For advisors: Informing your work with charitable clients

Charitable planning does not occur in isolation; it exists within a rapidly evolving nonprofit sector and a dynamic legislative and regulatory environment. So as you navigate supporting charitable clients with planning opportunities ranging from donor-advised funds and qualified charitable distributions to charitable trusts and gifts of complex assets, that broader context is important to remember. As is the fact that charitable clients increasingly expect charitable planning to be integrated into broader financial and estate planning conversations.

In that spirit, here are three important things to keep in mind:

Philanthropy — including your clients’ gifts — supports a larger and more complex nonprofit sector than ever before.

Americans are very generous. According to a recent report from Giving USA, Americans contributed an estimated $617 billion to charitable causes in 2025. This fell just short of the record set during a pandemic-related surge in philanthropy, but nevertheless, 2025 represents one of the highest levels of charitable giving ever recorded.

Consistent with that trend, in its recent report, The U.S. Tax-Exempt Sector Explained: The Growing Role of Nonprofits in America, the Bipartisan Policy Center highlights the significant role of the nonprofit sector in American society. Nonprofits today provide essential services, strengthen communities, advance education and healthcare, and address needs that government and the private sector often cannot meet on their own. Helping your clients support charitable organizations can help strengthen communities and local economies.

Right here in New Hampshire, The New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits is working to highlight the impact and amplify the work of the nearly 10,000 nonprofits serving New Hampshire residents every day. In addition to the ways that nonprofits support, enrich, and build community, nonprofit organizations make up 14% of the state’s workforce, employing more than 85,000 individuals, and generating more than $17 billion for the New Hampshire economy each year.

“Nonprofits are essential to the strength and well-being of communities across the state,” said Kathleen Reardon, CEO of the NH Center for Nonprofits. “Through the ‘Nonprofits Get It Done For NH’ campaign, we’re raising our collective voice to highlight that impact and inspire people to champion the sector from the State House to the state’s communities.”

Charitable planning tools continue to evolve.

PG Calc, a nonprofit gift-planning resource, recently highlighted the realities of an evolving landscape in QCD legislation and DAF regulations. The article, The State of Play: Navigating the Current Landscape of QCD Legislation and DAF Regulations, provides a helpful review of ongoing policy discussions in Washington surrounding qualified charitable distributions and donor-advised funds.

QCD thresholds and rules have changed multiple times in the last decade. For 2026, individuals over 70-1/2 years old may make an annual QCD of up to $111,000 per person. Additional legislation was proposed in spring 2026this year to expand the use of QCDs and allow them from employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans. We will continue to follow this legislation and provide future updates.

Updated guidance for DAFs was proposed by the IRS in 2017 and 2023 — but a number of questions remain about the finalization and adoption of these new rules. The QCD legislation mentioned above may also have implications for DAFs. We will keep you informed of future proposals and actions.

Clients increasingly expect charitable planning to be integrated into broader financial and estate planning conversations.

Philanthropy is becoming more sophisticated, more visible, and more interconnected with wealth transfer, retirement planning, tax planning, and legacy goals. “Financial Planning in the Age of Donor Advised Funds,” a recent report from the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative illustrates that advisors who talk about charitable giving throughout their client engagement — from onboarding to retirement and estate planning — tend to have deeper, longer-lasting relationships with clients. Clients often look to their trusted advisors not only for technical expertise, but also for perspective on how charitable giving fits into their overall financial picture. Truly effective charitable planning needs to marry the client’s goals and values with tax efficiency, all within the context of a changing regulatory, policy and tax landscape. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is here to be a resource on the trends affecting nonprofits, charitable incentives, and philanthropic planning, so you can better serve your charitable clients and help them achieve both their financial and estate planning goals and their goals for community impact.

This report was compiled by New Hampshire Charitable Foundation staff with material provided by Embolden. This article is informational and educational in nature. It is not offering professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. 

For more information about how the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation can help advisors help their clients with charitable giving, please contact Michael DeCristofaro, Foundation director of advisor relations at Zvpunry.QrPevfgbsneb@aups.bet or (603) 225-6641, ext. 251.