The East Bay Community Foundation

Giving Advice  Winter 2008

 
 

Professional Advisor Seminar: Estate Planning for LGBT Couples and Families

The East Bay Community Foundation and Clausen House are pleased to present a seminar for professional advisors on March 18.  We invite you to join us as Susan von Herrmann, partner at Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP, examines the issues surrounding Estate Planning for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) couples and families.  Topics will include:

  • California's Registered Domestic Partnership Law.
  • Protecting the LGBT Family--Basic Planning Techniques.
  • No Unlimited Marital Deduction?  Advanced Planning Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Taxes.

The seminar will take place at the East Bay Community Foundation, just across the plaza from BART's 12th Street Station in downtown Oakland.  The program will run from 4:00-5:00 and be followed by a reception.  One hour of MCLE credit is pending.  To register for the event, contact starano@eastbaycf.org or (510) 208-0819.

 

Powerhouse Pair for Board of Directors

We're pleased to announce the appointments of Investment Banker Rob Davenport and Asian Health Services CEO Sherry Hirota to the East Bay Community Foundation's governing Board of Directors.  Davenport has been engaged in general management, corporate development and private-equity investment for the past 25 years.  He currently advises, develops and invests in technology-related companies through RD Partners, LLC, which he founded.  Hirota, Chief Executive at Asian Health Services for the past 31 years, has grown the organization to a model multicultural and multilingual primary care clinic with a staff of 165 and a budget of $18 million.

 

Growing Popularity of Our Donor Advised Funds

How is it that "donor advised funds" are possibly becoming the nation's most popular charitable giving tool?  Because they're simple, flexible, and easy to maintain - there are no annual tax filings or required distributions.  And when your clients work with the East Bay Community Foundation, they receive customized services helping them to formulate their own personal giving strategy -- providing them the opportunities to collaborate with like-minded donors and with the Foundation's own grant making power.  These benefits make donor advised funds at the East Bay Community Foundation a smart alternative to private foundations.  For details, click here.

 

Donors Collaborate to Leverage Youth-Related Grants

If you have clients interested in philanthropy related to helping young people, we have a vehicle that can put them together with like-minded donors who want to pool their grants for greater impact.  The group, called a "donor circle," focuses on increasing the strengths and capabilities of non-profit organizations providing youth-related programs and services, rather than funding programs directly.  Donors interested in joining the group can contact Director of Donor Engagement Joan Cosper at 510.208.0808 or by email at jcosper@eastbaycf.org.  For more on this and other examples of donor collaborations recently profiled in the Financial Times, click here.

 

Participate in Study of High-Net-Worth Households

The Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College is conducting a study on households with a net worth of $25 million or more.  Called "The Joys and Dilemmas of Wealth," the study is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Calibre - a unit of Wachovia Wealth Management.  The intention of this study is to help other wealth holders to mobilize their resources and create a culture of philanthropy where the great wealth of the world is used to solve the great problems of the world.

"We believe that the Center's survey will make an extraordinary contribution toward helping us understand what drives donors to give and what they need in order to give effectively," said Michael Deich, deputy director of public policy and external affairs at the Gates Foundation. Results of the report will be distributed nationally.  No personally identifiable information is requested.  If you or your clients are interested in participating, or if you have questions about the study, call the Center at 617.552.4070 or e-mail Robert A. Kenny at robert.kenny.1@bc.edu.

 

Our New VP of Finance & Operations

Christina Hurley, our new Vice President of the consolidated Department of Finance & Operations, has worked in all aspects of not-for-profit administration for more than 20 years. Her work as a consultant and senior staff member have ranged through strategic and business planning, investment and financial analysis, development, planned-giving programs and capital campaign administration.  Prior to establishing her consulting business, she was Treasurer of the University of California, Berkeley Foundation during the "Keeping the Promise" Capital Campaign -- at the time, the largest capital campaign undertaken by a public university.  She was also a Vice President at Kaspick & Company, which provides trust administration and investment management services to charities throughout the US.  She holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles. She's a top-notch addition to our staff.