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Welcome to the SoCalCGP Newsletter. The newsletter provides links to this page. Please see below for the items that appeared in the August 2025 issue.

Member Profile

Rashaan Coleman, CFP®, CEPA®, Financial Advisor, Morgan Stanley

Rashaan Coleman works for Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management. He has been at the firm for six years, advising families on charitable giving strategies, and investment solutions for their portfolios. Rashaan grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, where most of his family still lives. He later went to Austin Peay State University to play football, where he would meet his then girlfriend now wife, Ilyana. They currently live in Santa Clarita with their two-year-old son Jeaven and dog, Kobe. Rashaan enjoys visiting his local yoga studio in his spare time.
 
Charitable gift planning helps Rashaan’s clients build a legacy, contribute to society, and preserve wealth over time. Rashaan has met many incredible people within SoCalCGP and is constantly inspired by all of the knowledge and resources the chapter brings. Rashaan’s goal with joining the board is to connect more of the advisor community to SoCalCGP members, helping more clients with their philanthropic goals, and ultimately giving better advice.

Dying Intestate: Procrastinators Who Should Have Known Better

By Eddie Thompson, Ed.D., FCEP

This article was provided by SoCalCGP Sponsor, Thompson & Associates.

When someone dies intestate (i.e. without a valid will), state laws determine how their assets are distributed. Intesta­­­­cy laws vary by state but generally prioritize spouses, children, and other close relatives. However, the process is far from straightforward. Without a designated executor, the court must appoint an administrator to manage the estate and distribute assets according to the law—though this may conflict with the deceased’s presumed wishes. Click here to read more.

 Legislative Update: The OBBBA—Is It “Beautiful” for Charitable Planning???

By SoCalCGP Legislative Co-Chairs, Janice H. Burrill, JD, CAP & Kimberly Jetton, CFRE

As many of us were celebrating the birthday of our country, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025. The legislation preserves several key elements of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) while introducing some new provisions affecting charitable giving in the future. It is a complex piece of legislation with different phase-out dates and key applications. While its impact on charitable giving is more modest than many anticipated, it does have provisions which affect charitable planning this tax year and into future years. This article will seek to point out some of those key provisions.

Let’s begin with provisions that were made permanent or extended from the TCJA which will continue to influence charitable giving and tax planning:

  • Estate and gift tax exemption: The federal estate and gift tax exemption for tax year 2026 is increased to $15 million, with future adjustments for inflation. This exemption was also made permanent which means the majority of estates will not be subject to estate taxes, making lifetime charitable giving the primary way to benefit from a charitable deduction for many donors.
  • New standard deduction amounts: starting with tax year 2025, the standard deduction is increased to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for joint filers, with future adjustments for inflation.
  • Income tax brackets: the current income tax brackets have been made permanent under OBBBA. These brackets are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%.
  • Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limit for cash contributions: OBBBA permanently extends the existing ability to deduct up to 60% of AGI for cash contributions to public charities.

The OBBBA creates three new tax provisions that could affect charitable giving strategies significantly, as follows:

  1. Above-the-line charitable deduction for non-itemizers: commencing in 2026, non-itemizers are allowed to deduct cash donations to charity (but not donor advised funds) up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers. Interestedly, this provision is not indexed for inflation.
  2. Deduction limits for itemizers in the top tax bracket: beginning in 2026, OBBBA caps the tax benefits of itemized charitable deductions at 35%, even for those in the 37% tax bracket. Given this, donors in the highest tax bracket may want to consider increasing or bundling their gifts in 2025 to maximize their tax deduction before the new cap goes into effect.
  3. New floor on deductions for itemizers and corporations: starting in 2026 tax year, itemizers who make charitable contributions will only be able to take a tax deduction to the extent their qualified contributions exceed 0.5% of their AGI. Corporations can only deduct qualified charitable contributions that exceed 1% of their taxable income. This provision may encourage donors to consider a bunching strategy for their giving to maximize tax benefits in a particular tax year.

A few other changes of note include:

  • Effective this 2025 tax year, an increase from $10,000 to $40,000 for the state and local tax (SALT) deduction for itemizers. This deduction amount will increase by 1% through 2029 and then revert to $10,000 in 2030. This increased deduction does phase out for taxpayers with incomes over $500,000.
  • OBBBA provides a new tiered tax on certain private university endowment investment earnings, with rates ranging from 1.4% to 8% depending on the number of students and endowment per student.

Conclusions

The changes created by the OBBBA provide an unique opportunity to reach out to your donors and prospects to discuss these new rules and encourage them to consider their charitable giving strategies for this tax year and future years. The non-itemizer charitable deduction may expand participation in giving for some, while high-income donors could face reduced value from charitable deductions starting in 2026. Therefore, 2025 may be a good time to accelerate giving, perhaps by considering a donor-advised fund. Regardless of the wealth of your prospects and donors, it is important to make them aware of these changes and ways planned giving can provide some strategic and “beautiful” options for their philanthropic and tax goals. 

Contribute to Our Field Through The Journal of Gift Planning

By SoCalCGP National Liaison, Patience Boudreaux, MBA, CSPG, CFRE

The National Association of Charitable Gift Planners is relaunching The Journal of Gift Planning and you can submit an article. They are looking for topics within the following sections:

  • Research
  • Program/Practice
  • Policy Analysis
  • Literature Review
  • Opinion

This is a unique way to share your expertise, insights, best practices, and innovations within our community of gift planners, fundraisers, and advising professionals. The plan is to create this digital journal quarterly. The initial article submission deadline was August 3, but articles can be submitted on a rolling basis. You can find more details about author guidelines, article requirements, and how to share your work through The Journal on their website. 

Special thanks to SoCal’s own Reynolds Cafferata for serving on the editorial board of The Journal!

Call for Proposals

What We’re Looking For 

We’re seeking session proposals that align with our 2026 conference theme:

Beyond Momentum: Innovation, Legacy, and Impact. 

Whether your topic speaks directly to the theme or addresses essential elements of charitable gift planning and philanthropy, we welcome a wide range of submissions-- from foundational to advanced-- designed to serve both seasoned experts and those newer to the field.

Shaping the Future of Gift Planning

As one of the nation’s largest and longest-standing councils, serving one of the most diverse regions in the country, SoCalCGP is curating a conference that is dynamic, engaging, and deeply relevant to today’s charitable gift planning landscape.

Who Should Submit

We invite charitable gift planners, philanthropy advisors, and allied professionals, including trust and estate attorneys, wealth managers, CPAs, philanthropy advisors, and more, to submit proposals that inspire, educate, and reflect the evolving nature of our work.

Key Dates to Know:

  • Proposal Deadline: November 1, 2025
  • Notification of Status: By December 12, 2025
  • Early submissions and multiple proposals are welcome!
  • Proposals submitted after November 1, 2025, will be considered for general education sessions during the year.

Please note that we typically receive more proposals than we can accommodate. Sessions are selected based on a range of factors, including alignment with SoCalCGP values, quality and substance of the proposal, relevance, and overall program balance.

Click here to submit proposal