How to Elicit Your Client's Philanthropic Passion Gracefully.
Elicit Your Client's Philanthropic Passion
No two clients are the same. In fact, some you may have a better
personal relationship with than others. In working with each
client, you feel them out and approach your interaction and
business style slightly different. That is a good thing. Yet,
your core services remain the same.
Assisting your clients with philanthropic planning is actually a
personal process. Deciding what charitable vehicles to use can
be fairly easy to do. By that I mean making decisions about what
asset(s) to select for giving. In most cases its cash. But it
can be securities, real estate, retirement plan assets and more.
These decisions are generally made on tax benefits to your
client.
Once those vehicles are in place, your client has to decide what
charitable organization will get their gifts. What I hear over
and over is, "Well, they either know before they walk in the
door who they will give to or in a matter of a minute, without
much discussion, the quickly decide to should give it to their
church or college." Clearly, this is easy for you with perhaps
little time spent on this process. But, to give away their money
(assets) without deeper discussion or thought to what they want
to accomplish through their giving, what motivates them, what
are their interests or concerns in their community or this
world, is a disservice to the client.
Perhaps your concern with raising questions about charitable
giving in a meaningful way is that is would be perceived as
inappropriate or prying. But there are ways you can raise the
issue without feeling like your putting yourself in an
uncomfortable position.
I recommend you first uncover their giving history in the past
and highlight any giving that you know seemed really important
to them at the time. They will feel really good that you
remembered. It shows your focus is on them and their perception
is your service is personalized. Then, gently ask them to think
about the top 3 things that have been important to them in their
lifetime? The discussion may unfold right then or they may not
be prepared to answer those questions. Give them a few days to
get back to you if they seem unsure. Explain that you value how
they not only grow their wealth, but how they spend it too.
By helping your client with the guidance they need to better
plan their annual charitable giving and estate planning you are
sending the message that you care. You may even refer clients
who are very philanthropic-minded to an outside resource to
assist them with a deeper, more connected value-based
philanthropic planning. By being more responsive to your
clients' charitable interests, it reinforces a greater sense of
personalized financial planning that is meaningful to them.
Trust me, they will thank you for it and may even refer others
to you.