GPC Spotlight - David Pratt

1. Please share a bit of your background and your practice.

My dad worked for the church so I grew up overseas, mostly in Latin America, and I gained a great appreciation for the work of the Lord in that part of the world. After graduating from BYU, my family and I moved to Sacramento and I started working in the financial services industry (and I’ve been enjoying it ever since). My team and I (there are six of us total) enjoy helping our clients with their financial planning needs, investments, and estate planning. Educating them on the benefits and methods of gifting has been very rewarding.

2. Why you are involved with the Gift Planning Council?

Attending church-sponsored schools was a wonderful experience for me. Ever since I graduated college, I wanted to give back to BYU and BYU-Idaho. Being involved in those efforts in my local area lead to being introduced to the Knight Society by some clients. That led to being introduced to the Gift Planning Council and attending many of the conferences that have been held over the years. I truly love finding ways to give back to the Church. I feel that it’s another way for me to help build the kingdom.

3. Can you please share with us some of your favorite experiences that you’ve had serving on the Gift Planning Leadership Council or at the conference.

Hearing Sharon Eubank present at the conference a few years ago was a highlight for me. She opened my eyes to the charitable and humanitarian efforts the Church is involved in. I remember leaving that presentation thinking to myself: “Everybody should know about this!” These types of speakers have led us to educate our clients and our church community on the different ways people can gift and make a difference.

4. Do you have a favorite experience you can share regarding a client who gave to a Church entity?

As a result of our attending the conferences, we were pretty well versed in the Donor Advised Fund offered through Deseret Trust. We have clients (husband and wife) who wanted to give in a way that created a beneficial experience for their adult children. We discussed the great experience it can be to involve your family in your philanthropy. When we discussed Donor Advised Funds, and in particular the Deseret Trust DAF, they expressed real interest in it. They invited me to come to a family meeting so that I could explain to the family how DAFs work and how the family could use this as an ongoing gifting method. My clients and their adult children really enjoyed discussing their gifting ideas and even involving the grandchildren. Later that year, we helped our clients open a DAF with Deseret Trust. It was very rewarding to help them through this process knowing that their family will be blessed because of how they’re giving together!