Prepare Your Clients for Year-End Giving: WYCF is Here to Help

WYCF Professional Advisor Updates - Fall 2026

Hello! 

Fall is here, bringing with it a busy season for attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors. Estate planning conversations are picking up, year-end tax planning is beginning to come into focus, and clients may be looking more closely at the assets they own and the charitable goals they hope to accomplish. 

WYCF is honored to be your first call when charitable planning opportunities arise in your work, and we are happy to share ideas to help you start deeper conversations about charitable giving.  

• National Estate Planning Awareness Week is coming up, and recent research suggests advisors should ask more than this question. “Are there charitable causes you would like to include in your estate plan?” 
• Appreciated stock is one of the most tax-efficient assets to give to charity, but how does the IRS value those gifts? Review the "high-low average" rule and offer practical reminders you can share before clients transfer securities to their DAF or other type of fund. 
• Now is the perfect time to talk with clients about “bunching” charitable gifts into a DAF. Learn why early planning with WYCF can help clients maximize tax benefits through bunching and other strategies, while providing consistent support to the causes they care about before the end of the year. 

We look forward to helping you and your clients make the most of charitable planning opportunities through the last months of the year. 

Kind regards, 

The WYCF Philanthropy Team 

Estate planning: Go beyond the thirteen magic words 

In 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution designating National Estate Planning Awareness Week (NEPAW). This year it falls on October 19th – 25th, marking the 18th year. But, there's a chance you have not recently (or ever) looked at the actual resolution. Outlined are several reasons why estate planning deserves this annual spotlight. Here are three worth noting: 

• “Whereas careful estate planning can greatly assist Americans in preserving assets built over a lifetime for the benefit of family, heirs, or charities.” 
• “Whereas estate planning involves many considerations, including safekeeping of important documents, documentation of assets, operation of law in the various States, preparation of legal instruments, insurance, availability of trust arrangements, charitable giving, inter vivos care of the benefactor, and other important factors.” 
• “Whereas alternatives to disposition of assets after death, such as planned gift-giving, may accomplish a benefactor’s goal of providing for his or her family and favorite charities.” 

Note that charitable giving is mentioned throughout. For professional advisors, NEPAW is a good time to remind yourself to ask each client an important question:  

“Are there charitable causes you would like to include in your estate plan?”  

It’s just thirteen words. Still, advisors may not address charitable giving as consistently or thoroughly as clients would like, according to the 2026 TPI Study of the Philanthropic Conversation. 

Here’s what stands out in the findings: 

• 93% of clients who discussed philanthropy with advisors considered the advisor's role important.  
• While 99% were satisfied overall, only 61% reported being very satisfied with charitable planning discussions.  

The takeaway: There’s room to go deeper! Clients who have never thought of themselves as philanthropists may welcome the opportunity to discuss and structure their charitable intentions, like through a charitable bequest to a favorite organization or a fund at WYCF, or by naming a charity as the beneficiary of retirement assets. Taking the time to talk about this may lead to broader conversations about family, values, getting the next generation involved, and legacy—conversations that help you understand what matters to your clients.  

Highs and lows: Reminding clients about stock gifts 

As a professional advisor, you know your clients are typically better off from a tax perspective if they donate to charity by giving appreciated stock held for 1+ years instead of writing a check. The charitable deduction is calculated based on the stock’s fair market value, and the charity can sell the stock without triggering capital gains tax. Indeed, many of your clients regularly give appreciated stock to their DAFs at WYCF.  

What happens when one of these clients starts asking questions about what’s on their tax return? For example:  

"Wait a minute. I distinctly remember that my stock was worth $81.95 per share when the market closed on the day I transferred 100 shares to WYCF to add to my DAF. But my tax return is showing a deduction amount less than $8,195. Is that a mistake?" 

When a client contributes publicly traded securities to a fund at WYCF—or directly to another public charity—the amount of the charitable deduction is based on the fair market value of the asset at the time of the gift under Internal Revenue Code Section 170 and Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-1(c). But for publicly traded securities, "fair market value" is not ordinarily the closing price. Instead, the IRS valuation rule generally uses the average between the highest and lowest quoted selling prices on the date of the contribution. This methodology appears in Treasury Regulation § 20.2031-2(b)(1), outlining the IRS’s longstanding valuation rules. 

Here's an example: 

Suppose a client transfers shares to a DAF at WYCF on August 20. On that date:  

• High price: $82.40 
• Low price: $79.60 
• Closing price: $81.95 

Many clients understandably assume their deduction will be based on the $81.95 closing price. But under the applicable valuation rules, the value generally used is the average of the high and low prices: 

($82.40 + $79.60) ÷ 2 = $81.00 per share 

The difference may be small, but large gifts—or during periods of market volatility—it can be considerable. 

Your client may not know this, so be sure to remind them when they make gifts of appreciated stock and remember that determining the valuation date can be more involved. Usually, the relevant date is the date the gift is considered complete for federal tax purposes, which may differ depending on how the securities are transferred and when control passes to the charitable organization. Make sure to coordinate closely with the team at WYCF whenever timing is critical, such as at year end. 

WYCF works with gifts of appreciated securities every day and can help facilitate smooth transfers. This time of year clients will focus on maximizing charitable deductions while avoiding capital gains tax on appreciated investments. Being prepared to explain why the deduction is based on the average of the day's high and low—not simply the closing price—can be a helpful during client conversations.  

Bunching charitable gifts, year-end, and getting ahead

Year-end planning season is here! Now is an ideal time to revisit charitable giving strategies that could be important to help clients achieve their 2026 planning objectives. 

A strategy that deserves special attention in year-end planning is "bunching" charitable contributions, since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 increased the standard deduction for calculating income tax. According to important historical data, this change caused many taxpayers to begin claiming the standard deduction rather than itemizing since their annual gifts and other deductible expenses no longer exceeded the standard threshold.  

In 2026, charitable planning has become even more nuanced. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act added another limitation under Internal Revenue Code Section 170 requiring that itemized charitable deductions must exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income before a deduction is available. Also, Section 68 now limits the tax benefit of itemized deductions for taxpayers in the highest marginal income tax bracket to 35%. These two new provisions are sometimes called the “floor” and the “cap.” 

So, what is “bunching”? And why is it so useful under current tax law? 

• Rather than making charitable gifts in roughly equal amounts each year, a client may benefit from consolidating two+ years of planned charitable contributions up front into a single tax year.  
• By “bunching” donations into one year, the client may be better off to itemizing deductions in that year while claiming the standard deduction in subsequent years, potentially producing greater cumulative tax savings over time. 

A DAF at WYCF serves as an effective vehicle for implementing a bunching strategy. That’s because a client can make a single, larger contribution to the DAF, generally claim the charitable deduction in the year of the contribution under Internal Revenue Code Section 170(a), and then recommend grants to favorite charities now and years to come. 

Many clients will naturally ask whether they should “bunch,” or accelerate, charitable gifts before December 31. Having this conversation now can help clients evaluate whether this strategy aligns with both their philanthropic objectives and their broader financial plans. 

Here are two more important reminders for your client conversations this time of year: 

• Charitable planning opportunities are even more attractive when appreciated securities are involved. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 170(e)(1)(A), a client who contributes long-term appreciated publicly traded securities to a public charity, including a DAF or other type of fund at WYCF, may deduct the property's fair market value (subject to the applicable adjusted gross income limitations) while avoiding recognition of the built-in capital gain that otherwise would result from a sale. This is usually a better tax outcome than giving cash. 
• Qualified Charitable Distributions allow IRA owners age 70 ½ or older to give directly to charity tax-free—up to the 2026 annual limit of $111,000—even before required minimum distributions begin, potentially lowering adjusted gross income and reducing taxes on Social Security benefits and Medicare premiums. 

WYCF is honored to work alongside you and other advisors all year long to help structure charitable gifts in a way that advances your clients' philanthropic goals. Reach out anytime to get a jump on year-end planning! 

Worth a read: Moving from charitable transactions to charitable strategy 

Purpose-Driven Wealth Starts with Asking the Right "Why"– InvestmentNews 

This article outlines why technical expertise is important, but meaningful planning begins by understanding what clients hope to accomplish with their wealth. That’s why advisors should add deeper questions about values, purpose, and legacy, which naturally leads to conversations about intentional charitable planning and stronger long-term client relationships. 

The High-Net-Worth Want Philanthropy Guidance – Financial Advisor Magazine 

The article reports that high-net-worth clients increasingly expect their financial advisors to provide philanthropic guidance as part of comprehensive wealth planning. In other words, this creates a big opportunity for advisors who are proactively talking about charitable giving with their clients. 

If you skim these articles you will see immediately that a pattern is emerging! Clients don't simply want to save taxes—they want their wealth to reflect what matters most to them. The team at WYCF is here as a sounding board to help you begin charitable planning conversations early. Please reach out anytime!

The team at the Wyoming Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.