There’s a question we often get: Why should I give through the PCA Foundation (PCAF) as opposed to other commercial institutions like Fidelity or Schwab, or even non-church Christian foundations? It’s a great question and one that allows us to highlight several overlooked advantages to co-laboring with the PCAF in charitable giving.
The common advantages of giving through the PCA Foundation
Before we get into the hidden benefits of giving through the PCAF, let’s take a moment to explore the better-known advantages of using a donor-advised fund (DAF) like our Advise & Consult Fund ® or Increase Fund.
Reduce your taxes and maximize your gift
First, giving through a DAF allows your tax burden to be minimized so your giving can be maximized. It allows you to give from and deduct against the income you realize in a year even when you are not yet ready to give the full gift amount to a single charity in that year.
Ability to give complex gifts and assets
Most of the wealth that could be given is in non-cash assets like private business equity, real estate, oil and gas interests, and cryptocurrency. Gifts of these are called “complex gifts” because they are not as simple as cash gifts, and local churches are usually unable to facilitate them. However, the PCAF is fully equipped to help you give away complex assets for the benefit of the Kingdom. Our president served for thirteen years as general legal counsel to one of the largest charities in the US, a Christian foundation that led in the development of complex-gift legal strategies.
And when you give such appreciated assets (stocks and LLC and partnership interests, both public and private, bonds, mutual funds, real estate) to your DAF at the PCAF, you can use the fair market value of your gift for an immediate income tax deduction while also avoiding capital gains taxes on the appreciation. This is the equivalent of a double tax deduction, and means you’ll have a greater amount to give to the organizations you want to support than if you had given them cash, and thus to increase your overall Kingdom contribution.
Choose a fund with no charges or a fund credited with investment earnings
Our Advise & Consult Fund is a donor-advised fund with no charges, which means 100% of your account balance is available for ministry impact.
The Increase Fund is a donor-advised fund designed for donors who want their funds to be actively invested in the market for growth. Like any DAF, the donor recommends grants at their pace and can even identify a specific ministry purpose when opening the account.
A simplified and flexible way to give
Giving doesn’t have to be a headache. By giving through one of our donor-advised funds, your giving is greatly simplified. You recommend where to send the money, when to send it, and how much to send. You’ll receive regular reports of your account activity and can view and interact with your account online. You can even make grants anonymously if you prefer.
Pay less and reserve more of your charitable funds for giving
The PCA Foundation’s charges are less than the fees charged by most community and religious foundations (and actually are zero for Advise & Consult Funds). Its fees are comparable to the fees of the commercial DAF sponsors, which are subsidized by the fees charged by their affiliated firms for investment management of their DAFs. PCAF charges NO fee for its own oversight of the investment managers. Most significantly, PCAF charges NO fee for the intake, management, and liquidation of complex gifts.
The hidden advantages of giving through the PCA Foundation
But beyond the more commonly understood benefits of saving money, time, and hassle, and giving more with one of our DAFs, the PCA Foundation also provides other, less common benefits that are no less important.
We will never reject your grant recommendations to Christian ministries
Simply put, we will never reject your grant recommendations to ministries on account of their Christian convictions or activities. This may not always be the case if you give through a commercial financial institution. Commercial DAFs, like Fidelity Charitable, are already under pressure by activist groups to deny grants to charities with whom the groups disagree. But, when you make a grant recommendation to a Christian ministry through the PCAF, you can be sure it will never be rejected due to the ministry’s commitment to the faith once delivered to the saints.
Maintain your privacy as a donor
Furthermore, as a church organization PCAF doesn’t have to file a Form 990 information return and thereby disclose your charitable giving activity to the government. Non-church foundations, whether Christian or commercial, must file such returns and make such disclosures. Those disclosures to the government threaten greater public disclosure of your giving – and harassment of you – through a security breach or by an incompetent or hostile government employee, as has occurred in the past.
Give as the church
The PCA Foundation is the church under authority – the institution Christ ordained for the building of his Kingdom – engaged in Kingdom giving. When you give through the Foundation you are standing firm with your brothers and sisters in one Spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel.
Whether it’s helping you give with more impact through our Advise & Consult Fund or Increase Fund or converting a business or real estate property into a charitable gift, our goal is to enable you to be more fruitful in the stewardship of the resources God has given you.
Watch this short video to learn more about how our donor-advised funds can help you give more and maximize your Kingdom impact.
Ready to take the next step? Click here to set up an Advise & Consult fund, click here to set up an Increase Fund, and click here to explore our full services.
Still have questions? Give us a call at (800) 700-3221 or send us an email to pcaf@pcanet.org.