Our Approach

We help advisors identify the best solutions for clients.

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Attorneys, wealth managers and accountants are often the first people consulted when a person is ready to think about philanthropy.  Seattle Foundation recognizes that trusted professional advisors are a valuable source of information and counsel on strategies for both lifetime and legacy giving. We help advisors identify the best solutions for clients, from establishing a Community Philanthropy Fund or Family Foundation, to providing strategic counsel or back office support to private foundations, to facilitating development of a giving plan.

We recognize the trust advisors place in us when you refer your clients to Seattle Foundation. We continuously earn this trust through highly professional service and strategic counsel that enable your clients to unite their passions and discipline to create lasting change in the causes that matter to them most.  Reflecting the importance of our advisor partners, Seattle Foundation has a 12-member Professional Advisors Council that meets quarterly to provide input on our services and programming.

If you are interested in serving on the council, please contact Cindy Sharek, Director of Gift Planning, at 206.957.7712.

In our work with advisors and philanthropists, Seattle Foundation’s role is to create greater equity and opportunity in all areas of a Healthy Community – Arts & Culture, Basic Needs, Economy Opportunity, Education, Environment, Health & Wellness, Vibrant Communities and Global Giving. Every day, we communicate, convene and catalyze with our philanthropic partners to advance this ideal. Learn more about our innovative partnerships and community impact

Working with advisors and philanthropists alike, our partnership of service and community impact is founded on our approach:

Effective Philanthropic Advising:

Delivered though a systematic approach of philanthropic planning and execution, our expert counsel and support elevates philanthropy from transactional check writing to transformative social investment.

Deep Community Insight:

Our deep insight and authentic connection to our communities and nonprofit organizations provide proven, actionable approaches to effectively guide philanthropic investments.

Powerful Civic Leadership:

As our community’s foundation, we are a vocal and engaged leader in communicating, convening and catalyzing collective action that positively impacts the people of Greater Seattle.

Judicious Stewardship of Assets:

As a respected fiduciary of our community’s charitable funds for 75 years, Seattle Foundation provides principled oversight and investment of philanthropic assets to support achievement of lifetime and legacy giving goals.