CLIENT ADVISORY

Keeping an eye on what matters most

Summary:   Managing the federal excise tax rate on investment income should not detract from what usually matters most to philanthropic organizations – effective grantmaking.   However, simply monitoring the payout figure that qualifies a foundation for a 1 percent, rather than a 2 percent, excise tax rate may facilitate the decision to make some spending decisions before the end of the fiscal year, or not.

Overview:  Ideally, foundation trustees would reserve the highest possible percentage of a foundation’s investment income for doing good. Planning to pay less in excise taxes may mean a slight increase in funds available for grants.   But the thought of tracking and planning expenditures to qualify the foundation to pay a 1 percent, rather than 2 percent, excise tax can seem like an added management burden and certainly not as interesting to most trustees as strategic thinking and site visits with interesting grantees.

At GMA Foundations, our finance staff actually enjoys the challenge of strategic tax planning.  In this client advisory, Pamela Labonte Maksy describes how the GMA finance team monitors the numbers and helps clients think about the timing of expenditures Continue Reading »

EVENTS OF NOTE

In the field of philanthropy we talk a lot about impact.  A walk around the photograph and art exhibit currently on display at Boston’s City Hall and a talk with the teenaged photographers teaches vividly about the impact of just one life on another.

My Life, My Choice is a small but mighty organization that works to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children – the prostitution of minors. The organization conducts prevention activities with girls at risk, and helps girls and young women in Greater Boston who have been exploited to escape, heal and find new direction for their lives. The hallmark of the model is survivor mentorship by adult women who were exploited as minors, and who have turned their lives around.  I recently met some of the teenagers at a stunning exhibit of their photography. Continue Reading »

We invite leaders of nonprofit organizations to join us each quarter for a brown-bag lunch discussion about issues, ideas, and concerns in the nonprofit and philanthropic community.

The meetings are a time for us to “talk shop” and move beyond the usual conversation between foundations and nonprofit organizations.

Each session focuses on a particular topic, announced on this website in advance. Guests will learn a little about GMA and a lot about their peers’ perspectives on important issues.

Attendance is limited to seven organizations with one representative per organization, preferably the executive director or director of a major program.  The lunches are held in GMA’s ninth floor conference room at our 77 Summer Street offices.

Advance registration is required. Continue Reading »