Charitable Gift Planning
Jonathan can help charitable organizations enhance their fundraising efforts and assist individuals and their families in integrating philanthropy into their estate and financial plan in a tax-wise fashion.
In addition, when sophisticated issues arise in the nonprofit or charitable gift planning fields, Jonathan can serve as special counsel to attorneys, certified public accountants, financial, investment and insurance professionals, consultants to charities and trust and personal banking officers.
Over the course of his practice, Jonathan has addressed some of the most sophisticated charitable gift plans in the country and has interacted with the Internal Revenue Service at the highest levels on planning and audit issues relating to the structure and administration of various charitable planned giving vehicles. He has extensive experience dealing with gifts of unique assets, such as closely held business interests or assets, partnership and LLC interests and real estate. He has structured and implemented many planned giving vehicles, such as charitable remainder annuity and unitrusts (including spigot and flip trusts), grantor and non-grantor charitable lead trusts, pooled income funds, real estate pooled income funds, immediate and deferred gift annuities, the gift annuity tuition plan and bargain sales.
He has worked with schools, religious institutions, hospitals, international relief organizations, social service organizations, environmental groups, arts organizations and many other types of public charities. He has also worked with grant-making organizations, such as private and public foundations, Type-1 and Type-3 supporting organizations, and national donor advised funds, and has addressed issues associated with international charitable activities. When a professional athlete wanted to match his notoriety with his philanthropic endeavors, Jonathan helped him consider the options and implement the desired vehicle.
Jonathan has also represented these clients regarding legislative and regulatory tax matters at all levels of government. He has testified before the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department, negotiated tax issues at the highest levels of the IRS, and presented testimony on Capitol Hill on matters of substance to these clients.
As a volunteer, Jonathan expanded his knowledge and experience by serving as president and board member of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (formerly the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG)), by serving on a committee to create standards of excellence for the nonprofit community in the State of Maryland, and by serving on advisory committees and boards of various charitable organizations. In conjunction with NCPG's Government Relations Committee, he drafted and reviewed tax legislation and worked with staff writing tax counsel of the legislative committees of the Senate and the House and with representatives of individual Congresspersons.