Charities 

Charities can greatly benefit from recommending the iCLAT to applicable donors because they will be the ultimate recipient of the iCLAT's recurring charitable distributions.  Quite frankly, from the recipient charity's perspective there is really no difference between an iCLAT and traditional charitable lead trusts, which are much more complicated to actually establish and administer.  Moreover, for purposes of donor stewardship, Gift Planning Officers and Executive Directors should simply view the iCLAT as nothing more than a large recurring annual commitment gift agreement from an important donor.  The key difference is that with an iCLAT, the donor will get an accelerated charitable deduction in the current taxable year that is typically between 85% to 95% of the total sum of the annual distributions to charity from the iCLAT.  For this reason, some charities refer to an iCLAT as an "enhanced" form of pledge arrangement (non-binding) or multi-year gift commitment.   LEARN MORE

Donor Advised Funds (DAF)

Many charities that sponsor of donor advised funds (DAF's) are well aware that charitable lead trusts (CLTs) are compelling planning tools that individuals can utilize to fund DAFs on a significant annual basis.  This is particularly the case in the current historically low-interest rate environment. However, because traditional CLTs are more complex to establish and administer due to their focus on estate tax savings (which impacts very few people, it is very rare for a CLT to actually be established for such purpose.  The exciting news for DAF sponsors is that an iCLAT is designed solely for income tax savings purposes and, therefore, it is applicable to exponentially more clients.  It is also easier and less expensive to establish and administer by the client  In other words, an iCLAT has fewer barriers to implementation than traditional CLTs.  This means that an iCLAT is a much more effective way for a DAF sponsor to make a CLT recommendation to its donors who may have a high level of income in a particular year.  Of course, "coupling" a DAF with an iCLAT gives the client (and his family) the ability to utilize the ongoing grant-making advisory control/timing/privacy privileges in the family's DAF, with respect to the annual charitable distributions it receives from an iCLAT.   LEARN MORE

Churches & Faith-Based Ministries

As the Christian faith so clearly proclaims, all the wealth that we have in our bank accounts and on our balance sheets is God’s – not ours.  All Christians are called to be stewards of what He has blessed us with, in varying degrees, amounts and times during our lifetime. Throughout the Bible, Christians are taught to give to the church and ministries to magnify the Christ's Gospel.   In many ways, this type of giving on a recurring basis is simply an extension (or fruit) of our faith.

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Importantly, the annual (or more frequent) charitable distribution structure of the iCLAT (and all charitable lead trusts, for that matter) represents the very picture of the recurring giving pattern which we, as Christians, are taught to follow.   The only difference is that by making those same gifts from an iCLAT, a Christian can receive a large accelerated charitable deduction in the current year that is typically equal to 85% to 90% of total charitable distributions to be paid over the 5, 7, 10, 15, 20+ years of the iCLAT.  Just like any other taxpayer, a Christian can benefit from this accelerated charitable deduction when he or she has a high level of adjusted gross income (AGI) in a particular year.

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For this reason, all churches and faith-based charities (as well as synagogues and Jewish charitable organizations) should be aware of the iCLAT.   LEARN MORE

Community Foundations

Many community foundations are aware of charitable lead trusts (CLTs) and how they can be used by their donors to make significant recurring charitable contributions to a donor advised fund, a donor designated fund or other form of gift agreement.  This is particularly true in the current historically low interest rate environment. However, because traditional CLTs are more complex to establish and administer due to their focus on estate tax savings (which impacts very few donors), it is very rare for a CLT to actually be established for such purpose.  The exciting news for community foundations is that an iCLAT is designed solely for income tax savings purposes and, therefore, not only is it applicable to exponentially more donors, but it is also easier and less expensive to establish and administer by the donor/client  In other words, an iCLAT has fewer barriers to implementation than traditional CLTs.  This means that an iCLAT is a much more effective way for a community foundation to make a CLT recommendation to its donors who may have a high level of income in a particular year.  Of course, "coupling" a DAF (or a donor-designated fund)  with an iCLAT gives the donor/client’s family additional planning flexibility over the iCLAT's annual charitable payments, in addition to receiving the reversionary interest in all the iCLAT's assets remaining at the end of its term.  LEARN MORE