July 15, 2019

Working With MCF: An Advisor's Perspective

David Koehler

As a professional advisor, helping your clients establish their charitable plans is a significant responsibility. Not only are you helping them and their families achieve their philanthropic goals today, you’re also helping them leave a legacy for tomorrow. It can be a long and personal journey for your clients (and you!) that’s both rewarding and demanding.

Dave Reinecke, a senior partner at Foley & Lardner LLP, has counseled thousands of people in his 35+ years as a tax, estate and business succession attorney in Madison. He also has a long history of collaborating with MCF to serve his clients’ charitable goals, establishing donor advised funds and supporting organizations to facilitate strategic giving during their lifetimes, and developing flexible estate plans to ensure permanent legacies of support to their favorite causes.

“We’re fortunate to live in such a charitably minded community,” Dave says. “Charitable giving has a tax planning component, so it is something I discuss in virtually every client meeting. My job is to help my clients make plans that will achieve their goals with the lowest tax cost possible.”

As an attorney, Dave admits he always thinks of taxes first when considering options for his clients. He often recommends that clients fund their charitable giving with appreciated, illiquid assets because they can take a deduction for the asset’s fair market value while also avoiding capital gains tax on the appreciation. “The combined tax savings can be has high as 60% to 70%, making charitable giving pretty inexpensive,” he says.

MCF’s ability to accept a wide range of simple to complex asset types makes it a natural fit for his recommendations. But Dave has other reasons he is an advocate for our community’s foundation, and why he, too, manages his giving through MCF.

“I have nothing but the highest praise for what MCF has done over the years and for what MCF brings to the community,” he says. “My experience has been uniformly positive. You don’t say that about too many places. I want it for my clients, and I want it for me.

“When I introduce a client to MCF, the staff makes me look like a hero,” he says. “MCF has a deep knowledge of the charitable organizations in our community, and helps people vet opportunities and target strategic giving. MCF offers great flexibility and is a tremendous resource for my clients. It’s a win-win, and it has always been that way.”

Dave also champions MCF’s value proposition to the larger professional advisor community and advocates for MCF’s skills in gift planning and philanthropic advising. “MCF speaks the language and offers professional advisors the whole gamut of options to consider,” he says. “I don’t ever view MCF as a competitor – it’s always a team effort. Advisors can and should tap into these high-level resources.”

When asked about other advice he likes to give, Dave, who's from Potosi, Wisconsin, suggests a visit to Potosi's National Brewery Museum. He adds, "Milwaukee and St. Louis wanted it, but Potosi got it. It's a great day trip through scenic rolling hills leading to a charming small town on the banks of the Mississippi River."

Learn more about how MCF works with advisors to help their clients achieve their charitable goals.