Contributed by: Kelsey Arvai, MBA
Every act of generosity counts, and everyone has something to contribute toward making the world a better place. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 with one mission; to start a day encouraging people to do good. Since then, the movement is now global, inspiring hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
The biggest celebration of generosity, GivingTuesday, is celebrated annually on November 29th. We welcome you to join the movement this GivingTuesday, every Tuesday, or every day - whether it's time, a donation, or the power of your voice in your local community. Check out this video on Three Tax-Savvy Charitable Giving Strategies to learn more.
The Center participates in giving year-round. The Center's Charitable Committee facilitates this framework for giving year-round. Our mission is to contribute time and donations to the following three areas – Financial Literacy, Community Needs (Metro Detroit), and Staff Involvement.
Below are some of the philanthropic works we have done or plan to do this year. Additionally, The Center offers eligible employees up to two days off with pay per year for engaging in organized volunteer community projects and facilitating involvement in community activities. The Center also encourages employees to make gifts to charities of their choice. Each employee of The Center can request The Center to match their donation up to $100 annually. You can visit Giving Tuesday’s website to learn more about how you can give time, gratitude, or support to positively impact your community and create a better tomorrow.
Upcoming Events
Brilliant Detroit – Tuesday, November 1st through TOMORROW, November 30th
The Charitable Committee is working with BrilliantDetroit to host a toy drive this holiday season! To ensure the success of this drive, we’re doubling down on our efforts. If you donate a toy in the next 48hrs (today, 11/29 or tomorrow 11/30) The Center will make a financial match to your donation! See more details HERE!
BrilliantDetroit is a nonprofit dedicated to building kid success stories for Detroit families and providing proven, year-round educational programming for students in high-need neighborhoods.
Baldwin Society – Friday, December 9th
Center Team Members will help to assemble Holiday Hope Care Packages for low-income seniors.
Past Events
Gleaners Mobile Grocery - March
Jeanette LoPiccolo, Mallory Hunt, Logan Dimitrie, and Tim Wyman volunteered with Gleaners Mobile Grocery to help local seniors in our community.
Battle of the Brackets – A Center Spinoff Competition - March
To celebrate the National Basketball Tournament this year, we set aside our favorite teams and adopted asset classes instead. You may be thinking – that sounds kooky! It is a bit. Our celebration is a mash up of education, some charitable giving, and a bit of friendly competition.
Here’s how it works: Our investment portfolios contain mutual funds and ETFs from various asset classes such as U.S. Large Cap Stocks and U.S. Municipal Bonds. The asset classes are our basketball teams. Nick Boguth, our trusted portfolio manager, highlighted 28 different assets classes, then each was selected by a team member and entered into our brackets. The top four winners will receive a donation to their favorite nonprofit organization.
To kick off our competition, our amazing team members, Nick Boguth and Jaclyn Jackson led a presentation explaining which asset classes hold the largest concentration of investment dollars and how The Center’s investment team builds client portfolios. Each team member then selected their best guess to “win”. It was a volatile few weeks! Our lucky winners included Sarah McDonell (Real Estate), Matt Chope (Global Macro), Emily Moore (Municipal Bonds), and Raya Chope (U.S. Momentum Stocks). Center for Financial Planning is donating $1,000 total to help support 4 nonprofits of their choosing. Go team!
Greening of Detroit - April
Jeanette LoPiccolo, Gerri Harmer, Logan Dimitrie, and Bob Ingram participated in a tree planting event with Greening of Detroit.
Michigan Council of Economic Education - April
The Center is delighted to co-sponsor the Michigan Council on Economic Education’s 2022 Personal Finance Challenge as it highlights the importance of making smart personal financial choices and the career opportunities in the financial planning industry.
Money Smart Week is a national campaign by the Federal Reserve Bank to encourage good financial decision making by individuals and communities through free online education. To show our support for the Money Smart Week campaign, Center for Financial Planning Inc. is excited to co-sponsor the Michigan Council on Economic Education’s 2022 Personal Finance Challenge. High school students from all over the state of Michigan are invited to compete on April 29th. Teams of 3-4 students review a personal finance case study, then provide a presentation of their financial planning advice. The competition occurs before team of judges in-person at the Macomb Intermediate School District on April 29th. The winning team receives a $250 prize and will advance to a national competition.
Miles for Money – September
Center Team Members logged their miles so that a nonprofit of their choice would receive money; a healthy WIN-WIN. For each one mile walked, biked, ran, jogged, etc. The Center donated $2 up to $100 or 50 miles for the month of September.
Humble Design – October
Center Team Members work with Humble Design to impact the lives of individuals, families, or veterans emerging from homelessness. Humble Design works to change lives and communities by custom designing and fully furnishing home interior.
Kelsey Arvai, MBA is an Associate Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She facilitates back office functions for clients.
This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Kelsey Arvai, MBA and not necessarily those of Raymond James.
Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.