Giftabulator® – Maximize Your Donor Gifts Today

Giftabulator^®NOW

Maximize Your Donor Gifts Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FUNDING matters^® launches GIFTABULATOR^®NOW, a planning app that shows users how to minimize taxes while also making the world a better place.

TORONTO, ON, January 30, 2019 — FUNDING matters^® Inc. is excited to announce that they have officially launched GIFTABULATOR^®NOW, an Estate, Financial and Philanthropic planning app that shows you how to minimize taxes (everyone’s dream) while also contributing to charitable causes.

Whether you are a charity competing for donor dollars or a financial advisor offering clients a cutting-edge service,GIFTABULATOR^®NOW is the invaluable tool that will easily demonstrate the potential giving capacity of every individual.

GIFTABULATOR^®NOW is easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to explain to others. You simply input current financial information and the app does the rest. You’ll soon be able to forecast your own, or a client’s, potential for giving by charting the course for a zero tax bill and getting tips on preserving your lifestyle of choice while still giving back.

“GIFTABULATOR^®NOW really is the perfect ice-breaker for financial advisors to start a conversation about estate and philanthropic planning with their clients,” says Bill Petruck, President & CEO at FUNDING matters^®Inc. “Plus, it’s incredibly simple to use and there is no software to download.”

With this interactive and intuitive app, advisors are able to easily demonstrate scenarios which can be customized, enabling individuals to see the impact of their own effective estate planning, charitable giving and tax minimization.

GIFTABULATOR^®NOW allows donors to be in control of their financial futures, pay less tax and do some good along the way. You can learn more about the unique capabilities of this app by visiting www.giftabulator.com or try the app live here.

About FUNDING matters^® Inc.

FUNDING matters^® Inc. is a premier philanthropic advisory firm comprised of a dedicated, knowledgeable team of professionals with the passion and experience to develop exceptional capital, endowment and major gift campaigns. From small organizations looking to build sustainable funding models to mega projects requiring advanced philanthropic skill, FUNDING matters^® is proud to offer opportunities that address an organization’s current and long-term planning.

For more than 20 years, FUNDING matters^® Inc. has been a leading North American consultancy and technology company, advising not-for-profit groups, wealth management firms, and government agencies on building sustainable funding models. When needed, they also participate in strategic funding opportunities including feasibility/planning studies, strategic communications and organizational financing.

For more information on the services and tools that FUNDING matters^® offers, please visit www.fundingmatters.com or contact them using info@fundingmatters.com or by calling 1-800-856-1354.

We’re Way Past Quitters’ Day – Now What?

We are only a few weeks into the new year, yet 10 days ago was Quitters’ Day, the day people are most likely to give up on their New Year’s resolutions.

We make resolutions because we want to improve. None of us want to fail, yet many of us end up falling short. One of the primary reasons why our steps for success aren’t sufficient is because we have no strategy. Our plans often fail because our good intentions aren’t good enough, and we need more than drive and determination. We all need a game plan.

Despite our desire to make good financial decisions, many of us don’t know how to make these life-altering choices efficiently. Even knowing where to start can be a challenge, which makes it tempting to lose hope.

Giftabulator NOW is the app to guide you through your estate and financial planning, no matter what stage you’re at. If you need help making long-term financial decisions, Giftabulator makes planning intuitive so you don’t have to be burdened with financial confusion.

It’s now easier than ever for families and donors to make financial moves in the right direction. Giftabulator removes the complications that individuals run into while trying to overcome common obstacles. After answering a few simple financial questions, the app can illustrate users’ current financial state and offers specific advice to plan for the future. Charities can use the app to help potential donors realize their true philanthropic potential. Giftabulator combines many of the tools used by affluent individuals, and makes them affordable and highly accessible. With an informative app that can be accessed at any time, financial decision-making can now be a smooth process for everyone.

It’s time to eliminate the barriers that stop most people from getting the financial know-how they need. Try Giftabulator to take another worry off your nagging to-do list of resolutions, a decision to start your year off the right way. Designed to protect your future, Giftabulator will ensure that you have one less issue to overthink so that you can have peace of mind for years to come.

– Bill

Giftabulator NOW 2.0 Alpha Version

I wanted to give you an update on Giftabulator NOW, as we have been making continuous improvements in order to bring you and your donors a tool that is educational and easy to navigate for major and planned giving.

We now have several key organizations who have joined other leading charities on board as we grow each day. Organizations such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Salvation Army, Shevchenko Foundation, Canadore College, and Camosun College Foundation to name a few, are realizing the true benefits of Giftabulator NOW and the importance of putting their donors first.

We’d love to give you a sneak peak with Giftabulator NOW 2.0 the alpha version and get your opinion. Please contact us at wpetruck@fundingmatters.com or 416-249-0788.

Some of the new features include:

1. French version available
2. More intuitive user interface
3. Videos walkthrough for donors
4. Staff Resources section with videos, sample letters, and much more.

Thank you again for your support. Your feedback is always welcome. Together we can do this.

William Petruck

President and CEO, FUNDING matters Inc.

Anaheim NCPP 2014 – Disneyland, the Angels and Philanthropy

The Imagineering of Disneyland has transformed the landscape for families across generations. Who hasn’t experienced the magic of Disney or been touched by its amazing storytelling? This was always Walt Disney’s dream. Today Disney is a global brand recognized and loved by children and adults alike. When asked by football players after winning the Super Bowl where they want to go, it has become a familiar reply – Disneyland.

Well, Anaheim, California is not only home of the world’s greatest place for family memories, Disneyland, but also home of the world champs in baseball. For decades the Angels of Anaheim were founder and owner Gene Autry’s true passion, long after he rode into the sunset with his horse Trigger. In Autry’s mind, his crowning moment would be winning a World Series championship. Autry never gave up on his team, even when faced with multiple losing seasons. It was in 2002, after Autry had passed to become an angel in his own right, that the Anaheim Angels brought magic to the “Heart of Orange County” by winning the big one for their founder. Autry’s dream of winning the World Series was never realized in his lifetime; however, without his vision and passion for the game, the Anaheim Angels would not have achieved that glorious victory 12 years ago.

The same is true in philanthropy. Giving and making a difference is about making magic happen. In some cases we can see it unfold before our eyes through a major gift and in other cases it’s a waiting process before a planned gift is realized. We’ll have to wait to see magic take place in Anaheim again with the imminent launch of Giftabulator USA.

We look forward to showing you how magic can be created with your donors through Giftabulator USA. Please join us for the launch of Giftabulator USA at the 2014 National Conference on Philanthropic Planning on October 14-16, 2014 in Anaheim to see how transformative funds can be created for your organization.

William Petruck

www.giftabulator.com

Peter Gilgan – Power Donor® Extraordinare

Why do I call Peter Gilgan a Power Donor®?

It’s simple, just imagine a world where everyone donated 1% of their net worth; if you are worth $1 million that would be a $10,000 donation to charity.

Now, imagine donating 8.3% of your net worth in your lifetime to charity using the same net worth calculation – your donation would be $83,000. Well that is just what Peter Gilgan, the founder of Mattamy Homes in Canada did today, adding to his philanthropic record by donating $30 million to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. This donation brings his lifetime giving total to $150 million against his $1.8 billion in holdings.

What can Peter Gilgan’s giving teach us?

It shows that he could never conceive of how much to give if he did not undertake any planning for his finances, his estate and leading to his philanthropy. The same can be said for a recent donor to a local charity who took the time to understand that she lacked personal financial planning. She spoke with us at FUNDING matter inc. to say that she didn’t understand if she had enough money to live the lifestyle she was accustomed to while still providing for her heirs and leaving something to her favourite charities. After walking her through an illustration of a proper estate and financial plan, she quickly understood and saw first hand the looming tax that could be used for charitable giving. In the end she became a Power Donor®, actually donating more than 1% of her net worth to her favourite charities.

Each professional advisor can leverage their client relationships to help achieve them establish unique and inspiring legacies through philanthropy, much like Peter Gilgan’s recognized legacy of landmark donations to the charitable sector.

William Petruck

www.giftabulator.com

Donate to Eliminate

I was encouraged to see the Laura Saunders’ article Tax Smart Philanthropy Made Easy in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). This has been a key element of what we have been speaking to advisors, charities and individuals about in getting their estate, financial houses in order to minimize taxation on their capital gains now and in their estates. Tax planning means that advisors and their clients need to take an inventory of all assets now and over time to ensure that what is left over and taxed can be put to other uses like philanthropy.

The WSJ article talks about the increase in popularity of Donor Advised Funds such as those offered by Fidelity, Schwab and Rowe. The other option is to give directly to charity and see the impact of your giving. The Donor Advised Fund model is a very smart approach if you are undecided about which charities you may want to leave your money to, and the taxman is not one of your chosen beneficiaries. It is also a wise strategy for future generations who will invariably be approached to give to charity. Imagine having the luxury of helping society with pre-tax dollars.

An important element in smart tax planning is being able to see or have someone illustrate to you how lowering taxes can be achieved and what is required. All too often, advisors do not spend the time to engage in these types of discussions for a number of reasons including, lack of knowledge or not having the tools to educate and illustrate these concepts to their clients. Not-for-profit organizations are equally guilty of not informing and engaging their members with the information in a concrete manner. That is why historically, the number of bequests to charities has remained in the 4% to 6% range for many years. Guess who is getting the rest after the family? You got it, the taxman.

The solution to this is GIFTABULATOR, an estate, financial and philanthropic planning app with an easy to understand model for planning purposes. GIFTABULATOR easily calculates how much money an individual will be left with, can pass on to their heirs and how much should be donated now or as part of an estate to reduce taxes at any point in the investment cycle. Can you imagine now how much you should give now to reduce your taxes on various assets? Call it Donate to Eliminate.

Laura Saunders’ article in the WSJ hits home about leaving a legacy for yourself, your family and your community.

Connect with GIFTABULATOR at app.giftabulatorusa.com

e. wpetruck@fundingmatters.com

School of Hard Knocks

I have attended the school of hard knocks when it comes to planned giving. When I look back over a 20 year period on my experiences engaging donors about making a bequest, each and every instance has taught me valuable lessons about the psychology of estate planning.

Dr. Russell James, Researcher and Professor at Texas Tech University, has given me valuable insight and successful strategies over the years. Dr. James points out in his presentations and in his book Inside the Mind of the Bequest Donor that often a charity is 40 years away from actually realizing if their approach to a donor was effective.

In fact, I have learned in the past 20 years in fundraising that discussing major giving and setting up bequests for charities are two of the last things people really think about in their daily lives.

Why did my first Leave a Legacy or Planned Giving sessions feel like busts at the time? I would organize sessions in which donors and supporters only showed up for moral support (and to be perfectly clear, none of my family members came out to support me). During these meetings we even provided coffee and continental breakfast in a comfortable setting.

Only years later did I realize these events really were successful. Of the four people who came to one of my first Planned Giving sessions, three have now passed on and one is still living. Of the three that have since passed, I can say that all three left bequests in their estates, with two of the three making donations which are in the top five largest gifts to this organization. During their lifetimes, all three continued to make annual contributions to the organization. Of interest, at the time none of the three had an updated will.

The key to my success with these Leave a Legacy sessions was to reference the research of Dr. James. When approaching a donor, instead of using the planned giving terminology, I invoked a term Dr. James calls “symbolic immortality” when addressing leaving a legacy in estates or tax planning with donors. The discussion then moved from an ask for the charity to a discussion about the donor’s heirs and how they can have a lasting impact in the world.

This technique has been replicated countless times in the past eight years with increased success. More individuals are attending these information sessions and taking estate and philanthropic planning discussions and the completion of their wills to the next stage.

www.giftabulatorusa.com

Your Most Important Assets Are Outside Your Portfolio

You might have been advised that the most crucial elements of wealth creation and preservation centres on your investment portfolio. It doesn’t.

As I see each day in our practice at FUNDING matters the huge financial issues in our lives are the success of our marriages, the ability of our children to live productive and fruitful lives and our commitment and engagement to create wellness by healthy eating, exercising and living.

If any of these lifestyle elements aren’t working smoothly or worse, if they are in a destructive mode then there is generally a heap of money going out the door to fix these problems.

If you are glued to your portfolio without paying much attention to your world outside of your financial statements chances are you are setting yourself up for failure, regardless how your investments perform.

Discuss family matters with your children, update your wills, take care of your affairs. Make a provision for charity to benefit society and in the end benefit by reducing your taxes through your philanthropy. Leave a legacy for your family and society.

Financial Success Element Number Two

Besides marriage as a critically important financial issue, the raising of your children is also financially important since raising productive, independent and resourceful children engenders greater financial success for them and less of a drain of wasted resources for the parents.

When it comes to kids, children who are deprived of their parents time and investment in their earliest years will ultimately need the mentoring time and dollars invested in later years. But those later years often entail a multi-fold investment and commitment (inability to get a job, substance abuse, adult support and upwards).

Yes, raising children is expensive and time consuming, but re-raising them after they have become young adults or full adults is a heck of a lot more expensive and heart wrenching.

Discuss your goals with your children and learn about theirs. Help them to become volunteers and show them how you give to charity. Tell the the good that your charitable giving does for you and how you also benefit financially through the process.

At FUNDING matters Inc. we often see the issues facing families who come to the cross-roads in their planning but realize that they must find ways to assist their children make it over the hurdles emotionally and financially. Illustrations via the GIFTABULATOR help families see how they can afford their lifestyles and support worthy causes.

Number One Element for Keeping Wealth

Marriage is probably the number one element for making and keeping wealth or financial stability.

A spouse can contribute to greater wealth. A spouse can help with business, give/offer ideas and counsel, entertain your clients, shop wisely for home needs and be committed to saving, investing and charitable giving.

A good marriage can also keep away a bunch of financial negatives. You won’t suffer a divorce, which often entails a split of 50% (after legal expenses) of your asset base and prospective income, the introduction of duplicate housing/lifestyle costs and host of other financial inefficiencies.

So like doing a portfolio check up couples should do a review of the health of their relationship. They should review their finances read books on successful investing while also build their knowledge in having successful relationships.

Protecting your wealth is a multi-step process which takes into consideration you and your partners values, views, interests and priorities. It involves gaining a better understanding of how your partners needs and interests fit with yours now and over time.

Discussing charitable giving with your partner is also a great idea for building a legacy but also tax reduction.

At FUNDING matters Inc we have been able to walk families through the timely discussions regarding their future plans and reduce family unrest through our discovery meetings and illustrations of financial planning through the GIFTABULATOR software.

Giftabulator® NOW

Giftabulator^®NOW