IN THIS ISSUE:

• Letter from the CEO: 12 Characteristics of Silicon Valley Philanthropists
• Real Estate from A Tax Perspective
• Highlights from the Conference on Charitable Giving
• A Real Estate Resource for Your Clients

Letter from the CEO: 12 Characteristics of Silicon Valley Philanthropists
Silicon Valley has re-shaped the world. Our region is headquarters to a staggering concentration of companies whose products and technologies have changed the way people communicate, buy and sell. Just as Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and other industrialists were studied decades ago, so too the companies of Silicon Valley are being watched and emulated for their best practices, organizational structures and philosophies. However, the world is not just watching the way we do business. They are also watching what companies and people do with the wealth being created and what philanthropic practices are coming to light.

Real Estate from A Tax Perspective
It is hard to imagine why holding substantial equity in a piece of highly appreciated California real estate could cause a dilemma. But often it does for your clients, especially with respect to tax and estate planning considerations. After years of depreciation over the life of the asset, many of your clients have a very low tax basis in their property as well.

What do you do?

Highlights from the Conference on Charitable Giving
Last week Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Stanford University’s Office of Planned Giving hosted the Conference on Charitable Giving featuring renowned presenters and a variety of significant topics in the gift and estate planning field.

A Real Estate Resource for Your Clients
In a column written for the community foundation’s e-news for fund advisors, attorney Richard Pivnicka shares some reasons why the timing is right for making charitable donations of real estate. We hope the article will be a useful resource for other professional advisors to share with clients debating what to do with real estate holdings.