Make Your Charitable Giving More Impactful This Season

  It’s the Holiday Season—the Season of Giving—but often the logistics behind our philanthropic intent can be complicated and time-consuming. And with so many worthy recipients, even deciding where to give our resources can be a daunting task. But we don’t let that stop us. Americans’ charitable giving is the largest in the world; exceeding […]

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Video: Sustainable Living Series with Cathryn Couch

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the third webinar of our Sustainable Living series! We hope you enjoyed our discussion with Cathryn Couch, Founder and CEO of Ceres Community Project, Wealth Advisors Rawson Gulick, CFP® CAIA, and Jake Weber, CFP®, and President and CEO Timothy Admire. If you have further questions about how […]

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Willow Creek Coastwalk Beach Clean Up

We spent a gorgeous morning at Portuguese Beach last weekend! Although we didn’t find much trash during our Coastwalk California Beach Clean Up outing (about 32 pounds total, mainly due to a heavy piece of metal we found buried in the sand), it was a wonderful way for us to bond over coffee, doughnuts, and […]

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Seven Steps to Build a Successful Estate Plan

Over 50% of our adult population does not have a current or up-to-date estate plan to protect themselves and their family’s assets; that’s half of your family, friends, and associates. Estate planning is a financial process that can protect you and your family and is a very important component of your overall financial planning. Now […]

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Charitable Giving During a Pandemic

In the span of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic and an earlier than expected start to California’s fire season have impacted every aspect of our communities, including the nonprofit sector. Whether it is health-related, a safety net organization serving the vulnerable, or focused on the arts and education, many nonprofits are struggling. For the seasoned philanthropist […]

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Let’s Keep the Music Going!

Supporting music and music education in Sonoma County have long been priorities for all of us at Willow Creek, and now more than ever, music and art are crucial to our emotional well-being. We are so proud to support Santa Rosa Symphony’s It’s Elementary program, which provides music education for thousands of Sonoma County students […]

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Explore Family Charitable Giving Options

Not all of us can be as generous as billionaire Robert F. Smith, whose commencement speech concluded announcing that his family will pay off the student debt of the entire graduating class at Morehouse College, nearly $40 million. Yet, we can all make a difference in our own community, at whatever level we can afford. […]

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Camp Fire Giving

In the past week, we have received a number of requests for information about how to provide financial assistance to victims of the Camp Fire in Butte County. We have assembled a list of organizations accepting donations, shown below, which may guide you in that process. As always, we encourage you to use resources such […]

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Market Commentary: Summer 2018 – Taxes and Charity

TAX DEDUCTIONS AND CHARITABLE IMPACT The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in late 2017 is more than 500 pages long with detailed changes affecting many areas of the tax code.   Aside from the reduction in federal tax rates, most taxpayers will be impacted by the higher standard deduction and changes in itemizing deductions. Here’s […]

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Good News for Philanthropic IRA owners

If you’re over age 70 1/2 and are looking to reduce your taxes while making charitable contributions, you should consider taking advantage of a Qualified Charitable Donation (QCD) from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) this year. The IRS ruled that charitable donations after age 70 1/2 made from your IRA accounts will be exempt from […]

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