Real estate is one of the most valuable—and underutilized—assets in charitable planning. Our engaging panel brings together experts in law, finance, and gift planning to discuss how to navigate the complexities of real estate planned gifts – from creative ways to promote and structure them to the nitty gritty of reeling them in. Whether a novice or an expert in gift planning, you will come away equipped with insights to turn donors’ real estate holdings into transformative charitable gifts.
Panelists will provide an overview of common uses of real estate in charitable gift planning, including a look at specific gifts they have brought in. You will also learn more about a strategic technique that is rapidly gaining traction in the planned giving world: the 1031 real estate exchange and Delaware Statutory Trusts.
Many older donors – more than you think -- have significant real estate assets. And many are eager for ways to dispose of these assets strategically. This Lunch & Learn is a wonderful opportunity to add an important arrow to your charitable gift planning quiver – and to be an invaluable resource for your donors and organization, especially as the need for new funding sources becomes increasingly critical.
Moderator
Richard Letocha
Richard Letocha assists donors to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine with bequest intentions, life incomes gifts, gifts of tangible personal property, and gifts of real estate. He has prior experience in wealth management, trust and estate administration, and law firm practice, and is a Past President of the Chesapeake Planned Giving Council. He received his Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy ["CAP"] certification in 2024 and co-leads a virtual mid-Atlantic CAP study group.
Featured Panelist
John Bishop
John is the Vice President of Philanthropy for Cornerstone Real Estate Investment Services. He is a Registered with WealthForge which is based in Richmond, Virginia. His primary focus is in the area of developing strategies for accessing the wealth that is in highly appreciated real estate as a source of philanthropy in support of hospitals, colleges and universities, charities and faith based non-profits. John has over 40 years’ experience in providing real estate income solutions for both public and private real estate investors. John was instrumental in launching one of the country’s largest real estate investment sponsors that eventually listed on the NYSE.
Mr. Bishop joined Cornerstone to help expand the company’s capability to provide education and training to the non-profit world on ways to expand and stabilize their fund raising capabilities. John has combined his passion for investment real estate and philanthropy by creating a unique asset-based giving solution for non-profits and their donors. By combining traditional 1031 exchanges with Delaware Statutory Trusts (DST) as replacement real estate in an Exchange non-profits can now serve those donors by bringing them a realistic solution to the donor’s capital gains tax issues. This strategy has the potential to transform what would have been capital gain tax dollar into a philanthropic dollar.
John is a 1965 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps following graduation. He served with the Third Marine Division in Vietnam.
Shari Fleming
Shari Fleming is a Maryland licensed attorney with a sincere desire to help individuals and families preserve and pass generational wealth while also supporting the causes they love. She is Principal of the Law Office of Shari Fleming, which is a law firm geared towards helping individuals and businesses build, protect, and preserve their wealth and legacy, and its practice areas include business formation/succession planning, real estate, estate planning, and estate administration (trusts and probate). Shari also serves as a Gift Planning Consultant who helps charities strategically plan to accept gifts involving estates, trusts, and other deferred giving opportunities. Shari is a graduate of Lincoln University (PA) and the University of Maryland School of Law. Her post-law school education includes achievement of the designations of Accredited Estate Planner® and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®. She founded the Our Legacy Matters community with the purpose of advancing the concepts of ownership, wealth maintenance, wealth retention, and philanthropy, specifically within communities of color, and in 2021, Shari Fleming was named one of The Daily Record’s 2021 Leadership in Law Generation J.D. honorees, due to her dedication to the practice of law and her community.
Despite her educational and professional experience, she proclaims that her greatest accomplishment is living, working, worshipping, and serving in Baltimore County, MD with her husband of 18 years, 3 daughters, and mother-in-love.
Elisabeth A. Koenig
Elisabeth A. Koenig serves as the Director of Complex Gifts & Gift Agreements in the Office of Gift Planning at Johns Hopkins University. In this role, she leads the evaluation and acceptance of non-cash gifts—including real estate, tangible personal property, and business interests—working in close collaboration with development colleagues to complete due diligence and manage the processing and formal acceptance of these gifts. She also partners with leadership to draft and negotiate non-standard or complex gift agreements.
Before joining Johns Hopkins in 2012, Elisabeth practiced law at several nationally recognized firms, where she focused on estate planning, charitable giving, and federal tax law.
Registration
Member -$50
Non-member - $75
Event Sponsor - $500 [1-2 minutes of air time before the presentation and has a flyer at the registration table for distribution to each participant.]
