Giving Belongs in the Meetings You Already Have

Clients already talk with their advisor about taxes, estate plans, and family, and charitable giving should come up in the same conversation.

An advisor can keep a client's portfolio current, file every beneficiary form, and plan the tax year mindfully, and still miss a conversation many families care about. Giving tends to arrive on its own sporadic schedule, a December check or a pledge to a school, and by the time the advisor hears about it, the decision has usually been made elsewhere.

Justin Pullaro, an advisor at Core Planning Partners, measures his practice differently: "I want to track the giving, not the accumulation." Our case study tells how that began with one client over the holidays and grew into giving the whole family is energized to take part in.

A donor-advised fund turns giving into a concrete financial commitment. The family contributes cash or stock up front, and from then on the money needs stewarding: invested while it waits and granted over time to the causes the family chooses. Stewarding money over years is the work advisors already do.

At Endaoment, we sponsor DAFs for advisors and their clients. In an earlier post, we covered how an advisor can manage a client's DAF. This one is about starting conversations to retain clients, and ideally their heirs, in a rapidly changing world. If you're new to DAFs, start with What a DAF actually is.

Clients are ready to talk about giving

Many advisors hold back because philanthropy feels too personal, or can sound like a sales pitch. In The Philanthropic Initiative's 2026 study of professional advisors, including attorneys and accountants, and high-net-worth clients, 58% of advisors said they worry a client will question their motives if they raise it. Yet 81% of clients reported no discomfort talking about their giving, and 88% of advisors said discussing philanthropy had deepened their client relationships.

The gap closes when giving becomes a routine question you ask every family, not a recommendation you save for a few.

Year-end is the bare minimum

Many advisors already bring up giving at the year-end review. That gets the job done, but if it's the only time giving comes up, most of the leverage stays on the table.

A DAF changes the calendar. Once a family commits to making an impact, the money is set aside and ready for decisions that come up throughout the year. When a global crisis hits the news, the family may want to respond within days, and you can help them choose a grant from money that's already there and ideally increased in value. A cause close to home, like a child's school or a parent's illness, can prompt a midyear check-in.

The nonprofits they support every year can schedule gifts as recurring grants, with more regular check-ins instead of a December rush. Each is another touchpoint with the family, about what they care about, with the person who knows their finances and their values.

The commitment itself doesn't have to wait for December either. A business sale, a vest of restricted stock, an inheritance, or a concentrated position you'd otherwise trim at the next rebalance are all good moments to suggest funding their DAF, whenever they happen.

When the year-end review does come around, use it to plan the year ahead as well as close out this one:

Before we wrap, let's look at what you'll owe this year and whether a gift to your fund makes sense. Then let's sketch next year: the nonprofits you support every year, anything the family wants to take on, and how you'd like to respond if something happens in the world that you care about. Who else in the family should be part of that?

Then let the client talk.

Bring your team into the conversation

If you lead other advisors, a short exercise can show where giving sits in your practice. Ask everyone to raise a hand, and to lower it when a statement stops being true for them:

1. I do a year-end check-in with client families.
2. Charitable giving comes up in that meeting.
3. I'm usually the one who brings it up.
4. I helped decide which lots the client gave.
5. I still manage those assets and help decide where the grants go.

Count the hands still up after the fifth statement. The gap between the first statement and the fifth shows where giving drops out of your client work.

The next generation wants to participate

Most families haven't brought the next generation into their giving yet. In the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy, only 13% of affluent households said they involve children, grandchildren, or other younger relatives in giving decisions.

Invite the spouse and adult children, if the family wants them there, to join the giving part of the meeting. Ask what they're proud to support and what they keep meaning to be more deliberate about. If the kids are old enough, each could recommend one grant this year, with an amount, a cause, and a sentence on why.

The advisor who asks makes the difference

Opening a DAF is the commitment; the stewarding that follows is where relationships are built. The account existing alone can't decide which causes matter to a family, or notice when it's time to talk about them. That part belongs to you, the proactive advisor who takes the lead. It's how you go from managing a family's money to becoming a long-time, trusted collaborator.

What's next? Read What a DAF actually is or how Core Planning brings families into giving, click through our demo environment, or open a fund in the Endaoment App ta no minimum. To walk through a real client situation, reach out to hello@endaoment.org.

Endaoment does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult a CPA or attorney about your specific situation.