Charitable giving firm sees surge
By Davis, Andrea Muirragui | |
Proquest LLC |
An increasingly popular philanthropic tool is driving growth at locally based
Renaissance's 70 employees handled back-office support services for more than
Think private foundations without the overhead - or oversight.
Renaissance clients nationwide nearly doubled their donor-advised fund activity last year, giving a boost to not-for-profit sibling Renaissance Charitable Foundation. It held
And company leaders expect those numbers to keep going up as baby boomers start to transfer
"We're seeing a renaissance in philanthropy," said
Unlike private foundations, once a status symbol of sorts for the wealthy, donor-advised funds have no employees, no annual payout requirements and aren't required to file federal tax returns.
Donors get a tax break when the initial contribution is made and retain influence over how the money is spent. They can make grant recommendations to the sponsoring charity -
Renaissance staff takes care of vetting the recipients, writing checks, producing receipts and navigating the ever-changing regulatory environment.
Lowering the barriers to entry has opened the floodgates to such giving.
Nationally, assets held in donor-advised funds topped
Among the largest gifts to charity last year: 18 million shares of
"Donor-advised funds outnumber private foundations 2-to-1 now," said
But their proliferation has raised concerns about the potential for abuse. Although industry leaders like Renaissance have a solid reputation in the philanthropic community, Laskowski said unscrupulous providers could tie up fund assets indefinitely.
He also questions the wisdom of awarding immediate tax deductions for donations that might not find their way to charities for years.
"In some sense, the gifts are incomplete because the money hasn't gone on to do the work other charitable gifts would do," Laskowski said, raising the possibility of so-called "warehousing" of funds.
Although the national donor-advised fund payout rate averages 16 percent, he suspects the "best and brightest" active funds are disguising the performance of others.
The foundation reached another milestone recently when it hired its first employee: Executive Director
Renaissance offers a range of retail and wholesale services, including "private label" programs for institutional clients like
"They are well-recognized within the industry for the quality of service they provide," said
The administration arm also provides consulting and back-office support to charitable groups that house their own donor-advised funds, selling the efficiency that comes with its 27 years of expertise.
"We have a single-minded focus on charitable giving," Baker said. "It's 100 percent of what we do."
Founded in 1987, Renaissance started out with an emphasis on charitable-trust administration. Since then, it has trained financial advisers, insurance agents, attorneys, accountants and donors alike on the benefits of charitable planning.
The state training grant would help the company formalize its in-house "
Renaissance already handles some charitable-trust and gift-annuity administration for the
About 350 families have established such funds at CICF, said Vice President for Development
Renaissance has a more national scope. Indeed, the
Last year, more than a dozen Renaissance employees also got into the act, seeding their own donor-advised fund with voluntary payroll deductions and then voting on a handful of organizations to receive
"We are leather-lunged advocates for charitable gift services," said Thompson, the company CEO. "We're trying to integrate charitable living into everyday life."
Service: privately owned company that offers charitable-trust administration and philanthropic planning to individuals and corporate clients nationwide
Founded: 1987
Employees: 70, with plans to grow
Head honcho: President and CEO
Assets under administration (2013):
What: not-for-profit that hosts donor-advised funds and charitable annuities, accepting donations and making distributions to qualified charities
Founded: 2000
Employees: one
Head honcho: Recently hired Executive Director
Source: IBJ research
Copyright: | (c) 2014 IBJ Corporation |
Wordcount: | 1064 |
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