Lean on Us

In an economic and legislative environment full of unpredictability, we encourage you to reach out to the knowledgeable team at ETF to answer questions related to charitable giving–perhaps even more than you have in the past.

If you have established a donor advised or other type of fund at ETF, you are familiar with many of the ways we make charitable giving easy, flexible, and effective so that you can achieve your goals for improving the quality of life in our region as well as fulfilling your own estate planning and financial objectives.

Please know that our work does not end when you establish a fund with us. Our team is available and willing to assist at any time. Here are five of the many reasons to give our team a call:

You promised yourself in 2024 that you’ll never again get caught in a year-end crunch.

The last few months of the year are always hectic with holiday activities. When you layer on the added stress of tax planning and completing the charitable giving plans you set back in January, you might tip the scales from hectic to chaos! ETF can help organize your year-end charitable giving early so that it achieves both your financial and your philanthropic goals.

You are concerned about recent drops in funding to local charities, but you’re not quite sure about what you can do to help.

ETF is our region’s philanthropic leader for charitable giving. We understand our region’s needs and know the nonprofits that are addressing them. Our team can provide information about area nonprofits, issues affecting our communities, and ways to use charitable giving to address them.

Your tax advisor has suggested that 2025 is an important year to increase your charitable donations, but you do not want your gifts to favorite charities to suddenly spike and then drop again.

For the small percentage of people who itemize deductions on their individual income tax returns, 2025 may indeed present opportunities. ETF is happy to work with your tax advisors and you to structure gifts to a donor advised or other type of fund at the Foundation to ensure that you are leveraging tax advantages while also maintaining consistent support year after year for the causes you care about.

You are thinking about selling commercial property or private business interests and you have heard that charitable gifts can be an effective component of the transaction if structured correctly.

Many people do not realize until it is too late that they can give real estate or closely-held stock to a fund at ETF well in advance of a future sale and achieve significant tax benefits while also setting aside charitable dollars to make a positive difference in the community either immediately or across generations. Before you put pen to paper on the disposition of real estate or private business interests, please reach out. We can discuss with your advisors and you how you can donate appreciated property to receive the maximum tax benefit.

You are updating your estate plan and want to leave money to charity, but you are not exactly sure what charity.

Please reach out to ETF anytime you are updating your estate plan or related financial documents, such as beneficiary designations on IRAs, life insurance policies, or retirement accounts. Our team is happy to work with your advisors to deploy ETF’s flexible tools to round out your estate plan and make sure you are exploring the tax benefits of using various types of assets to fund your charitable intentions.

Whatever your charitable giving situation, ETF is available to assist. Whether you have already started a fund at ETF or whether you are considering getting involved, we look forward to our conversation.

The team at the East Tennessee Foundation is honored to serve as a resource and sounding board as you build your charitable plans and pursue your philanthropic objectives for making a difference in the community. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor to learn how this information might apply to your own situation.