Loni Welch: Supporting Philanthropy for a Better Community Through Charitable Giving

Professional advisors are critical in helping our community members give humanity a hand. Like Pinellas Community Foundation, they make it easier for individuals and families to support organizations that are addressing Pinellas County’s most pressing needs. Professional advisors, like Loni Welch, work with PCF to ensure their clients’ charitable gifts support the organizations they care about most while maximizing tax benefits.

Name: Loni Welch

Occupation: CPA

Employer: PDR CPAs + Advisors

City: Oldsmar

How did you get into the field?

I took the entry-level accounting course required for business students and loved it! I knew I wanted to focus on accounting, and I started my career doing audit work for a small CPA firm in California. We had a few tax clients, and I started to love tax season when I could work directly with individuals on various tax projects. I really enjoyed the challenge and knew I wanted to switch fields, but I wanted to do higher-level work and make myself as valuable as possible, so I decided to go to law school and study tax law.

What is a common misconception about the tax industry?

When I was studying for the CPA exam, a friend asked what I was worried about since it was just a math test. Now, people will give me a few numbers and ask me to calculate the tax. In reality, there’s so much more involved than just a few calculations.

It’s a very fact-intensive field. How you complete a transaction is just as important as the numbers when determining the amount of tax owed. If I ask for additional documents, I’m not trying to be intrusive; I just really want to understand the facts so that I know how to report what happened.

What does being philanthropic mean to you?

For me, being philanthropic means making our community and world a better place in whatever way we can.

What causes do you care about?

I’m a member of American Legion, and I support foundations that support our veterans and their families. I also love animals; they do so much to enrich our lives! I support organizations that help animals in many different contexts.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I think it’s less important to focus on our legacy and more important to focus on what we can do today. If you work every day to improve yourself and your community, your legacy will speak for itself.

What advice would you give to people exploring charitable giving as a part of their estate planning?

Do it! It’s so important to give back, and it’s great to maximize the tax benefits. There are many different vehicles to accomplish exactly what you want to do in your charitable giving.

Have you ever worked with a community foundation to help a client? If so, can you share about the experience?

I have not previously worked with a community foundation, except in my capacity as a member of the Pinellas County Estate Planning Council.

If not, what interests you about partnering with a community foundation for charitable giving?

I think COVID-19 taught us the importance of our community. As one of the many who moved to a new community during that time, it became very obvious how important it is to be involved in making our community someplace that we all want to live!