At the Community Foundation, we work with donors to help them support the causes and charities that are close to their hearts. We manage more than 950 charitable funds set up by individuals, businesses and nonprofits. These funds provide support for the greatest needs of our community during the donors’ lifetime and beyond.
The key to connecting with these donors is all of you – the professional advisors in our community. You are the ones who know when charitable planning is important to your clients. While we have worked with many advisors and advisory firms over the years, we know that there is always more we can do to raise awareness of the options and flexibility of charitable giving through the Community Foundation.
With that in mind, here’s a roundup of events and activities that we’ve led over the past year to deepen our engagement and collaboration with local advisors:
PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR COUNCIL UPDATES:
- The Professional Advisor Council (“PAC”), established in 2013, was designed to bring civically engaged Central New York advisors and the Community Foundation together to improve philanthropic knowledge and networking for both groups. It is a discussion-based forum that allows each group to serve as a sounding board for the other on client and donor issues, developments in the industry, planned community initiatives, the greatest needs in the nonprofit sector, changes to tax laws related to planning and other charitable planning topics as they arise.
- Christine Woodcock Dettor, Esq.,* from Bousquet Holstein, P.C. agreed to be its first chair in 2013. Since then, the PAC has grown from 12 members to 18 led by staff member Pragya Murphy, senior philanthropic & impact investment advisor. Last December, we said goodbye to Peter Derrenbacker, John King, Esq., Kevin Nass and Mark Worden as outgoing PAC members and welcomed Marie Norkett, CFP as our newest chair, along with Tom Bezegian and Nick Kagey as first-time members. We also revamped our PAC webpage to better highlight current council members and the services they provide. Visit cnycf.org/pacouncil to view the new and improved page.
PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR RECEPTION & PROGRAM LAUNCH:
- On June 27, we hosted our second annual professional advisor social at the CNY Philanthropy Center. More than 50 attendees gathered in our ballroom to meet our new President & CEO, Melanie Littlejohn, and to network with fellow advisors.
- We also announced the launch of our Professional Advisor Recognition Program at this event, where we named Caragh Fahy, CFP as our first-ever “Partner in Philanthropy” award recipient. The Partner in Philanthropy Award honors estate planning attorneys, financial advisors, tax accountants and life insurance professionals who prioritize philanthropy in their service to clients and have helped many clients achieve their charitable goals either during their lifetime or as part of a legacy for future generations. They are committed to the community and work to support philanthropy and encourage charitable giving across Central New York.
ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR CONTINUING EDUCATION SEMINAR:
- On October 17, we hosted our annual continuing education seminar for professional advisors. This year’s virtual event featured guest speaker Justin Miller, J.D., LL.M., TEP, AEP®, CFP®, a partner and national director of wealth planning at Evercore Wealth Management and a managing director at Evercore Trust Company, where he works collaboratively with accountants, attorneys, and other advisors to provide comprehensive wealth planning advice to clients. Justin presented on “The New Normal for Charitable Tax Planning,” drawing from actual client experiences to offer practical solutions and innovative ways to help donors make good decisions about tax-effective giving in light of recent tax reform. Attendees were offered 2 hours of continuing education credit for a variety of fields including insurance, legal and financial planning.
PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT: CARAGH FAHY
We were thrilled to honor Caragh Fahy, CFP with the inaugural “Partner in Philanthropy” award this year. Over many years, we have had the absolute honor of working closely with Caragh on various charitable gifts to benefit the community. Caragh believes that building a financial plan is like putting together a puzzle and charitable giving is an integral piece. Caragh and her team focus on lifetime giving as well as legacy planning with their clients as they believe it’s great to see them get excited about their charitable contributions at work while they are still alive to see them.
*It is with deep sadness that we observed the passing of Christine Woodcock Dettor in June 2024. In addition to serving as our first PAC chair, she also served as the Community Foundation Board chair. We will remember her for her brilliance, humor, generosity, and visionary commitment to professional advisor collaboration.
