Client grantmaking
Resources to share with your clients about making grants from their giving account.
Once your client has accepted their invitation to their account through your firm's giving platform, they are free to make grants from their account directly.
As an advisor, you cannot currently make grants on behalf of your clients. You can:
Search for charities and Community Funds to share with your clients.
Keep your clients informed by tracking the status of client grants.
Encourage your clients to establish a legacy of giving alongside their families.
Partner with vetted philanthropic advisors to offer structured guidance on your clients' charitable vision and grantmaking strategy.
Initiate the international grantmaking process for your clients wishing to make cross-border gifts.
You are a trusted stakeholder in their giving experience, so clients may lean on you for guidance and resources with respect to their grantmaking efforts. It may be helpful to have awareness of the following account processes so you can best support your client as they independently make grant recommendations:
Does your client have questions about making a grant from their DAF?
Your client is encouraged to visit the Charityvest Guidebook or contact Charityvest support via email: support@charityvest.org
Recommending a grant
For clients, it is simple and fee-free to recommend a grant to charity via their account through your firm's custom giving program. To recommend a grant to any of the 1.4 million+ eligible 501c3 charities, they can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Tips for finding a specific charity
If your client's preferred charity is recognized as a 501c3 organization by the IRS, there's a good chance we already have them in the Charityvest for Advisors charity database. Here is some advice you can pass along to your client on how to locate a charity they wish to grant to via their giving account:
Searching by EIN is the most reliable way to locate a charity. Most organizations include their EIN via their website.
If your client is not able to locate the charity's EIN, they can search by the organization's legal name (or common name, if the charity has provided us with a name they are best known by).
To narrow down the search results:
Your client can filter by State.
Your client can check the address listed on the charity profile to confirm the organization's payment address is what they expect to see.
If available, your client can visit the URL listed in the charity profile to double check they have the correct match.
To learn more about finding a specific charity, your client can read best practices provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Is your client having trouble locating their place of worship on Charityvest for Advisors?
Places of worship are not automatically included in the IRS's list of eligible, so we will need to enroll your client's place of worship if they are not in our database already. Please invite your client to share this form with their place of worship so that they can submit the required information for enrollment.
How grants are funded
For clients that recommend a one-time or recurring grant to a 501c3 charity from their giving account, our default is to deduct from their existing balance and cover the grant amount.
When a grant is requested by a client with an Invested account, we automatically liquidate the invested assets as needed and rebalance their portfolio to target.
To learn more about how grants are funded, your client can review more detailed information provided in the Charityvest public guide.
How grants are sent
For clients that make a grant to a 501c3 charity from their giving account, we send grants to charities daily via PayPal and weekly via check, after we review each grant for compliance with IRS Code.
Charities will receive grants via PayPal digital grants or USPS First Class mail within a few business days of our approval.
To track the status of a grant, your client can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Has your client requested an update on the status of their grant?
As an advisor, you can also track the status of a client grant by following these written instructions.
Grant designation
For clients making a grant from their giving account, the default designation on grants is "Wherever needed most". However, your clients may prefer to direct their gift for a specific purpose, in which case, we recommend selecting a relevant Purpose label to help communicate their intent to the recipient charity, along with an optional personal note. Here is our selection of grant designation options:
Wherever needed most: Default purpose statement, which offers charities the flexibility to use grant funding as needed.
Pledge: Non-binding giving commitment. Your client must certify that the grant will not be used to fulfill any legally binding obligation to the charity.
Charity event: Charitable event they wish to support. Your client must certify that the grant does not cover any portion of the cost of attendance, sponsorship, or participation.
Run/walk/fundraiser sponsorship: Fundraiser they wish to support on behalf of a charity. Your client can include event information, and must certify that the grant will not be used to satisfy any legally binding fundraising goals for the client or a relative.
Membership: Charitable membership they wish to fund. Your client must certify that none of the benefits from this membership would cause it to be less than 100% tax-deductible.
Scholarship: Scholarship they wish to fund. Your client must certify that the client and their relatives will not have decisive control in selecting scholarship recipients.
Missionary or child/family sponsorship: Missionary or child/family they wish to sponsor. Your client must certify that they are not supporting themself or a relative through the grant, and that the charity will maintain full discretion over the use of funds.
Religious offering: Gift dedicated to their religious institution as part of your client's belief system.
Specific campaign, fund, or project: Program within a charity. Your client must certify the grant is entirely for charitable purposes.
Other purpose: Any other purpose, such as a memorial gift, which they can describe in the personal note section. Your client must certify the grant is entirely for charitable purposes.
To set a specific grant designation, your clients can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Grant approval process
All grants are subject to review by Charityvest. This is a simplified take on the IRS Code, but the IRS requires that grants made through a Charityvest for Advisors donor-advised fund comply with three major rules:
No direct private benefits
No control over the grant recipient
No binding pledges or commitments
To learn more about Charityvest grant approval policies, your client can review more detailed information provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Scheduling future grants
For clients who are considering an ongoing commitment to support their preferred charities, a recurring grant can help them achieve their giving goals.
With their giving account, clients have the option to schedule grants at the following intervals:
Once
Once, on a future date
Bi-weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Annually
Along with the ability to customize the start and end dates of the grants.
Recurring grants are funded by their giving account balance. If their account has an adequate balance to fund recurring grants, it will automatically deduct funds from their account and send the scheduled grants. When a recurring grant is requested by a client with an Invested account, we automatically liquidate the invested assets and rebalance their portfolio to target.
To configure a future and/or recurring grant, your client can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Philanthropic advisory
Clients that are looking for structured guidance as they design their philanthropic plan can request to partner with Charityvest for Advisors certified philanthropic advisors.
What is philanthropic advisory?
Philanthropic advisory helps clients maximize their charitable impact through expert guidance on strategic giving, such as identifying preferred causes, evaluating nonprofits, and planning donations. It ensures your client's grantmaking aligns with their values, resulting in more meaningful contributions to society that help your client maintain the motivation for giving over time.
Client benefits
If your client chooses to partner with a philanthropic advisor, they will benefit from:
Philanthropic expertise & research. Each of our vetted philanthropic advisory partners has years of experience and access to research tools that inform their work, which can help accelerate your client's philanthropic education and inspire them to action.
Charitable giving strategy: Any of our vetted philanthropic advisory teams can offer your client guidance on how to shape their giving strategy, from setting a mission statement, to selecting values-aligned causes, to deploying charitable capital.
Greater impact: Any of our vetted philanthropic advisory teams can help your client evaluate the social impact of their giving over time.
Giving accounts make it easy to partner with philanthropic advisors
Your client's donor-advised fund makes it easy to work with a philanthropic advisor. Your clients can use their giving account to:
Cover any philanthropic advisory fees via their account balance.
Execute on their giving strategy with legacy planning and collaborative giving tools.
Make grants to recommended charities with grant scheduling and tracking tools.
Who is philanthropic advisory for?
Philanthropic advisory is generally a good fit for clients that plan to give a minimum of $10,000 per year. Each of our vetted philanthropic advisory partners has a distinct client focus:
| Partner firm | Advisory perspective | Giving range |
|---|---|---|
Faith-based (Christian) | ~$150k-$5M per year | |
General | ~$10k-$1M per year | |
Faith-based (Christian) | ~$10k-$1M per year |
Does your client already have a philanthropic advisor?
Your client's giving account makes it easy to work with any philanthropic advisor. Your client can contact us at support@charityvest.org for more information.
To work with a philanthropic advisor, your client can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Making international grants
If your client wishes to support a charity that operates outside of the U.S., there are several ways to do so with their giving account through your firm's giving platform:
If the charity has a U.S.-based entity or fiscal sponsor, your client can recommend a grant from their giving account to that organization and designate the gift for the international branch.
If the charity does not have a tax-deductible U.S. donation process, Charityvest for Advisors has partnered with TrustBridge Global to facilitate international grantmaking for a fee.
TrustBridge is a foundation with collaborative relationships around the world, enabling them to professionally manage and deploy charitable giving internationally. With TrustBridge, your clients can feel confident knowing that their gift will be delivered safely and efficiently.
How it works
Your client can recommend an international charity to the TrustBridge Global network. Your client can submit the recommendation form to add their charity to TrustBridge. If the charity is not one of the 800+ organizations already vetted by TrustBridge, there will be a $150 assessment to initiate due diligence for charity certification, which may be paid from your client's DAF.
TrustBridge Global performs due diligence to make your client's charity eligible. TrustBridge will work with your client's charity to complete a streamlined application, ensuring that the organization is properly vetted and able to receive your client's gift while preserving tax deductibility.
Your client can make a grant from their giving account to TrustBridge Global. Upon confirming charity eligibility, your client will need to recommend a grant to TrustBridge International Generosity Foundation (EIN 84-3754469). They will need to include the charity name in the grant “Purpose” field. Once received, TrustBridge will deliver the funds to the charity, less an assessment of $300 or 1% of the grant amount, whichever is greater.
Partner fees
While there are no minimums for international grants, we find that a total grant value of >$5,000 is typically the best fit, given the associated costs.
Depending on the charity, partnering with TrustBridge Global to initiate an international grant may include the following fees:
$150 for an annual charity certification (if needed).
1% fee per grant assessment (minimum fee amount: $300).
$25 per grant for wire transfer to charity.
To make international grants via TrustBridge, your client can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Curious to learn more about your firm's custom DAF program? Contact your firm's program manager for program-related matters or Charityvest (support@charityvest.org) for platform-related matters.
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