Advisor Services
For Estate Planning Attorney Michele Mulrooney, Los Angeles County is more than just a place to live and work. It’s home. “I’ve spent my whole life in Southern California. I grew up in Hawthorne, on the same street as the Beach Boys.”
As a partner at Venable LLP, Michele helps families preserve wealth, ensure strong futures and create lasting legacies. In her three decades of experience, she’s learned that estate planning is really about planning for life. “I guide families through their lives, educating the second generation, dealing with tax planning, fulfilling goals and realizing passions,” she said. “The California Community Foundation (CCF) really helps with that.”
When clients come to Michele to create a private foundation, they’re often surprised at the amount of work involved. Legal compliance, financial audits and investment management all take effort and time. Fortunately, there are other choices. “A Donor Advised Fund at CCF is a really easy option, especially for my busier clients,” she said. “You receive greater tax benefits, without all the rules and paperwork.”
Through their Donor Advised Funds, Michele’s clients get all the benefits of a private foundation while CCF takes care of time-consuming administrative and financial tasks. Free from distribution and filing requirements, clients can make grants on their own timeline and give anonymously.
Most importantly, they gain access to CCF’s team of charitable giving experts. CCF staff support clients at every stage of the giving process, from identifying charitable vehicles and vetting organizations to sharing philanthropic values across generations. “I use CCF as my partner to help parents teach their children about giving – how to find their passion, make decisions and create the biggest impact,” Michele said.
For more than 100 years, CCF has partnered with professional advisors to create efficient and effective charitable solutions and provide services tailored to meet the specific needs of their clients. As a public charity, CCF can offer clients the most favorable tax treatment, especially when making gifts of complex assets such as closely-held stock, real estate or LLC interests. And through our Charitable Asset Management Partnership (ChAMP), clients can access CCF’s giving expertise while retaining their trusted investment advisor.
Whatever the service, Michele looks to CCF to help her clients experience the joy of giving. “When one of my clients created a fund to keep small theaters going in L.A., he was so happy,” she said. “I just feel grateful. I want to help people fulfill their hopes and dreams.”
CCF Client Services:
- Recommending their investment advisor for management of their
CCF fund through ChAMP - Establishing or refining individually-tailored giving plans
- Custom research on local, national or international charities
- Meetings with community leaders and visits to charities
- Engaging family members in giving
- Identifying emerging giving opportunities
- Continuing education opportunities
- Access to a team of charitable giving experts
To learn more about how CCF helps create individually tailored solutions for clients, visit calfund.org/advisors.