community Crisis Response Fund to ensure that the community we love is protected for generations to come. Field of Interest or unrestricted funds can be especially attractive for people who’ve reached the age of 70½ since these funds are eligible recipients of QCDs (Qualified Charitable Distributions) from IRAs. Creating a Field of Interest or unrestricted fund allows a client to make charitable gifts in advance of disasters so that CFAAC can deploy resources immediately when urgent needs occur.

As disasters and hardships across the country and Anne Arundel County inevitably occur, our team is honored to serve as your valuable resource as you help your clients deploy the power of philanthropy. Call us at 410-280-1102 or email us at info@cfaac.org.