The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC) keeps an eye out for what’s trending in the field of charitable planning, especially developments that impact your work with your charitable clients and how those clients tap into tools and resources at CFAAC.

Check out the nine articles that have caught our attention recently.

Generous Tech

Tech millionaires are turning to donor-advised funds to save on taxes while giving to charity
–CNBC

Newly wealthy tech employees are contributing appreciated company stock to Donor Advised Funds, which can help them avoid capital gains taxes, secure charitable deductions, and give themselves time to decide which nonprofits to support. The lesson for advisors is timing: an IPO or other liquidity event often creates significant charitable opportunities, and the best results come when charitable planning begins before the transaction. When a client starts talking about an exit, even if the exit is years away, that's the moment to loop in CFAAC's gift planning team.

Philanthropy Beyond DAFs

Philanthropic Planning Is Wealth Management's Next Competitive Frontier, Beyond DAFs
–InvestmentNews

Donor Advised Funds are important tools, but they are not the whole toolbox. This article explores why high-net-worth clients increasingly expect wealth advisors to help them consider a broader range of charitable structures, and how that expertise can help strengthen a client relationship across generations. CFAAC offers a wide range of fund types and charitable planning structures, from Legacy Funds to Corporate Advised Funds and more, so your clients can build a giving plan tailored to their financial and charitable goals.
See the full range of options on our Open a Fund page.

Donor Advised Fund Insights

Five Core Truths About Donor-Advised Funds
–WealthManagement.com

This article takes on some common misconceptions about Donor Advised Funds, highlighting their role in coordinating charitable giving, facilitating complex gifts, and supporting succession planning. The takeaway is that Donor Advised Funds have become an increasingly important part of the philanthropic landscape, and understanding how they actually work can help clients make better decisions. CFAAC offers Donor Advised Funds as part of its broad menu of charitable giving vehicles, and we're glad to walk through how one might fit a client's plans.

More on Donor Advised Funds

Donor Advised Fund Strategies For 2026
–Financial Advisor Magazine

This one looks at Donor Advised Funds through a 2026 planning lens, including how advisors can use them as part of broader tax and charitable strategies rather than simply as a place to park year-end gifts. The real opportunity is coordinating the timing, assets, and ultimate purpose of a client’s giving with the rest of their financial plans. CFAAC’s team is here to help you navigate the charitable and tax pieces of that conversation with your client.

Big Givers

Chickens, Pigs Could Be Big Winners From AI’s $300 Billion Philanthropy Wave
–Forbes

The AI boom is creating a new class of young, newly wealthy donors, and potentially an enormous new pool of charitable capital. This article explores how some of these donors are gravitating toward measurable, evidence-driven causes such as farm animal welfare. It is a reminder of how quickly sudden wealth can reshape philanthropy, and an opportunity for advisors working with newly wealthy clients to help turn a fast-moving fortune into intentional charitable plans. CFAAC’s knowledge of local nonprofits and community needs are an invaluable resource to you and your clients whether they are younger, older, newly wealthy, or well-established. Our 2025 Community Needs Assessment is a good starting point for clients who want their giving grounded in local data rather than guesswork.

More Big Giving

Most Billionaires Practice ‘Slow Philanthropy.’ MacKenzie Scott Is a Major Exception
–Fortune

Why do people with enormous charitable capacity sometimes give relatively little of their wealth away each year? This article explores “slow philanthropy” and contrasts it with MacKenzie Scott’s faster, trust-based approach to giving. It raises a good point for advisors: effective charitable planning is not only about choosing the right structure or maximizing tax benefits, but also about helping a client feel comfortable actually putting charitable resources to work. CFAAC is happy to serve as your sounding board as you help a client develop a plan that matches the community impact they envision.

Celebrating a Life of Giving

Dolly Parton’s Other Legacy: A Fortune Given Away, Dollar by Dollar

–New York Times

Dolly Parton’s philanthropy was unusually practical and personal. She directed her wealth toward needs she understood firsthand, from childhood literacy and disaster relief in Tennessee to wildlife conservation and COVID-19 vaccine research. Her approach favored simple, direct action and trust in the people carrying out the work, which is the kind of story that sticks with our team and the advisors and donors we work alongside.

IRS Has Its Eyes on Assets

IRS Eyes Charitable Donation Abuse in New Audits, Tax Pros Say
–Bloomberg Law

The IRS is taking a closer look at charitable contributions of hard-to-value assets, including privately held business interests and art. Tax professionals are reporting extra scrutiny of valuation, qualified appraisals, and substantiation requirements. For advisors, this is a reminder that complex charitable gifts require careful planning and documentation, and that bringing CFAAC into the conversation early can help you get the charitable side of the transaction right before the client takes action.

Exits and Opportunities

How Advanced Charitable Exit Planning Drives AUM Growth
–Financial Advisor Magazine

A business exit is often an important charitable planning moment, particularly when advisors raise the subject before a transaction is already underway. This article explores how charitable trusts, Donor Advised Funds, and gifts of business interests can help address a business owner's tax and philanthropic goals at the same time, while also helping advisors deepen the relationship and potentially retain more assets under management after the sale. As always, reach out to CFAAC early in the process.

The Checkbook Lives On

Retirees Over 70½ Can Send $111,000 a Year From an IRA to Charity Tax-Free. The Average One Donates From Checking Instead.
–24/7 Wall St.

Many charitably inclined retirees are still giving from their checking accounts even though a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) may offer a more tax-efficient route for eligible IRA owners. It’s a good reminder that advisors can add value just by asking how a client is making a gift. Changing the account or asset used for the same gift can produce a very different tax result. CFAAC can help your clients explore eligible ways to make QCD gifts, including gifts to designated, field of interest, and unrestricted funds. Remember that QCDs cannot be made to Donor Advised Funds.

What’s the takeaway here? As you skim these articles, or even just the headlines, a pattern emerges pretty quickly. Charitable planning opportunities are showing up everywhere: newly minted tech wealth, business exits, retirement accounts, complex assets, and the rapidly evolving world of Donor Advised Funds. The articles also point to something bigger. Good charitable planning is about more than finding a tax break or picking a giving vehicle. It is about helping a client make thoughtful decisions about what to give, when to give it, and what they hope their generosity accomplishes.

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County’s team is ready to talk through any of these conversations, always free and with no obligation.

Contact us
Thomas Perkins, Director of Gift Planning
tperkins@cfaac.org | 410.280.1102, ext. 103