Paul Jessen has never had a client who wanted to make a charitable donation just because of the tax break.

But charitable giving does come with a tax benefit, and Jessen—an Omaha attorney who specializes in estate, business, and succession planning—wants his clients to maximize that benefit if they can.

To do so, he guides them to the Omaha Community Foundation.

As a community foundation, the OCF offers a number of advantages over private foundations, including higher tax deductions and a better return on donated stock.

Even extremely complicated transactions are easy with the Foundation's help. For example, Jessen once had a client who wanted to donate stock to several charities. To get the full tax benefit, the stock would have to be donated to each of the charities before it was sold, which would mean lots of coordination and paperwork.

"In this case, it was very simple," Jessen said. "We donated the stock to a Donor Advised Fund at the Omaha Community Foundation, and the client advised the Foundation of his ultimate charitable targets. We worked with one organization instead of several, and that made the process smooth and efficient."

Jessen said he learns something new every time he works with the Foundation, and he thinks there are other professionals in the community who—like him, a few years ago—don't know about the advantages, flexibility, and efficiency the OCF provides.

"It took me awhile to learn about the Omaha Community Foundation but, once I did, I realized what a great resource it is."