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Establishing and Using an Advisor Managed Account

Updated over 2 weeks ago


Opening an Advisor Managed Account for your BlueGive DAF

This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to open an Advisor Managed Accounts for your BlueGive donor advised fund.

  1. Invite Your Client to Join BlueGive

    To get started with opening a BlueGive AMA, ensure the client has completed the set up of their BlueGive account. Follow these steps to complete the account set up.

  2. Notify the BlueTrust & BlueGive Teams

    Once your client's BlueGive account is live, contact Joni White (joni.white@bluetrust.com) and the BlueGive Support Team (care@bluegive.org) via email to notify them of the request to open a new BlueGive AMA account, using the subject line "New BlueGive AMA Request".

  3. Complete the Paperwork

    Once the request is received, Joni and the BlueGive team will respond and ask for the following items to be completed by the advisor:

    1. Schedule 1 details for the AMA which requests account details for review and archival as stated in the GiveClear-BlueTrust Master Agreement. Below is an example of the details you'll be asked to provide:

    2. A new account checklist (which can be found on the BlueTrust intranet site), detailing internal set up processes that includes CRM steps as well as instructions for the new account process and paperwork.

    3. An internal BlueTrust IPS document which is required to be completed and signed by the requesting advisor and returned to Joni and the BlueGive team for additional signatures.


Funding a BlueGive AMA

Funding Your Advisor Managed Account

Following the completion of the steps above, the Support Team will notify the advisor and client confirming that the newly established AMA account is ready to be funded.

For each contribution there will always be two steps: entering the details into the platform and transferring the money from the external party. The sequence of events does not matter, but both steps must be completed

There are two ways you can fund your AMA:

  1. Directly into the brokerage DAF account that your advisor has created for you

  2. Directly into the cash pool for the DAF program

Funding your advisor managed account directly

Unless you need to submit a quick grant, we highly suggest that all contributions are made directly into the AMA and not into the cash pool.

  1. Contributing securities- work with your advisor and have them journal/transfer the securities directly into your brokerage DAF account

  2. Contributing cash- with with your advisor to wire/ACH the funds directly into your brokerage DAF account

  3. In-kind DAF-DAF transfer- this is something that our DAF program can support but we have found that other DAF providers do not. For DAF transfers it is best to transfer those into the cash pool. Instructions to follow below

Once your advisor has completed the transfer of funds for the contribution, they will need to enter those details into the platform in order to receive the tax receipt document:

  1. Click the Add Funds on the overview page, or within the Contribute tab

  2. Click the appropriate contribution type

  3. Enter the required details for the contribution and click submit

Funding your DAF AMA into the cash pool

If the goal is to keep most if not all your DAF balance invested, then we highly suggest avoiding making contributions directly into the cash pool. Depending on which firm you're with, transferring money from the cash pool into the AMA is cumbersome and can take some time.

There are two use cases where we do suggest contributing directly into the cash pool:

  • You need to get a grant out the door quickly and you do not currently have any funds in your AMA

  • You are funding your AMA DAF account with a DAF transfer

Cash Wire Contribution

For each contribution there will always be two steps: entering the details into the platform and transferring the money from the external party. The sequence of events does not matter, but both steps must be completed

  1. Go to Add Funds on the overview page--> choose Add Cash via Wire Transfer

  2. Enter the contribution details on the left. The right side will auto-populate the information you will need to provide to the external party to complete the wire

  3. After clicking submit, you will see this contribution under your pending contributions within the Contribution History Table

ACH Contribution

  1. Click the Add Funds on the overview page

  2. Choose Add Cash Using Connected Bank Account

  3. If you haven't already connected your bank account, you will follow the prompts to do so

  4. Enter the contribution amount, attest to the contribution and click submit

DAF Transfer Contribution

  1. Click the Add Funds on the overview page

  2. Choose External Fund Trasnfer - Cash

  3. Enter the DAF provider in which the transfer is coming from and the amount. The right hand side will populate with information for transferring the DAF from your external DAF provider


How do I transfer money from my AMA to my BlueGive DAF or vice-versa?

  1. To transfer funds to and from an AMA or BlueGive DAF, click on the Invest page > click on Request Transfer in the top right corner.

  2. Switch the Transfer From to Investments & Transfer To to Cash & Cash Equivalents > Enter the transfer amount & click Confirm:

  3. To transfer cash from the BlueGive DAF to the AMA you would do the opposite of the steps above (Transfer from would be Cash & Cash Equivalents > Transfer To would be Investments).

Transferring funds can be completed by either the client or an advisor. Once the transfer request is complete, it will take 3-5 business days for the funds to be available on your BlueGive DAF.


Changing the Target Allocation for your AMA

To change or update the target allocation for your AMA, please contact the BlueGive Support team at care@bluegive.org and provide the following details:

  • DAF Name

  • Updated Target allocation, for example: 50% cash and 50% investments

Once the allocation has been updated, any future contributions will be allocated based on the target allocation. For example, if the allocation is 50/50 and you contribute $1,000 then $500 will go to the cash pool and $500 will go toward the AMA investments.

Note: changing the target allocation has no affect on the current allocation. You will need to submit a transfer request if you want the current allocation to align with your target allocation.

As a best practice, we suggest maintaining at least 3 months worth of giving finds in your DAF balance.


Making Grants out of the Advisor Managed Account

Each AMA is programmatically integrated with the BlueGive portal. As long as sufficient cash is available in the AMA, the system can automatically initiate fund transfers to fulfill grant disbursements- essentially making this a two step process:

  1. Liquidate funds within the account to make cash available for granting

  2. Once cash is made available, you will follow the normal steps for submitting grants out of the BlueGive portal

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