Advisors

Message to the Professional Advisor

In many ways, you hold the key to increasing the flow of philanthropic dollars into your community. Your clients often come to you automatically planning to leave all they have accumulated to their children or grandchildren, without the benefit of an advisor to ask the hard questions. "How will your grandson handle this?" "Do your daughters really need more assets?" "What about the arts you've always supported?" Many times advisors simply try to make their clients' wishes a reality and hesitate to probe deeper into the things their clients really value and the message they wish to leave their heirs and their community.

We know your first priority is to take care of your client. Next, your client wants to take care of family. Finally, your client desires to take care of others. Only after clients determine how much they need to live comfortably and how much their children or grandchildren really need will they be able to make an appropriate gift to the causes they care about. Every client must ask the question, "How much is enough for us, and how much is enough for our heirs?" You, as the trusted advisor, can help your client work through these issues by simply asking the questions.

What role can East Tennessee Foundation play in fulfilling your client's charitable wishes? Because a community foundation has a regional role and does not perform a particular charitable work, it is the perfect vehicle for donors to fashion gifts that fulfill their needs while having a positive impact on their community. East Tennessee Foundation fashions endowments to benefit any charitable area of interest such as animal welfare, elderly needs, arts, environment, cancer prevention, education, etc. Also, endowments can benefit particular churches or nonprofits close to your client's heart.

East Tennessee Foundation staff is adept at listening and then recommending a plan that meets the needs of donors. Thanks to ETF's ability to accept a wide variety of assets, it is frequently the perfect vehicle to take your clients where they want to go.

One professional recently told us, "I don't know how much personal wealth I'll have to leave, but I'm proud my work has enabled me to advise others to gift millions that not only will grow into hundreds of millions, but will pour into our region forever."

Now, that's a great job!

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