Referral leads to $450,000 donation

The Supporting Your Community (SYC) program has introduced a new donor – and a $450,000 SYC fund – to the Hamilton Community Foundation.

“It’s clear that this donor now thinks of BMO as his financial advisor and the community foundation as his philanthropic advisor,” says Pam Lakin, vice-president of development for Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF). “That’s what separates our program from TD’s program – the local expertise.”

The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, was identified as a potential SYC candidate by Teresa Benning, a Financial Planner at Hamilton’s main BMO branch. Teresa discovered the client had no family, was already a committed philanthropist, and had significant, but unrealized, capital gains in his portfolio. At that point, she referred the donor to John Potts, a Private Wealth Consultant at BMO Harris Private Bank, who introduced the SYC program and community foundations. The donor was immediately interested and agreed to a meeting with Potts and HCF. Soon after that initial introduction, he decided to create his own charitable fund through SYC. Because the gift was a transfer of securities, the donor enjoyed a significant tax benefit – any capital gains increase in value of the shares is cut in half when given to a public foundation.

The donor, who spent his working life in Hamilton, but now lives in Burlington, was also pleased that the community foundation network allowed him to contribute to both cities at the same time.

The community foundation’s various funds also allowed him to tailor his giving to meet his own personal goals. He chose to set up two funds: one unrestricted and one donor-advised. The unrestricted fund will house 10% of his gift, with half going to priorities in Hamilton and the other in Burlington. The donor will use HCF’s community expertise to help him identify top funding priorities every year.

The remaining 90% of his fund will be directed to the cause or causes of his choice every year. This year he has identified families in need as a priority. Once again, he will work closely with HCF to determine which organizations will benefit from his grant(s).

“This is a donor who appreciates that’s there’s a real difference that can be made at the grassroots level,” says Lakin. “A lot of his philanthropy has been at the institutional level; he’s eager to get into community issues and we’re eager to help him make a difference.”